SAMARKAND
A day in stunning Samarkand. Samarkand is on of the oldest cities in the world and the second biggest in Uzbekistan. There was a little more to see here than the usual mosques and minarets.
THS MOSQUES OF UZBEKISTAN ARE UNIQUE TO ANYWHERE ELSE I HAVE BEEN
WHERE IS SAMARKAND?
TOMB OF DANIEL
I took a taxi out (although you can walk) to the Tomb of Daniel which is the burial place of the biblical and Islamic prophet Daniel. This is just one of several burial locations but is unique in that it is 18metres long. It was believed that Daniel would grow 5cm every year and taking into account he died 2,500 years ago if it were true the body would now be 125m long!
REGISTAN
The city offered so much impressive architecture and is a photographers dream, much like the rest of the Silk Road. There were countless mosques and mausoleums and the highlight was most definitely Registan, a public square or plaza surrounded on 3 sides by majolica covered madrassas. This is like nothing you will ever see.
LOCALS
The locals continue to blow my mind and are super friendly. The younger ones are generally curious but shy to approach but there is always someone in the group who makes the move to talk, usually the only one who can speak english. One of my favourite things about travel is talking to locals so a simple hello to them can be enough to break the ice. Also there are fewer places I have felt as safe, I can why this place was so popular.
TASHKENT
After getting the train to Tashkent I arrived at Hotel Uzbekistan, the most incredible soviet looking building I have seen. Don’t great me wrong, I wouldn’t recommend you stay there if you prefer the finer things in life as it is incredibly dated and needs new mattress’s! Good to finally a big feed of dinner!
NEXT UP
Last day in Uzbekistan before flying to Thailand in prep for my Bhutan trip. Click to read.
SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
129/229
This post is part of the Central Asia Series, click to explore or for episode 1 click here.
To watch the video of my trip, head to my highlights on my Instagram.
