Uzbekistan

Went to have breakfast at the caff in the morning. Seemed only fair when they had let us sleep on their property. The boiled chicken legs in some sort of … Read more

The next day we drove to Gur-e-Emir and went inside. It is one of the highlights of the trip thus far, covered almost entirely in gold leaf. The blocks of … Read more

We thought that, as a treat, we would spend an extra day relaxing in the excellent Zilol Baxta hotel which gives a 5-star service for only £35 a night. In … Read more

Minds numbed from a day of unrelenting beauty. I knew Samarkand was beautiful, but wasn’t prepared for this. Samarkand is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia. … Read more

Went back to the Ark in the morning but got a mild attack of the pewks, probably due to heat exhaustion and dehydration the previous day. So we set off … Read more

We spent the morning pottering about in Khiva: went to look for the Kheivak well but discovered that it is located in a private garden and the house is closed … Read more

Bukhara is a medium-sized town which, like all towns built in the Soviet era, covers a huge area. The few road signs are in Uzbek so we got lost a … Read more

The Lonely Planet book says that Khiva’s name is redolent of slave caravans, barbaric cruelty, terrible desert journeys and steppes infested with wild tribesmen. It was founded when Shem, a … Read more

A crap day. It should have taken us three hours to drive from Takhiatash to Khiva but took us nearly seven. The road wasn’t bad, but there are no signs. … Read more