Samarkand

Uzbekistan is one of only two 'double landlocked' countries in the world—it only borders other landlocked countries. Points for whoever names the other in the comments.

It is the land of sand, the crossroads at which trading caravans paused on this particular Silk Road, trading war-horses east or silks and ceramics west. Today, people pour into the self-styled ‘cultural capital of the Islamic World’, Samarkand, seeking the awe inspired by 15th century mosques and madrasahs.

Amir Timur (aka Tamerlane), was a ruthless strategist, who commanded the fourth largest empire in history, from modern-day Turkey to parts of China. Samarkand was the capital city he built. He loved chess (Dan bought a magnetic chess board in his honour), and was buried with his spiritual teacher in Gur-e-Amir, the ‘tomb of the emir’. This mausoleum is said to have inspired the Taj Mahal. The city was built up a couple of generations later (by philosopher king Ulugbek) as a centre for culture and learning, and his madrasa survives in the Registan, Samarkand's iconic blue square.

In fact much of what draws people to Samarkand has been restored in the last century. The Soviets began the restoration of the crumbling mosques and the first post-independence president, Islom Karimov, poured in more money until his death in 2016. The name Samarkand means 'land of rich businessmen', and it is well on its way to returning to that status.

Almost every woman in the city wears a long patterned robe, bought in the Siab Bazaar, decorated with geometric patterns, or pomegranates. Siab bazaar vendors hawk spices, nuts, halwa, and dried fruits, alongside ceramics, cashmere and silk scarves. And at regular intervals, there’ll be a man squeezing fresh pomegranate juice.

This has been one of our bucket list locations for the year, so we were very excited to finally arrive. Dan celebrated immediately by eating bad street food within a few hours of checking in, and remaining bedbound with shivers and stomach cramps for the worst part of two days 🥲 Meanwhile, Chelsea spent most of the week drifting through the madrasahs and bazaars alone.

On Dan’s recovery we partook of many samsas (Uzbek samosas), and enjoyed a wine-tasting. We're just about back in wine country, baby! It's been a long break since our last glass in Australia in January, and boy are we jumping back in headfirst. The tasting also included local ‘chacha’, a type of Georgian grappa at 60% ABV, and the pours were generous. Maybe too generous for Chelsea: Dan managed to get up to visit the Registan at 8am, while Chelsea needed a slightly longer beauty sleep. Role reversal!

Next stop, an overnight train across the length of Uzbekistan. We haven't caught a train since Taiwan... Choo Choo! 🚂🚂🚂Baca lagi