If you’re looking for a unique place to visit, the Mud Volcanoes Azerbaijan in Gobustan were my highlight of Azerbaijan.
Getting to the Mud Volcanoes Azerbaijan
You will need a tour or private care to get the the Mud Volcanoes, which are located southwest of Baku.
The Mud Volcanoes of Azerbaijan
As we departed Baku, we were stuck in traffic for a bit but arrived at our campsite near the mud volcanoes around 3pm. We hiked up a hill and started to look at the various mud volcanoes. Some were just bubbling puddles, but others were conical shaped volcanoes with mud bubbling and flowing from the craters like lava.
Look at this amazing mud bubble popping action! You can see how oily it is.
The mud and water, although bubbling, were about air temperature. The dried flows also looked like dried lava. What an amazing site. The mud kept on sticking to our shoes and my flip flops were so heavy and awkward, I ditched them to go barefoot in the mud.
The soft mud felt so great on the feet! There was one large pond that had lots of bubbles and Chris got a little too close and slipped in to her knees. Luckily, her camera was spared.
After setting up camp, I set off for a hill to watch the sunset. I returned to camp following a different route and I found a huge puddle filled with pure, black oil. This oil was originating from less than 6 inches below the crust of the earth.
After dark, you can view of a flaming oil pipe and some lit up oil tanks.
We arrived in Baku around 5pm (4pm after the time difference) and it took about 2 hours to get off the boat and thru immigration and customs. We were in Azerbaijan!
We had a short drive from the port to our hotel in the middle of town. This was culture shock! It feels as if we are in any European city – Mercedes everywhere, shops like Diesel, BCBG, and Versace. The police cars are BMWs! The buildings are either regal, or very modern, or both.
After checking into the hotel, some of us headed out for dinner but the walk to the restaurant was long and I was losing patience and wanted time to see the city at night and get back to catch up on computer stuff. I had seen and ad for McDonald’s with some menu items we don’t have in the US so I set off for a mall food court back in the center of the city. On the way, I stopped to take photos of Baku at night and I rode the Ferris wheel. There was a big tower that displayed the time, temperature, and humidity. Humidity of 85% felt weird after such a long time in the various deserts of central Asia.
I got to the mall food court. There was a big wall that said McDonald’s but I couldn’t find it. I asked a security guard and he crossed his arms – the Central Asian hand gesture for closed. I went to KFC instead and upon ordering an item, I was told there wasn’t any. So, I ordered a value meal for just over $4 that included a chicken patty the size and shape of a hot dog, a tiny fries and coke, and a sundae. I walked around the mall for a little while – this could have been any mall in America. I was surprised to see that the mall restroom had toilet paper and you could actually flush it down the toilet (for the rest of the trip, we’ve been placing it in a rubbish bin since the plumbing isn’t strong enough to suck the TP down the drain). I spent a little more time walking in the park on the side of the Sea – I was surprised to see so many people out enjoying the park so late on a drizzly Monday night.
Steps: 20,677
Tues, Nov 12
We didn’t have to leave Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan until 1 pm so Mindy, Sam, Chris, Anna, Barb, and I set off for a walk to Old Town. We had breakfast and then walked along the promenade park.
At old town, we first walked along the outside of the western wall in a nice park with fountains. There was a second lower wall that had recently been unearthed. Back in the time the walls were used for protection, there was a trench between the walls that was filled with oil and set afire if an enemy came.
We then walked around inside the Old Town, looking at the interesting narrow streets, the open air museum with old stone carvings, and the Maiden Tower.
We looked at some souvenir shops and I bought a fridge magnet and a table cloth. The rest wanted to stop for coffee at an outdoor cafe. The weather was super nice today and so warm we had removed all our layers until our T-shirts. I decided to walk farther and eventually arrive at the Shirakhans Palace. This complex was built in the 1400’s and included a mosque, hamman, house, and other buildings. I ran into a huge tour group from Arizona which seemed quite odd to see so many Americans in Azerbaijan.
I took quite a bit of photos here and then made my way down the winding alleyways and went back to the promenade to get lunch at the Bulvar mall. I returned to KFC and then sat on the lovely outdoor deck overlooking the Caspian. I had a little time to spare so I went to the supermarket to get some soft drinks and I found a cool tea tin in the shape of the Maiden Tower (a Baku tourist attraction) filled with Azerchai (the Azeri brand of tea). Baku is such a nice city. I could have spent some more time there, but we will be happy to maximize our time in Georgia.
There is not a Turkmenbashi to Baku Ferry every day. We waited a little over 24 hours until it was time to board. We were on the boat named “Professor Gul” by about 9:30 and after being assigned a cabin, I quickly killed Rich in the “Murder on the Caspian” game. Per the guides, we were on the best passenger ferry on the Sea. It had recently been renovated so the rooms were clean, there were fairly new mattresses, and shared bathrooms with flush western toilets and a hot shower! The lights of Turkenbashi were nice as we sailed away around 10:30.
As I went to the back of the boat to watch the lights, Bruce killed me with a pillow in the “Murder on the Caspian” game. The city was lit as well as the oil rigs just off the coast, including some with bright flames in the night. I stayed up until midnight.
Mon, Nov 11
I slept in until 9:00 – maybe the latest I’ve slept on the whole trip. The seas were very calm last night so I got good sleep. Some people from our tour opted for the $5 breakfast on board that included greasy eggs, sausage, and bread but I chose to eat an apple instead.
Views around the ship:
Since there wasn’t much to look at except the expansive sea and an occasional oil rig or sea gull, I decided to get some excise by walking around the top deck of the ship. Some of the seamen tried to invite me to share their tea or talk with them. I think the girls on our trip were a bit of a novelty for the seamen – not often there are western girls on these Caspian crossings. A Russian guy wanted to have his photo taken with me so he put his arm around me. I asked to take a similar picture with my camera and he chose to kiss me on the cheek!
It was Mindy’s birthday today so earlier we had asked her what she’d like as the party (previous birthday parties included a big group dinner, cake, and lots of drinking). Mindy had asked for a tea party. So, at 1:30, we made some tea and prepared many plates of food including a big tray of Baklava, cookies, almonds, candies, and brandied fruit. I cut up some “Iranian Feta” cheese I had bought at the Ashgabat market and it was yummy. Some Azeri women on the boat were invited to join and they gave her gifts of bracelets, a ring, and some socks.
Today would be one of the longest driving days of the trip – 600 Kms from Ashgabat to Turkmenbashi Turkmenistan port. This morning at breakfast, I met some folks from a Road Scholars (formerly Elderhostel) tour. They were going to 5 of the ‘stans in only 16 days. They were fascinated to hear about our tour and a few of them came out to see us off in our truck this morning.
After some driving, we stopped to take photos of a green domed mosque, the 2nd largest mosque in Turkmenistan which some of us had visited the day earlier.
I so desperately wanted to stop at Kow Ata Underground Lake, and amazing, warm underground lake for swimming but the driver was rushing to get to port to make sure we don’t miss the ferry (in the end we waited more than 24 hours at the port to board a ship). You can see an incredible picture of the lake at this other blog, along with other great travel tips for Turkmenistan.
We had our lunch at the half way point between the two cities.
In the afternoon, we passed thru the desert that had very little vegetation, with exception of some small bushes that were blooming with pink and red flowers. We saw quite a few camels this day too – all the one hump middle eastern type. We were given the rules for a game of “Murder on the Caspian” – a game where we would randomly draw a person to “kill”, the murder weapon, and the place or time they need to be killed. I drew Rich, with a tea cup, in a cabin – this one would be easy! The rules were if you killed someone, then you took their assigned victim. But if you are killed first, then you are out of the game. We would be starting this when we get on the ship.
As we approached the Caspian Sea, we were about 80 feet below sea level. We arrived at the port at 7pm and there was a ship in port, but the train cargo for the ship had not yet arrived to port. We were still hoping for this to happen tonight so the cook group made a quick dinner of Sloppy Joes. A bit later we heard the train wouldn’t be arriving until at least morning so we would be staying at the port overnight. Luckily, there was a waiting room at the port, so I set up my mat and sleeping bag in a dark corner.
Steps: 8,836
Sun, Nov 10
What a great sleep I had last night. Besides the snoring from a couple others in the waiting room, it was so warm and relatively quiet. The train we were waiting for still was not in by the time we awoke, so we will have a longer wait before crossing the Caspian. I was on cook group today, so we prepared a breakfast of fried eggs and bread.
There was a ship graveyard on the other side of the wall where we had parked the truck. There was some debate whether we were allowed in there or to take pictures given the big restrictions on picture taking in this country but several of us spent awhile in the ship graveyard, openly taking pictures and the guards didn’t say a thing. Then, I thought of a good idea to keep us busy while waiting for the ferry to depart. I created a list of 20 items that I had noticed in the ship graveyard that included a ladder, a matchbox, dead snakes, and a 5-pointed star. With this list, 7 of the other passengers went on a digital camera scavenger hunt and a couple others without cameras also played along. It was a great way to waste an hour.
By noon it looked like we would be leaving sometime in late afternoon or evening so we decided to just make one big meal around 4pm so we cooked some popcorn just after noon. I played a strategy game called “Backpacker” with Bree and Linc for a couple hours and then took a short walk. At 3:00, I had to help prepare dinner of cheesy pasta and at 4:00 we ate. Shortly after, the Turkmen customs officials said we needed to get our items from the truck so it could cross thru customs. We spent the next couple hours in the waiting room and finally started our exit at 7:00. There was an incredible sunset while we waited.
As we approached Ashgabat, we could see the mountains that form the border of Turkmenistan and Iran. We are less than 7 miles from Iran here in Ashgabat. Ashgabat is the capital of Turkmenistan. It is infamous for it’s fantastic marble structures and gold statues of the former president. Photography is greatly limited in this country and especially in Ashgabat. You can’t take pictures of many buildings, such as the train station and certain statues.
We are staying at a nice 4-star hotel called Ak Altyn hotel. I met up with Sam and Mindy to go to lunch but we walked down one of the only streets in town that didn’t have any restaurants. Eventually we found the British Pub and decided to have a very late lunch there. I had a very bland margarita pizza. Afterwards, I looked at some of the carpet shops. Turkmenistan is very famous for its rugs, as they have a special design. The salespeople in the shops just seemed to ignore me so I guess I won’t be bringing home a rug. I also stopped in two of the local markets, trying to see what was for sale given that we need to cater our own food for the Caspian Sea ferry crossing.
Walking the streets of the capital are interesting – especially how the people dress. The school children all look the same – the boys in sharply pressed black suits, white shirts, and black ties. The girls have on long kelly green dresses with white aprons. The local women are also very sharply dressed. Many of them wear long dresses of green, red, or fuchsia. Some of the dresses have some traditional trim around the neckline and some women wear their hair with two long braids.
I just had some snacks for dinner as a few people from the group congregated in the hotel hallway for a small party since we were the only group occupying the 6th floor of the hotel. The nighttime views from the hotel are great.
The morning views of the same buildings:
Steps: 17,143
Fri, Nov 8
We had a large breakfast at the hotel and then set off on a half day tour of the city of Ashgabat. We had the option of paying $10 extra for this tour and it was well worth it. 13 of us were in a mini-bus with our local guide Bat and a driver. We learned a little about the big earthquake of the 1940’s. It destroyed the entire city except for 3 structures so the whole city is fairly new. One of the standing structures was a clock tower near our hotel that still displays the time of the earthquake. We drove a few miles west of the city and visited the Turkmenbashi Mosque. This is the largest mosque in Central Asia and can house over 10,000 visitors at the same time even though our guide reckons there is rarely more than 200 people in there. The building was beautiful with amazing hand knotted rugs, a huge dome, and four 91 meter minarets, with ’91 to commemorate the independence from the Russians in 1991.
Next, we visited several sites around the city. The amount of construction here, all in shiny white marble, is amazing. We stopped at a park with a gold statue of the megalomaniac former president Niyazov and a huge statue of the famous Akhal-Teke horses that are native to the area.
We next stopped at the marriage palace – everyone gets married here and there is a nice view of the new city.
Typical headdress for women in Turkmenistan
We stopped at the newly build soccer stadium to stop at a cafe for drinks and use the toilet. There are lots of sports stadiums being built because Ashgabat will be hosting the 2017 Asian games (sort of the Olympics for the Asian nations).
Next, we stopped at a huge park that housed the moved Arch of Neutrality monument, that looked like a rocket with a gold Niyazov on top.
Our last stop with the Monument to the Independence of Turkmenistan. This one is shaped like a toilet plunger and is surrounded by statues of famous Turkmens.
The architects of this city are certainly creative. Buildings here include a hotel in the shape of an oil drop, a skyscraper with a giant globe coming out of the top floor. Buildings shaped like the 8-point star which is the national symbol of Turkmenistan. But my favorite was a building in the medical part of town that houses the dentists in the shape of a molar!
As we neared the center of the city we were dropped near the Russian Market. I had lunch of a wrap filled with chicken kabob, french fries, and salad and a piece of “Snickers” cake. We had to do some shopping for the upcoming day on the ferry. We were also all to buy a tea cup because we were planning to have a tea party to celebrate Mindy’s birthday on the ship. I bought a strange glass cup that says “Hopping for you.” and has a picture of a blue elephant with a very large head kicking a soccer ball. Even the market is made of marble and displays some public art.
I returned to the hotel and helped Robbie stock the bar on the truck. It was difficult to find beer here that wasn’t in glass bottles. Afterwards, I went to the hotel sauna for a bit.
What to Eat in Ashgabat
When in Turkmenistan, you must try a Somsa which is a baked meat pie.
There is no other place in the world like the Darvaza Gas Crater. It’s like the gates to hell and it’s nickname is “The Door to Hell”. Not only is there one gas crater, but there are actually three different Darvaza Gas Craters in Turkmenistan. Each one has it’s own unique characteristics.
Last Morning in Uzbekistan
I woke up early again to have a stroll at sunrise in Khiva. This time I went to the northern gate of the old city where one can access the top of a portion of the wall. The views of the sunrise were nice there. Then I returned to the hotel restaurant that’s in a huge old building with porcelain decor and chandeliers for our last breakfast in Uzbekistan. After some tuning of the engine after the diesel fiasco of the last driving day, we departed at 10 am, arriving at the border before noon. The Uzbeks were much warmer on our departure – just making sure we had filled out our customs forms correctly and stamping us out.
The Turkmenistan Border
There was a small bridge that separated Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and the Turkmen officials made us all get out of the truck and walk across. We arrived on the steps of the Turkmen Immigration at 12:55 but their lunch break goes from 1 to 2 pm. So, we decided to have lunch too, dragging out our tables, bread, salami, spreadable cheese, tomatoes, and cucumber. At 2:00 they started processing our paperwork. I had submitted information for a letter of invitation a couple months before the trip. Turkmenistan then eventually gave us a group tourist visa for 20 of the 22 members of our group. For some reason, two people were denied entry and they found out about this about a month ago so they could make alternative arrangements to fly over Turkmenistan. It was two men from our trip and we couldn’t find any commonality that might have caused the denial – they are different countries, ages, professions, etc. Both are married so their wives are with the group as they take a train and flight to Azerbaijan. We will meet them again in 6-8 days (depending on the date and length of our Caspian Sea crossing. I also met 3 individual travelers the prior day. One of them was denied a visa and the other two were only able to get Transit visas, allowing them only 5 days in the country.
At the border, we waited about an hour until our names started to be called because our visas were ready in our passports. The visas for Turkmenistan are a sticker that takes a whole page and are beautiful – including a hologram with the national symbol of TM that includes a horse, the traditional patterns from their rugs, cotton, wheat, and the Islam crescent moon and stars. We had our bags x-rayed and the woman official said “laptop and camera” and I said “yes” and was on my way. It took over an hour for the truck to be inspected so we didn’t leave until well after 4:00.
Turkmenistan has good quality diesel and the cheapest of the trip – about 20 cents per liter or 80 cents per gallon. We took this advantage and filled up the tank on our way to our bush camp.
Turkmenistan Bush Camping
We pulled off the road on a dirt track just outside a large city near the border and camped in the desert.
I had seen some salt ponds on the way to our campsite so after I had unpacked the bags and set up my tent, I set off for a short walk. The sun had already set, but the bright red, orange, and yellow sky looked amazing reflected in the salt ponds. I was even able to capture Venus and the thin crescent moon in the pond. The moon was really amazing – I could see the silhouette of the whole moon in the clear night sky. We had veggie curry for dinner and I went to bed early because I could tell it was going to be a cold night.
Steps: 14,667
Wed, Nov 6
I woke up early to meet Mindy and Sam to go for a short walk to the salt ponds for sunrise. We had the highest amount of frost of the whole trip on the tent this morning. Although there was no wind, it was freezing cold outside and inside the tent. We have gotten too spoiled from 10 nights in a row of hotels.
The Karakum Desert
We spent a good part of the day driving thru the Karakum (or Garagum) desert. We stopped in a small desert town to buy some fresh food for meals. The town was made up of Soviet bloc buildings – several large square cement buildings. The shops were sparse but we got potatoes, carrots, and some bottled yogurt. Some of the passengers stocked up on Snickers bars and vodka. We spied lots of ground squirrels in the desert at our lunch stop. These squirrels look more like rats and have only slightly bushy tails. We also saw the first bunch of one humped camels of the trip. We have seen lots of two humped camels that are common in the far east but one hump is the type that is found in the Middle East.
sand erosion protection by the road
Darvaza Gas Crater – the Bubbling Mud One
By mid-afternoon, we had arrived to Darvaza. Darvaza is famous for a few sites. Several of them were caused by Russian exploration for gas in the 1950’s which created three man made craters. Our first stop was the bubbling mud crater. At the bottom of this deep crater was mud that was bubbling due to gas escaping from the earth. Sometime recently, someone threw a flame into the crater and it started to burn. So here you can see flames jumping randomly from a puddle of mud. Really crazy site.
Darvasa City Ruins
Near this site I noticed some ruins. This was the site of the ruined town of Darvasa. In 2004, a new highway was being built and the megalomaniac president at the time didn’t like the look of the town so he forced it to be destroyed. All that can be seen now is some mud brick foundations, some rusted metal parts, a few dusty personal effects, and the mud brick ovens. In this culture, bread and ovens are sacred so the ovens were spared the demolition. There was also a curious graveyard in this ghost town with 3 graves with the orthodox cross.
Camping at Darvaza
Next, we set up camp just off the highway. We are in a small depression between a couple hills so it’s likely to be a cold night. The plan was to get 4×4 transportation out to the Darvaza gas crater site. This gas crater has constantly been emitting gas and burning since the 1950’s. Our transportation was coming at 6:30 to take us to the crater after dark but the guide half-jokingly said we could walk the 8 Kms through the desert if we wanted. Although the 3-year-old Lonely Planet advised against walking thru the dunes, the guide said it was now easy. His last instructions were “Follow the truck tracks straight and then to the left until you see two hills that look like women’s breasts. The crater is between the two hills.” I set off at 4:40 hiking and it took me 1 hour and 20 minutes to get to the site. There were some great sand dunes to see and a site with an Orthodox cross made with old oil pipeline parts.
Richard started jogging a little later and arrived at the crater exactly as I was arriving. Here are the hills that the guide thinks look like breasts:
Darvaza Gas Crater – the Fire One – And a big Surprise!
Approaching the crater, we noticed some large camera equipment and soon a guy ran over to tell us what was going on. National Geographic was shooting a documentary on the three craters. We were told where to stand so we didn’t end up in the shots of the cameraman. There was a cable strung above the large crater. A guy in a fireproof suit that looked like an astronaut’s suit then crossed the crater on the cable. We later found out that this was a world first – no one had ever crossed the crater. Tomorrow will be another first – a man will drop down to the floor of the burning crater. It would be cool to see that but I’ll have to watch it on the National Geo channel next March when it airs in the USA. The view of the crater was most amazing just before dark – the glowing red crater against the dark blue sky with the mountain in the horizon and the moon and Venus dotting the sky. The rest of the Odyssey Overland group joined us after dark and we took lots of photos as we were in awe of this otherworldly site. This has been one of my favorite sites of the trip. We took the 4×4 back to our campsite – all 22 of us plus 7 more people would have fit on the monster truck. It’s amazing how fast this truck could drive on the dusty, sandy road. Our overland truck would have certainly been bogged in the sand.
Thurs, Nov 7
It was a very balmy 43 degrees this morning. It’s funny how a few nights of freezing camping give me appreciation for 43 degrees! After breakfast, I did a quick walk up the hill towering over our camp, then went to see the camel bones. Our local guide called this the “Dead Camel Camp.”
There were also views of a train station in the middle of nowhere.
Darvaza Gas Crater – the Water One
Shortly after leaving camp, we stopped at the 3rd of the Darvasa Craters. This one was the water crater – a crater filled with water that had a section of it bubbling from the escaping gases.
We had our last breakfast in Bukhara. The breakfast room of the hotel was the library in an old Jewish house – a classic looking room. Afterwards, we loaded the trip for what would be our longest driving day in Uzbekistan. For most of the day we drove thru the Kyzyl-Kum desert, which included a stop to buy diesel gas on the black market. There was a spare tank on our truck that was full of gas but apparently the pump wasn’t working so they decided to just get new gas in the primary tank. This proved to be a bad decision as the truck broke down 4 times in the afternoon due to poor gas/lack of power to the engine. Luckily, they were able to fix it quickly each time, so instead of arriving at 5:30, we arrived around 7:00 pm. Anna, Chris, Barb, and I headed off to find dinner. There weren’t many restaurants open in the old town but we managed to find one open. I had tea and a local specialty that is pasta baked with dill inside covered by a kind of meat stew.
After dinner, I walked around for a while.
Our hotel here is awesome! It’s called the “Orient Star” and is in the largest Madrassah in Khiva. Our room is an old study room at the former school. We have large arched ceiling and the bathroom is really cool in its brick and tile decor.
Outside there is an unfinished Minaret. This one was to be 80 meters when completed but the person arranging for its building died before it could be finished. All that remains is the bottom blue tiled unfinished portion.
Steps: 11,764
Mon, Nov 4
I woke up a little early to walk around the town at sunrise. It was so quiet on the streets with just me, the locals sweeping up the garbage and leaves, and some cats. There was an amazing sunrise this morning.
Next I went to breakfast which was also nice. We have had the best breakfasts in Uzbekistan – always very fresh eggs, pancakes, etc.
At 9:00 we joined our guide Jalal for a walking tour of the old town. We started at a statue of the inventor of Algebra and Algorithms which was from this area. The first person to discover that the earth was round was from Samarkand so it’s interesting to find out some major math and science discoveries happened here.
We also learned that this city was founded by Shem, the son of Noah from the Noah’s Ark story. I didn’t realize how far some of the Old Testament stories stretched to these areas – in previous days I had seen sites related to Job and Daniel. In the town, we visited the “Ark” or a citadel. We also visited the palace and home of a Khan with 4 wives and many concubines. We also visited the most holy mausoleum in town where locals will go to get blessed. Amongst those being blessed was a bride and groom. The bridal business is huge here. Every day in Uzbekistan we have seen several weddings or wedding photo shoots. There seems to be wedding shops, photo studios, and beauty salons with wedding pictures on every street.
After our walking tour we had free time so we went over the locals’ market and I had an eggplant salad and half a piece of cake for lunch. I walked to the northern part of the walled city and had a view from the top and then visited the park where there was a Ferris wheel that wasn’t running. The park seemed nice but was deserted since we are after the tourist season. While walking in town, I ran into a few people from our tour and they raved up the view from the top of the minaret. This minaret is 57 meters tall and the tallest in Uzbekistan. The view was fantastic from there. I went back to a shop where I had tried on jackets earlier in the day and ended up buying a gorgeous velveteen jacket with hand silk embroidery. I’ve been shopping so much in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan that I will probably need to post some of these things home.
Next I did something a little cheeky. Our group had been up to a watch tower earlier in the day but I had to run out to the bathroom so hadn’t paid. However, we had a group ticket so I went up in the afternoon. Some people had taken a couple beers up there and were running low so I volunteered to run over to the supermarket to buy 4 large plastic bottles of beer. The lady caught me on the way back with supermarket bag (I should have hidden them in my backpack but there wasn’t enough room). So, the lady wasn’t too happy and I got turned away. Had dinner with Anna, Barb, and Chris. The single ladies seem to hang out together.
We will hopefully enter Turkmenistan tomorrow and the most recent information says that internet is heavily regulated and not so cheap (wi-fi is not wide spread). Also, we will be camping 3 out of the 5 or 6 nights we are there so there will be little chance to use the internet. Next, we will be crossing the Caspian Sea with no outside access/news and then a few nights in Azerbaijan (mostly camping). So, it may be awhile before there are new blog updates from me.
By mid-afternoon, we arrived in Bukhara. This town allows you to image how things looked in Silk Road times. Although it is heavily restored, all the towns here are made of the bricks and mud bricks. There are winding back alley ways that are easy to lose yourself in. As you look at the skyline, there are minarets and domes.
Very little of the city is covered in blue tiles, unlike the over-restored Samarkand. Bukhara is the most holy city in Central Asia.
Our hotel here is in an old historic building, with two courtyards in the interior – a really great place. After checking into the hotel, I set out to take some photos. The sun had come out and the lighting was beautiful. I saw a minaret in the distance so I started walking that direction but soon found myself lost in a maze of streets. Eventually I made my way to the minaret. Next, I ran into a bunch of others from the group. They had found a much faster way there (i.e. thru all the tourist shops). The sun was setting and the sunset was looking nice. Also, some of the group wanted a beer. We combined both needs and found a great rooftop bar with amazing view of the mosque and minaret at sunset. Amazing.
Barb, Anna, Chris, and I set out to find dinner. We found a small diner with several locals and some tourists. There was a woman who Anna had met at the Uzbek embassy in Bishkek. She was from Washington state – a town that is less than 30-minute drive from where I live. She’s in Bishkek teaching 4th grade at an international school. I had the Lagman – an Uzbek noodle soup with beef and vegetables – very nice. I may have to return to this diner again in the next couple days.
Steps: 17,029
Fri, Nov 1
It’s hard to believe it’s already November 1st. The days are going so fast lately. Exactly one month from today will be my return to the US.
I went out for a pre-breakfast walk to watch sunrise over the Minaret. This minaret is so well built, it has survived several earthquakes. It was also deemed to be too beautiful by Genghis Khan to be destroyed.
After breakfast, we set out for a city tour with our new guide. We had previously had a woman guide but she had done several things that greatly annoyed the passengers and the guides so she got fired in Samarkand. Our new local tour guide joined us this morning and will stay with us until the Turkmenistan border. He is so interesting and funny that the entire group stayed with him all day long.
We first stopped at several Madrassahs – or traditional Muslim schools, most of which are no longer in use other than being filled with tourist shops. We stopped at a couple small museums including a carpet and woodworking museum. We then watched a demonstration of Bukhara carpets. Each one takes several months or more to weave/knot. There were carpets made from camel and sheep wool as well as artificial and real silk.
The group went to lunch but I went for a bit of a walk and had some salad. After lunch, we met to visit the Ark fortress
, the 40-column mosque, Job’s well, and a Mausoleum.
The Mausoleum was next to the small amusement park so I skipped out on the last part and went on the Ferris wheel where I had a great view of some of the architecture of the old town.
There is an unbelievable amount of shopping in this town. Even places with very few tourists. I’d imagine some of these sellers must have days with no sales at all. I had been looking at the Turkmen hats (big fuzzy sheep’s wool hats), and found a nice white hat at one of these vendors. Starting price was $25 but I ultimately bought it for $15. Another guy from our trip was looking at old Russian soldier hats. Starting price was $50 but he paid $18 so it seems there is quite some opportunity to lower the prices. Tomorrow I will likely do some more shopping.
In the evening, the group went to a wine tasting of Uzbek wines. We had 2 dry whites, 2 dry reds, 2 half whites, and a sweet red dessert wine. After the tasting, we each had another full glass of our choosing. The wines weren’t great but weren’t the worst I’ve ever tasted.
Then we moved on to the Minfisa restaurant to celebrate Dave’s birthday. We had a local piano player entertain us in our private room but I was more entertained at the piano player’s daughter who was both laughing and looking in horror at the antics of our group.
Steps: 21,092
Sat, Nov 2
I slept in a bit since we were out a little late last night. Today is the last truly “free” day for a while and the last time we will stay in one city for 3 nights in a row so I decided to relax a bit today. After breakfast, I took a short walk to the Chor Minor Madrassah (school) which is unique because it has 4 towers. A lady said I could pay 1000 som (40 cents) to take the stairs to the roof so I did that for an OK view over the rooftops.
I then went to the new town area just to walk around a little.
I stopped for lunch at the little round cafe and had the excellent lagman (beef noodle soup) again. Then I relaxed for a while back at the hotel. After a rest, I visited a photographic exhibition and a puppet workshop. At 3:00, I met Anna and Chris for a tea tasting. This was a tea house that has been in the same family since the 1400’s. Now it is a place for tourists to pay $5 to have unlimited spicy tea, coffee, and sweets. We had ginger, spice and herb, and saffron tea. We also tried cinnamon and cardamom Turkish coffee. The sweets included walnuts, raisins, honey sesame squares, rock sugar, and a white bar that was a bit like non-chocolate fudge.
Next, I had an appointment at the Hamman. This is a 16th century Hamman, a steam room/bathhouse (now often referred to as a “Turkish bath”). There was one dome in the middle with a number of smaller domes containing steam rooms and massage rooms. The entire process took about an hour. First, I sat in a steam room for about 20 minutes to open the pores. Then the masseur took a scrub mitten and scrubbed all the dead skin off my arms and back. Next was the 20-minute massage. Given that I asked for the “medium” massage, I’d hate to think what the “hard” massage feels like. The massage is given with warm water and soap as I laid on the marble floor. Next, I was rubbed with a type of ginger exfoliate and then back in the steam room for 20 minutes followed by a dousing of a couple buckets of water. The last bucket being cold. Then I dressed and was given some rose water to put on my face and tea to drink. I was nice and relaxed after the Hamman.
Back at the hotel, I joined Anna, Chris, Barb, and our local guide Jalol for dinner were I just had a salad since we had eaten too many sweets in the afternoon.
I had breakfast in the hotel and then went for a bit of a walk in the Mirabod district, stopping at the bazaar. Today was exciting because 8 people had chosen to take the train to the next city so we would have lots of extra space on the truck and I could have my own seat and stretch my legs. However, excitement turned to be a bad, sick day for me. We had stopped at a roadside rest stop for the paid bathrooms and several people got lamb pasties (or hot pockets) and the smell was making my stomach churn. By lunchtime I knew that eating was not a good idea so I rested on the truck. By midafternoon and much driving on bumpy roads, I had to have the truck stop twice so that I could throw up. We got into the hotel in Samarkand by 3:30 and I immediately ran to the bathroom. By 4:00 I had the chills and I was in bed for the night – falling in and out of sleep and watching TV (more like surfing the 300 channels in Chinese, Farsi, Arabic, French, German, Spanish, etc.). The majority of the English channels were Christian TV – lots of preachers – which seemed odd given how sensitive the Uzbek customs officials were in looking for missionary materials.
A little bit about Samarkand – the city is the crossroads of the Silk Road. When poets and authors write about the silk road, often this city is mentioned. As we drove into the city, there were nice views of the blue tiles domes and minarets, and the city is surrounded by mountains unlike our drive earlier today that was quite flat farmlands.
Steps: 5,818
Tues, Oct 29
After my marathon of sleeping yesterday, I woke up early at 6:00 and couldn’t fall back to sleep. I decided that I wouldn’t allow a tummy sickness use up any more days in Samarkand. I had earlier decided that one day in Samarkand I would get up early one day to watch sunrise at the Registan square with mosques on 3 sides of the square. By 6:30 I was walking towards the square. About half way there I saw something that looked like our truck drive by. As I neared the square, I saw about 8 people from our group there. A couple girls from our trip had been there at sunset the prior night and they had bribed a guard to let them climb a minaret to watch the sunset. He told them to be back at 7:00 with a small group and we could pay the climb for sunrise. This turned out to be lucky for me. We paid about $4 and climbed the narrow, spiral staircase. There was only room for one person at the top at a time and there were amazing views.
There’s no way we could do this during the normal opening hours of the Registan. I rode back with the others in the truck to the hotel and had breakfast. I had one piece of sausage this morning that tasted like lamb and almost made me sick again…I’m definitely off the lamb for a while.
At 9:30 we went with our local guide to the Gur Emir Mausoleum. I chose to skip her tour and instead walked around the blue domed Mausoleum and took some nice photos. Next, she took us to the Registran. She kept on taking us into various shops to see how ceramics and tiles were made so I skipped out on the tour and went to the inside of the blue dome that had amazing gilded painting – incredibly stunning.
After the Registan, I headed to the local’s Siab Market. I had a big craving for the local salads. The ladies will let you sample the salads. Then I pick the one I like and bring out 100 som (about 40 cents) and I point to the one I want. They then bag up about a pound of salad. As I was sitting and eating my salad, a local beggar with a baby started harassing me. However, a young Uzbek couple had some words with her and she immediately left and then they said “Good Morning” and smiled at me even though it was afternoon. Another lady came up to me selling shawls. Without bargaining, I bought a beautiful crocheted mauve shawl made from silk and angora.
After my salads, I walked about a mile out of town to Daniel’s Tomb. This is the tomb Daniel from the Old Testament – as in “Daniel and the Lion’s Den.” His original tomb was in Iran and it was given to the town here as a gift of good luck. The legend says his body grows about a half an inch per year so now his coffin is about 30 feet long. It was covered by a Muslim cloth with Arabic writing.
On the way back to town, I stopped by the Afrosiab Museum. I had decided if it were cheap enough I would visit it. When the lady said it cost 9,000 som, I indicated I wasn’t interested. Then the ticket lady started to bargain with me. I only paid 5,000 to enter but I’m pretty sure she just pocketed the money. The museum was sort of interesting. It was on the location of the old city of Samarkand. There were various relics that have been unearthed, including some murals.
As I walked back to the Market, I met up with Tanya, Rich, Vicky, and Mark. We got some ice cream and talked to some locals in the park that were dressed very fancy and having their photo taken. We then walked thru old town and said “Salaam” or “Hello” and chatted with locals in the bottle shop and men playing an interesting board game.
When we returned to the hotel, the power was out. The electricity had been out for about an hour last night and each room has a huge emergency light so it seems this is a common occurrence. Tonight’s power was out twice for about an hour each time. We played Apples to Apples for a while in the lobby by the light of flashlights and emergency lights.
Uzbekistan is starting to grow on me. My first impressions weren’t very high after such a wonderful time in Kyrgyzstan but now I’m enjoying Uzbekistan much more. This is a lovely time of year to visit – today’s temperatures were perfect for walking around.
Steps: 32,005
Wed, Oct 30
I was thinking about getting up super early for the sunrise at the mosque today but I’m glad I slept in because the sunrise wasn’t very nice. After breakfast, we set out with our local guide again. She first took us to the Bibi Mosque which didn’t look too interesting because I had already taken photos from the outside yesterday in the sun so I skipped this bit of the tour and went to the bazaar/market to find a place to exchange money. I then joined the group again and we went to the Shakh-i-Zinda collection of mausoleums and a mosque at the local cemetery. This place was amazing – with beautiful restored tile work.
Barb and I set off for a hot lunch at the bazaar and we ended up in a little cafe in the middle of the action that seems to be the place where the vendors have their lunch. Our choices were eggs sunny side up with french fries; or bun-less hot dogs with french fries; or sliced sausage with french fries. Neither of us were having a strong stomach these last couple days so we just opted for french fries. There were no free tables in the cafe but a couple ladies motioned for us to sit with them. With very limited English, we discovered that these ladies with golden teeth were from Tajikistan and they sold fruits in the market. Barb, Linc, Bree, and I shopped at the souvenir shops at the bazaar. I was tempted by a couple items (an embroidered jacket for $40, a sheep fur hat for $30, and a carved business card holder for $10) but I’m holding off to do my shopping in the next city of Bukhara. I would have probably walked further today but it was so cold today and sprinkling much of the day.
Barb left to go back to the hotel so I decided to walk around the old Jewish quarter. Our guide had told us there were at one time 30,000-40,000 Jews in the city and now there are 164. This was supposed to be the old part of town but it seems the old woodwork has been replaced by metal doors. It was near a small mosque that I was approached by a man in a long purple robe and skull cap.
Him: Hello
Me: Hello
Him: How do you like Samarkand
Me: I like it very much <pause> but it’s very cold
Him: come with me
Me: <following him> Um, where are we going?
Him: A house. A casino
I am always wary of a scam but felt that I should check this out. We just took a few steps into the common room of a house that was right on the main street thru the Jewish quarters. I could see many people thru the windows. There were 6 men there and 3 were playing dominoes for 1000 som per game (about 40 cents). There were several sets of tables and chairs and a flat screen TV with the Russian news on. The opposite wall had a picture of the president of Uzbekistan, who is from Samarkand. When I told them my name was Lisa, they dubbed me “Mona Lisa”. They were quite funny in our limited ability to communicate in broken English. The man in the purple coat told me that they were “Uzbek Mafia” and like “Al Pacino.” Several men came and went and one guy came by who said what I thought was that his daughter from NY would be there in 5 minutes. In fact, he called his daughter in New York who spoke very good English. She said his father wanted to invite me to dinner at his house the following day. Unfortunately, I will be leaving tomorrow morning. I returned to the “casino” where a couple guys were now playing a backgammon-like game. I learned this was called “Shesh Besh” or “Six Five” in English, for the two dice…rolling a 6 and 5 gets the name of the game. After a bit of close watching, I decided it was time to return to the hotel before dark so I said good bye to the men.
Back at the hotel, I met up with Sam, Mindy, Bree, and Linc and we went to dinner at the Maroqand restaurant. I had noticed this place two days ago because the spelling of the name is similar to my last name. Also, the symbol of the ‘M’ in the sign is a clear rip-off from McDonalds. An exact replica of the golden arches. Almost everyone from our group had eaten there at least once because it was good and cheap and the closest place to get solid food to our hotel. I ordered a sort of chicken fingers meal for about $5. This was lightly breaded fried pieces of chicken, some fried onions and tomato, rice with garbanzo beans, and french fries – a lot of food. It was all good.
McDonald’s Infringement in Uzbekistan!
There seems to be an obsession with America here. When people ask our group where people are from, they get most excited about America. Several people have told us it’s their dream to come to America. There are signs in all of the towns about the “Green Card Lottery”. Some students from an English class all wanted their picture taken with me. A shop owner asked me how easy it was to get a Green Card.
A full day to spend in the capital of Tashkent, but only after we unpack the bags at 9:00 (it was raining last night after our long drive to the city so they decided to keep our big bags on the truck until this morning). The breakfast at the Roshvan hotel was good – it seems the Uzbek breakfasts are similar (dried fruits, cheese, sausage, tomatoes and cucumbers).
Barb, Anna, Chris and I set off on a walking tour of Tashkent. We first wanted to have a better look at the Russian Orthodox cathedral that several of them had seen on the drive into town. Unfortunately, we took a wrong turn that set us off on a 20-minute walk in the wrong direction. Thanks to my trusty Eddie Bauer compass that I bought before the trip we found the correct way.
Next, we got on the Metro subway system. The subway system of Tashkent is one of its most famous tourist sites. Each station has its own theme and decor – lots of different art deco light fixtures. One of the stations we passed thru had murals of astronauts. The police will not let you take pictures of the stations – much like the rule to not take pictures of bridges and dams in this country.
We got out of the subway at the Chorsu market. This is one of the largest markets in the country and the goods were abundant at this time of year. Lots of root vegetables and fruit. There seemed to be an aisle for everything – baskets, fabrics, candies, cakes, toys, etc.
It was a little early for lunch so we decided to come back to the market after a walk to some mosques on the north side of the city. The architecture here was amazing. I was standing in a large plaza with brick buildings with blue domes and high minarets surrounding me. This is my first taste of this architecture – the mosques will be older and more beautiful in the more historical cities we will see in the next week. One of the squares here had souvenir shops. There were lots of beautiful things – specifically wooden and ceramic items. I bought a refrigerator magnet – one for each country I visit so this is my 5th magnet of the trip.
We walked back to the Chorsu market and had a late lunch in the prepared food market there. We had a small bowl of Plov – the most famous local dish. Plov is a combo of rice, vegetables, and meat and is the Russian word for what we typically call “Pilaf”. It was just OK – a bland dish. We also had some cakes sold by some ladies at the market.
At this point, Anna and Chris wanted to catch the Metro subway and Barb and I wanted to continue to walk so the two of us walked down the wide Navoi Avenue. This street has all the fancy shops but they were all closed on this Sunday. We stopped by a couple theaters – opera and drama hoping there was a show on today but we had no luck. We also walked thru several parks – walking along the river, seeing several statues, and the Uzbek Senate building.
Our legs were tired by now so we took the subway back to the closest stop to our hotel. It was still early and there was a movie theater nearby so I checked out what was playing. A Sylvester Stallone/Arnold S. movie was playing in a few minutes but I found out it was dubbed in Russian so I decided against seeing a movie. On the way back to the hotel I ran into Mindy and Sam and they invited me to dinner. We went to a Korean restaurant and I had the sushi that has spam and egg instead of raw fish. There are quite a few Koreans living in Uzbekistan and a number were eating at this restaurant tonight so it must be good!
My general impression of Uzbekistan is that it’s much less third world than Kyrgyzstan. The roads are quite good here and sidewalks are level (less worry about tripping or falling down a manhole like the poor sidewalks in other developing countries). There is much less litter here. It is also considerably more expensive than Kyrgyzstan – about 50% to 100% more expensive. It has also gotten much colder. I have a feeling that the last 5 weeks of this trip will be much colder – hat and glove weather. I’ve been planning on throwing out a pair of shorts that are too big and heavy to carry around and this finally might be the time to do it.
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