Day 93 Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Spend later yesterday and most of today wandering around Bukhara.  Other than very hot, it is a wonderful old exotic place,  it is considered Central Asia’s holiest city.

Bukhara is another of those places where 3 years ago I didn’t know if it was myth or real - it is very much real.  Similar to Samarkand, however there has been a much gentler touch to the preservation and restoration.  Most of the centre is an architectural preserve, full of Madrassas, minarets, a massive royal fortress and the remnants of a once vast market complex.

In all the old Madrassas the old classrooms and dorm rooms are now filled with tourist shops, but the old image remains.

Bukhara is one of the famous places where silk carpets come from, so I spent a good part of today shopping for silk carpets, although when travelling by bicycle, it is an issue of how much one can collect.  So I had to restrain myself and the purchase was two “prayer mat” size carpets.

Some pics from Bukhara:

Roger and Phil:: 

If the place is called Ali Bab's, I've got to be somewhere interesting: 

These bakeries are everywhere, the dough is simply stuck to the oven wall:

I'm not sure when I'll be able to post again.  Tomorrow we will be camped in the middle of a dessert, then crossing into Turkmenistan, which is a bit odd and controlling, then into Iran, but a VPN should work there...  So don't be surprised if no new postings for a bit...