A short drive to Samarkand and with Pete away in Tashkent it was Kirsten's time to drive the truck. With Kylie also in the cab the police were given the perfect opportunity to pull us over for “speeding” . Luckily Alex sorted it out and it shows what an easy target women make here as although it is legal for women to drive, none do and especially not big blue trucks!
Samarkand is instantly impressive. Registan square is huge and the madrassas and mosques with the blue domes stand out around the city centre. The walking tour was really interesting as we first headed to a 14th century necropolis and then later to Bibi-Khanym mosque which has been rebuilt in the last 10 years after many centuries of earthquake damage.
Registan square is home to 3 madrassas and 2 mosques and Alex gave us a tour around. The first Ulugbek Madrassa was built by leader and astronomer, Ulugbek in 15th century. The Madrassa features rooms for 100 students and some lecture rooms either side of the student mosque which was much simpler than other mosques visited. The second structure, the Tilla kari Madrassa was first built as a carvansaray and then after the Bibi- Khanym mosque was destroyed in an earthquake, it was converted into a Madrassa with a juma (Friday) mosque which is pretty impressive inside with its gold guilding. The third structure in the square is the Sher Dor Madras which is....just a madrassa.
Samarkand's been spectacular to look around but I'm quite looking forward to getting back to a normal city with street cafes, blocks of flats and non touristy shops which I'm hoping what Tashkent is. We shall see as we are staying there as long as the Kazakhstan visas come through.
photos: Registan square (l-r): Ulugbek Madrassa, tilla kari madrassa, sher dor madrassa.
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