This mosque and pool were right outside of our hotel. (The great thing about going at the end of the tourist season is better rates on hotels. Since we booked this trip through an agency, we stayed at some pretty great places, places Nic and I would never choose to stay at otherwise, but it was a welcome luxury).
Yet another stunning tiled madrasah.
The entrance to a house.
The door was open to the fire station so Nic peeked in and got this shot. Just as he did so, a military man started to peek his head in at the other door....
Morning nap.
An old mosque.
This was the second mausoleum built in Central Asia. It has Islamic and Zoroastrian symbols. One Zoroastrian symbol is a triangle, scene right above the door frame. It represents "Think good, say good, do good".
This is the building that holds "The Spring of Job"...yes, Job. Apparently, he was sent to wander and wandered to this very spot, and found a spring.
The well and spring. It is said to bring good luck, or good health, or something good, if it is used. Judy splashes some on her face for the goodness.
A beautiful old Mosque that is still in use.
This mosque also had a pool in front of it. Our lunch spot was across the street, and we dined on local dishes with this as our view while stray cats cleaned up our scraps.
The Ark: A fortress in the middle of downtown Bukhara. Bukhara is very flat, but this fortress is built on a hill...sand carried in by slaves. Once you enter the gates it's quite a steep climb to the top.
Early Islam prohibited the depiction of anything living, but the ruler during one period studied in India and was inspired by the art there and decided to bend the rules. This lion guards the treasury, located in the throne room of The Ark.
The ceiling of the throne room. The ruler would sit where the tiled triangle is on the wall and face a large courtyard.
This entrance was opposite where the ruler sat. The bricks in the lower part of the picture are the top of an 8 foot wall, blocking the view outside the courtyard. Apparently it was rude, or dangerous, to turn your back to the ruler. So any visitors would have to back their way out of the courtyard until they were behind this divide, and only then could they turn around to walk out.
The Ark walls, and more mosques, minarets and madrasahs in the distance.
A local kid pedaling hot bread. We saw many old baby carriages converted into mobile bakeries.
A hat vendor in the market.
Local men conversing at the market.
Another stunning mosque (being restored)
The Low Rider: colored plastic flags in bike spokes are big in Uzbekistan. This kid was just out for an afternoon cruise around centuries old monuments.
Looking up from the entrance to the mosque.
Looking out from the courtyard of one mosque, into the entrance of another mosque across the plaza.
This mosque was really amazing....a large courtyard, empty aside from an old gnarled mulberry tree (which are kind of sacred in Uzbekistan). There were arches on all four sides, and a gazebo towards the back.
The view as you enter the courtyard.
Looking from one arch, back to the entrance. You can see the blue dome of the other mosque across the plaza.
Nic and me and a mulberry tree.
Our informative and patient guide, Temur. He told us on the last day that we were his 14th tour that season! He admitted that we should come back and have a tour early in the season when his "brain is better".
The domes between each four square pillars helped enhance the acoustics.
Our guide told us that each dome has a different pattern of brick work, but that most of them were covered in plaster.
Just behing frrom where this photo was taken is the arch that indicates east, Mecca. The imam always sits next to this arch and teaches. In this mosque, the imam would teach in this room, while another imam sat in the gazebo. That imam would repeat everything the first imam said, and the acoustics of the gazebo would echo out the words to the rest of the mosque.
A bicycle parked in front of a mosque.
The next day we woke to a grey sky and chilly weather. Before departing for our next leg of the journey, I sat on the hotel steps and took in the city, just for a few minutes.
I saw this woman blowing smoke down the street and watched her approach various tourists. When she saw my camera, she headed my way.
I think it was meant to be some kind of blessing. I gave her a few hundred sum anyway...
A local kid was sent for the day's bread and obliged a photograph.
From Bukhara, we continued west. Our destination was a yurt camp in the desert. Along the way, we stopped at a ceramics workshop run by the same family for generations. Before the tour began, we had tea and dried fruits and nuts.
This little kitten found herself a warm spot in the tea room.
This is an old spring that was used as a water hole for traders along The Silk Road.
Near the spring was this place. This served as a stop where traders could rest, eat and change money. It was not too far from Bukhara, but in those days carrying gold coins on the route could be risky. Here, you could cash in your coins for a voucher, and get your coins back once in Bukhara...maybe the first checks.
The remnants of the stop.
The road to the desert.
Petroglyphs along the road.
Leopard-like figures carved into the rock.
Before the yurt camp we stopped in Nurata, a smallish city in the middle of the desert. Two local boys, one in the traditional robe, pose solemnly for a photograph.
This mosque has a pool filled with sacred fish; mountain trout. The pool is fed by many springs and the water is a constant 66 degrees so it never freezes in the winter.
A view from the hill behind the mosque.
A huge eagle circled over us while we were on the hill.
A typical family plot.
On the hill are remnants of the fortress that Alexander the Great built. He established the city of Nurata long ago and built a fortress of earth here. Little remains.
The mosque and hill with ruins behind it.
Two men with impressive eyebrows, modeling the traditional skull cap and long robe.
Before heading to the yurt camp, we stopped to buy some lamb to make shashlik (kebabs). This corner served just fine as a butcher shop.
Upon arrival at the yurt camp in the desert, it was raining, windy, cold and approaching dusk. We were escorted to our yurt and told dinner was in 3 hours and that electricity would be turned on in 2 hours. We did our best to bundle up and entertain ourselves, but with no electricity we had to keep the yurt doors open for light, but that let it wind and cold and rain. If we closed the doors, we were slightly warmer but then had no light. Eventually we all gathered in one yurt with one couple who smartly brought headlamps. We were saved by a game of Catch Phrase that someone brought, and a few bottles of vodka for warmth. The lights eventually came on and dinner was served, and what a feast! We began with shashlik and vodka, then moved into dinner. Roasted beef with potatoes, fresh bread, nuts and dried fruits, tea, cookies and other sweets. To round out the night, a traditional folk singer came and serenaded us with sad love songs in Uzbek on his dombra (a banjo-like instrument). At bed time, the rain had stopped and we tucked into our yurts.
We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful sunrise.
Nic and Peter survey the scene after the storm.
The Yurt Camp.
We had some serious yurt bling inside our tent.
The breakfast table.
Our camel guide on our camel ride!
We were only about 8 km from a confluence (where a line of latitude and a line of longitude cross) and Peter was trying to find a way to get us there. Here they are examining the map.
There was a beautiful desert lake not far from the yurt camp. It turns out, the lake had filled over past years, actually covering the road that would have taken us to the confluence. Peter determined that the confluence is now somewhere in that lake.
Scoping the scene near the lake.
From the Yurt Camp we had another long bus ride through Uzbekistan's other desert. This time, however, we passed through charming agricultural towns and had mountain ranges on both sides of us.
Steam rising from the warm dirt after a chilly night.
We stopped just outside of this town for a quick break.
Another lunch stop. This place went ahead and put the shot glasses right in the water glasses.
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