Alauddin Lake to Samarkand via Panjakent

We awoke to a beautiful day and had to say farewell to our camp crew. They made one small final trek down from the lake to Alauddin Alpinist Camp with the donkeys who carried our luggage. It was an unexpectedly beautiful 40 minute walk down to the camp and we soaked in the scenery until we reached the meeting spot where we met our drivers who took us to the border of Uzbekistan, via Panjakent. We drove for 1.5 hours on a very bumpy dirt rode where the scenery made me feel like I was on a movie set. Unfortunately I could only capture it in my mind as there was too much jostling about in the vehicle to hold a camera steady. All part of the experience! This was another great surprise as we followed the river and passed through some tiny towns on our way. We finally reached the paved road and were in Panjakent by 1pm. We picked up Gilles and went to a restaurant for a farewell meal. We are sad to say goodbye to Shahzod and Saddula. Steve gave a heartfelt and humorous thank you speech and then we made a 30 minute stop at the Sarasm ruins -a UNESCO world heritage site and continued on to the border. Crossing on foot was not easy as we had to lug our own gear for 1.2 kms and go through a total of 4 check points, all of which required lining up. Our Uzbek guide, Rousland, met us on the other side and guided us towards our bus that would take us to Samarkand, an hours drive away. We finally reached our hotel at 5:30 pm and headed straight for the shower. At 7pm we drove across town in the traffic to reach our dinner restaurant and then enjoyed a delicious meal. The table next to us had a HUGE charcuterie board of assorted meat which was the longest one I have ever seen. It was served with a great deal of fanfare and made us all envious. Our beds sure felt good when we finally were able to lay our heads down!Read more