After somehow managing to program the air-conditioning using the Russian labelled remote, we woke in a warm but not overpowering bedroom and like forward to trying out breakfast and picking up our fresh laundry. Breakfast was like a personal buffet for everyone as soon as they sat down, with a large pot of tea (or hot water for coffee) and three plates containing pastries, fruit in syrup, and a boiled egg.
We paid a visit to the “post office” in the street near the hotel and gave in the postcards we had written the night before and on the way perused the market stalls for trinkets and eventually even bought something! Tom declared his like to ride the camel that was sat on its own little sand pit just off what seemed like the high street and had his photo taken while the animal was fed leaves either to placate it or to try and reinforce good behaviour. It looked like an adult camel so I doubt positive reinforcement would work much. You can’t teach an old camel new tricks you know.
We also, at Tom’s suggestion, climbed an old leaning Minaret that would give us grand views of the old town. All seemed fine until the old lady that took our money left us with the words “good luck”. First we climbed, one at a time up the rickety old wooden stairs that curved at a right angle to enter the tower, but also bent and curved slightly with each footstep. Then we were pitched into darkness and had to try and develop night vision between the three or four sporadic holes that served as windows in the towers outer wall. It was a tight and steep spiral staircase that at times needed hands and feet to scale. The ceiling also dipped in places as the doodle became tighter and the steps caught up with those above them. When we all last reached the top there was just enough room to stand five or six people, with one standing quite close to the unfenced hole that the stairs came up through. With Paul and Katie a bit skittish around heights Tom thought it the perfect time to remind us that the tower was not only very old, but also leaning. We met a Parisian man who told us that he wanted to visit Turkmenistan but was currently making a tour of Uzbekistan. We all agreed it was hot, blindingly bright and that it was time to get onto solid ground. A few hundred tentative steps and a dozen bum shuffles later we crossed the rickety wooden stairs and once again stood on Terra Firma.
After a quick stock up on water we headed out to Buhkara. We were very surprised by the road to Bukhara. After a few wrong turns in Khiva we left the bumpy road behind and ventured onto perfect motorway. It must have been fairly new as we breezed along at 120 kph without a rattle or a bump!
We arrived into Bukhara in the late afternoon and tried to find the hotel we had picked out to stay in. It proved a little tricky as it was tucked away down a side street but it was centrally located with a free town parking lot about 100m away. After freshening up we found a rooftop terrace where we ate dinner (and we ordered a hilariously named dish – jizz) and listened to Uzbek music blaring from the nearby square along with strobe lighting to match! We then had a quick walk around town before calling it a night and planning our proper explorations tomorrow.
Team Yes We Khan 