Uzbekistan - Samarkand and quick visit to Tashkent

Another magical city in Uzbekistan. I'm surprised there aren't more tourists coming here as every city is a great place to visit and Samarkand is no exception. 

The difference between Samarkand and Bukhara and Khiva is that Samarkand as the old capital through History is a big city and hence most places to visit are more spread out and there really isn't an old city per se.

So I will just tell you about the highlights. 

Mausoleum Amir Temur

Amir Temur was an impressive ruler who created an empire in around 30 years that extended from Egypt to Moscow to the great walls of China. But he believed in living with justice even though every war he fought he pretty much won and a part of his empire simply became part of the empire skipping the wars as they knew they didn't stand a chance against his powerful army. 

Another interesting fun fact is that many generations later, it was one of his descendants who actually built the Taj Mahal in India (the Temur empire at some point moved its capital to India)

His actual tumb in the mausoleum is made of Onyx and if you shine a light on it, it will shine! 

Another interesting fact is that inside his tomb there was a message stating that if he were to rise from the dead, the world would shake. And as history has it, Russian scientists decided in 1941 to open his tomb for research and the next day is when the Nazis invaded Russia in WWII and allegedly the scientists who opened his tomb died shortly thereafter. 

Registan square

This is the main square and I will go back to it later. Pretty impressive mosque and two identical madrassas opposite each other. 

Inside one can find a museum with artifacts from the era but also a room dedicated to Amir Temur grandson who was an astronomer and for his time someone visionary. He was the first one (in the times before Galileo Galilei) to be able to measure time accurately in terms of seconds and minutes. Plus he also was instrumental in understanding and naming many constellations and stars. 

The mausoleum of the king. 

This is a collection of mausoleums and it's a stunning place to visit and see the different structures. 

There's a legend that one should make a wish and count the number of steps in the way up and then on the way down and if they match your wish come true

Each mausoleum has a different design. The level of details super interesting and cool

The first mausoleum has a phrase of life is flesh. First ones start of the 14th and 15th century.  

The second pair are from Timur sisters. 

There are many more, one which has gold and copper line which create a cool shiny visual effects with the sun

One is of the last person who saw the prophet Muhammad alive.

At the end there are two mausoleums made of terracotta. Pretty impressive and wow... That's patience for every mosaic

We stopped for lunch at the Plov #1 restaurant to try their specialty - Plov. It's a dish made of rice with meat which is extremely tasty and como all throughout the region. Then we stopped at the Bazaar which sells from touristic stuff to everyday stuff and food. Cool place to wander a bit and also look for souvenirs if interested in that. 

Amir Temur (bibi-khanum) mosque made for his 3rd wife. 

It fell apart during the earthquake and it's been pretty much rebuilt in its majority. It used to have a height of 80+ meters but now it's only 40.

She died by being poisoned

I went to see the small Gumbaz sinagogue which was built over 100 years ago. No longer functioning due to lack of people. 

After a long day exploring the city, I went to the wine museum to learn about Uzbekistan wine and honestly this was a comolete rip off. Tasting bad wines and cognacs and they had no idea about anything they gave you to taste. The next day I went to another tasting at the Bagizagan hotel by the train station which is at least a better experience even thou the wines still leave a lot to be desired. Just look at how it started and how it went. My face says it all.

At night, it happened that my hotel is in front of a wedding venue and since people were arriving, my curiosity won and decided to take a peek to see the wedding celebration. As soon as I walked to the entrance someone asked me where I'm from and he happened to be the uncle of the bride so he invited me to join. 

So I ended up having a feast of food from all traditional dishes to sushi. 

The wedding, it turned out was a 2 for 1 deal as two brothers were getting married (to different brides!)

So let's just say I ate and ate and ate some more and then pretended I could do traditional dances.

I started my second day at the history and Jewish museum as both are on the same premises. In 1998 there were around 30k Jews in uzbekistan; today very few remain. 100 in Bukhara, 150 in Samarkand and 1500 in Tashkent. Most have emigrated. Even thou today there are good relationships with the country and no issues against Jews.

Then I ventured to the Somsa street where dozens of restaurants and vendors make Somsa at Kokanskiy street. Really tasty the different ones I tried. 

Paper making village

It's actually a little village made now for tourists with different small workshops to see how things used to be made. 

While the paper mill is the most famous, one can see jewelry making, candle making, knife making, a rice mill and other stuff....most of which it seems I came at nap time as people in these workshops were having a big snooze. 

The paper mill which actually has been operating for over a thousand years gives a quick tour on the paper making process and explains why paper made this way can last hundreds of years and one can even put it in water for a bit.

It all starts with the mulberry tree. The small branches are cut and then put to soak in water to soften them. Then clean the outside and keep the pulp in strings which is then boiled for 5 hours to soften it. Also while boiling one can add spices as walnuts or other fruits for coloring. 

Then the pulp is pressed for 8 to 9 hours to make it proper pulp.

Then the pulp in water gets into paper form sheet by sheet.  

Then it's pressed with 40 kgs to dry it and once dry it's brushed with a horse hair to make it nicer. 

Then it is made smoother on a marble table which is pressed with a shell for extra smoothness. 

Another workshop is the ayurvedic oil which is made from cotton, sesame, melon and other seeds and which creates a black oil apparently good for the skin. Will know tomorrow if it works or my skin is all destroyed. Next day I have nothing to report on any visible improvements or rashes. 

Further to that side of town is the silk road complex and ethic center where all the top hotels are in a park area which is 20-30 minutes outside of the city. 

During the day it's pretty much empty. It feels a bit artificial and a bit tourist trap but a cool place for the evening as many locals come hang out here. Not exactly my cup of tea but plenty of good restaurants, handicrafts and eveb some traditional shows. 

The Bagizagan hotel has a very cool wine cellar. It's a 4th generation operation and they own one of the largest of not the largest wineries in the country producing 2 million bottles per year.  

Our sommelier was Ilhan who is 3rd generation from the family and he's really passionate about his wines. As for the wines, let's just say Uzbekistan should probably focus on cognac and vodka. Although the 2013 Saperavi wasn't that bad.

As I went back to the hotel to change as the nights get chilly, the hotel owner was with his friend and invited me for some vodka and well...one cannot say no to a host. 

Back to Rajistan square as I wanted to see it at night. Only problem is that as soon as I arrived I realize it's closed for some special show….not good!....but somehow I convinced the guard to let me in and he even got me a chair to watch the show. It turned out to be an amazing 3D projection show that made Rajistan square look out of this world. 

I don't know how often they do this show but if you are in Samarkand, try to find out as it was spectacular. 

Plus after the show as there were only a couple hundred people there, one has pretty much the place to yourself to walk around without all the people as in the day.

Then the next day was an early morning train ride to Tashkent. It's important to note that Uzbekistan trains are actually amazing, including the Afrosiyab bullet train (there are Spanish trains) in which I rode. Great trains with great service and a perfect way to travel around the country. 

The other photo was an interesting occurrence as I was walking and I'm the middle of the city there were three brand new rolls Royce parked just like nothing. No restaurant or hotel or anything of importance around. Go wonder!!!

Restaurants 

Samarkand restaurant - they also host weddings here so it can be a fun experience I heard

Orzu mahmudiv street. Lots of café and some bars

Blues bar

Where to stay

Around silk road are all the high end hotels including Hilton and a few others, only drawback is that it's 25-30 mins outside the city

Arka boutique hotel was my choice for its location and it was a magnificent choice. Cute rooms and amazing staff. Plus conveniently located

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I had a quick stop for a couple hours in Tashkent. Whatever I write won't do much justice to this city as I was there only a few hours. But It seems like a very vibrant and happening young city. 

The Hotel Uzbekistan which is set to go remodeling soon is a typical Soviet eyesore and one can still stay there and reminisce and feel back in Soviet times as apparently the rooms are in need of some modernization. The one thing that they haven't taken out were all the surveillance and spying devices that were there during Soviet times to spy on people and eavesdrop on anything they said. 

Next to the Soviet looking hotel is a complete contrast with the recently built convention center which cost half a billion dollars to make (because they can!) as they imported all the white marble from Greece. 

Very cool looking building but I'm sure most citizens weren't happy about this expenditure. 

These and other buildings are around a big roundabout and park which in the middle it has Amir Temur statue on his horse. the statue here has been changed countless times depending who was in power. From Lenin, Stalin, communist monuments to nowadays Amir Temur. 

Other places quicky visited were the victory Park, opera house and the old part of town which has the few remaining historical sights and where there's a mausoleum inside of which there's a tree that's been fossilized inside the structure. 

Last, Tashkent has 50 metro stations, many of which are decorated incredibly and definitely worth riding the subway just to experience them. (Besides the point that the subway is a great way to move around and it's quite cheap. )

Some of the stations feel more like museums than the subway...beautiful columns, decorated ceilings, paintings, etc.