7th June – Tashkent to Samarkand – Mike and Kay Travels

This morning we leave Tashkent on a 308 km drive to Samarkand, driving through a farming area on an expressway. We pass through an area that has a lot of storks & they nest up on poles & electricity towers.

Later we see wheat being harvested & canola being grown around a town called Mullabaloo and we thought for a moment we are back in Oz, but then we see some yurts and are reminded that we really are in Uzbekistan.

Driving into Samarkand is very colourful with flags flying and lovely tree lined streets with colourful gardens.

We get the usual toot from passing cars with big gold smiles & waves. One car stops next to us & asks us if we’re Americano, & we reply no Australian & we get the thumbs up 👍 & even bigger smiles. The next moment the front seat passenger starts opening a plastic bag on his lap & removes a warm loaf of round bread which he passes over to Kay. As it’s Ramadan they are being more generous than normal as we have found on several occasions.

After we arrive at our hotel & have a quick bite for lunch of our lovely bread we are taken on a tour by bus to the Registan Square & the Gur Emir mausoleum.

First we visit the Registan Square or Desert Square which was restored after Uzbekistan became independent, and it is absolutely magnificent. The Square is comprised of 3 Madrassahs or places of learning as Samarkand was the centre for learning in Central Asia when they were built.

The Ulugbek Madrese was built in the 15^th century by UlugBek who was the ruler at the time and an astronomer & mathematician. UlugBek was a grandson of the great ruler Amir Temur. Samarkand was the learning place for astrology in Central Asia.

Opposite the Ulugbek Madrese is the Shirdor Madrese which was built in the 17th century and is adorned with tigers, deer, human faces and the suns rays in the tiles.

The Tillya Madrese which was also built in the 17th century is between the Ulugbek & Shirdor Madreses to form a square between all three Madreses.

Inside each of the Madreses is a large courtyard surrounded by teaching rooms and dormitories.

The ceiling inside one of the halls is magnificent.

Next we visit the Gur Emir or Emir Temur mausoleum that was built by Emir Temur for his grandson who died at an early age, but it also became his mausoleum.