Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Bukhara was one of the holiest cities in all of Central Asia and how could it not have been so since it has an old medrassa, mausoleum, mosque or minaret on every street corner. Those are all great, but the reason I was interested in Bukhara was the Ark and its place in the Great Game.














The Ark is the royal fortress where the Emir of Bukhara, Nasrullah Khan, and one of the most evil characters in the entire Great Game reigned and where he had British spies Connolly and Stewart imprisoned in the "bug pit" (which is actually in the jailhouse behind the Ark) and eventually executed. Seeing the actual bug pit has been one of the highlights of the trip.






















The hotel we (I've been traveling with two Germans and an English woman) are staying at is an old caravanserai near the heart of old Bukhara called Amulet. I'd recommend it since it's cheap with private bathrooms (best showers I've encountered on the trip) and delicious breakfasts.

Last night, a couple of us went to dinner at the best restaurant in Bukhara with a local music shop owner/taxi driver/security guard. The food was horrible (I think I had boiled lamb), but his stories of working on then getting fired from a US army base and shacking up with a 40 year old Russian and her young son and how he badly wanted to marry her were hilarious. The scary thing, however, was the pride with which he spoke about his ability to drive drunk (most men in Central Asia have this skill) and avoid the Uzbek police.

Tommorow morning, I've got another land border crossing into Turkmenistan and I'm hoping this one goes much smoother than the last. Turkmenbashi (not even death can kill him) here I come!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who would have imagined that Uzbekistan would hold the honor of having the best showers in the Stans...of course you haven't been to Tajikistan, where I'm told the showers are beyond compare. If you have time, maybe you could crawl under a fence for a visit.

Happy 4th of July.....

Anonymous said...

ummm...are you sure you don't need me to fedex you some bulgarian assistance?