B - reporting
Finally remembered to turn the alarm off, so slept in! After an odd but delicious breakfast of fried eggs and mash, we headed out to be tourists in Samarkand.
We visited an old mosque, now being restored. All the historic buildings here were in terrible disrepair till the 1920s, when soviet archeologists excavated up to 2 metres of rubbish and dirt, and restored the lovely turquoise, green and blue tiling and mosaics. (Yes, I read a guidebook!)
We then found the huge bazaar, with wonderfully colourful rows of fruit, veg, nuts and spices. Got some plov spice and a secret plov recipe from the Spice Man, then had lunch (with beer) then changed some money in the market from a man with huge bundles of cash in a plastic bag. The beer may have been a slight error, because in attempting to count the thousands of notes I dropped a load, fluttering down all over the market like autumn leaves.
After failing to find the medieval observatory, we had a quick look round the Registan, and were approached by a cop who asked if we wanted to go up the minaret (apparently not closed for renovations, after all!), we said not today thanks, and the cop told us we really should as it was going to rain tomorrow.
Plov for dinner again!
Finally remembered to turn the alarm off, so slept in! After an odd but delicious breakfast of fried eggs and mash, we headed out to be tourists in Samarkand.
We visited an old mosque, now being restored. All the historic buildings here were in terrible disrepair till the 1920s, when soviet archeologists excavated up to 2 metres of rubbish and dirt, and restored the lovely turquoise, green and blue tiling and mosaics. (Yes, I read a guidebook!)
We then found the huge bazaar, with wonderfully colourful rows of fruit, veg, nuts and spices. Got some plov spice and a secret plov recipe from the Spice Man, then had lunch (with beer) then changed some money in the market from a man with huge bundles of cash in a plastic bag. The beer may have been a slight error, because in attempting to count the thousands of notes I dropped a load, fluttering down all over the market like autumn leaves.
After failing to find the medieval observatory, we had a quick look round the Registan, and were approached by a cop who asked if we wanted to go up the minaret (apparently not closed for renovations, after all!), we said not today thanks, and the cop told us we really should as it was going to rain tomorrow.
Plov for dinner again!
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