Monday 24th June 2013
Four weddings and a funeral (well three actually)
We didn’t set an alarm, and woke at 8.30. Ran around and beat the others down to breakfast – just. I felt jet lagged, but came round after food and copious amounts of black tea. We decide to contact the travel organiser, a charm lady who answers all our questions. We wait for the guide, drinking more tea and planning yet again. We will only have half a day here, and plan to do some driving tonight.
Our guide arrives. We faff around for a while, but also track down some diesel, where the bank is and where to stay tonight on the way to the border. Imranah our guide suggests we take one of our cars, then we show her inside. She flags down a minibus which will take us all and stay with us all day (after the driver has dropped his wife off at her sister’s).
We have an amazing whistle stop tour of Samarkand. She shows us the up town part with new buildings. In the Soviet days, apartments only had one bedroom. Now they are being built with two. Mr Stalin did a lot of good for Uzbekistan. A lot of reconstruction work was carried out on the famous mosques, but the insides of some have not been touched. In shady garden we see birds, Myna. We were shown the campaign routes of tamberlaine, and fantastic art, ceramic and needlework pieces. The sense of history, mixing of cultures and achievements in sciences, such as astronomy, was mind blowing. Imranah is fiercely proud of her religion, her country, it’s history and stresses the fact that it is a soviet state, not Islamic. We are proper tourists, walking round gawping, taking pictures, buying gifts. We stop for a quick beer, Atle and Hilde lounge on a large day bed, fashioning their camel hair hats. Whole families ask to have their photos taken with us, and we joined a wedding party in the mosque. Drive through families gathering for a funeral, the women wearing traditional mourning clothes in blue with white headscarves. The person must have died before 10 am today.
The journey back to the hotel is a mad dash. We have to get dollars, apparently the National Bank had moved premises. Screech to halt outside new one. Cashier had been in England earlier this year. Done the London Eye, Madam Tusseus, visited Stratford and Bath. I wondered if our tour guides were as fervent about their country and culture as Imranah.
We buy some locally produced French wine and beer. No time for Hilde to buy a dress. Back to hotel before 4pm when the cash card reader goes off line, and get the cars filled with diesel brought in jerry cans. Ate a late lunch, get involved with two more weddings. No marriages can take place during Ramadan, which is coming up soon.
Sorry to be leaving Samarkand so soon. We have all been reading it for so long during the years of planning. When we come back we will fly in, and not visit on a Monday when the 500 year old market is closed.
Leave later than planned, Hildefender starts first time and drive into the sunset. We said we would not drive at night again, but manage to navigate two mountain ranges, through sand storms kicked up by Atle, over appalling surfaces and negotiating roads that petered out. Several checkpoints, and on guard pointed his stick at the back mudflap, which was hanging off. It’s now in the back of the Landie. This is at a junction. Left is our route, right is to Afghanistan. We turn left. Send way point on Yellow Brick. 23k to go. The journey has been frightening, but exhilarating. What a buzz.
Stayed at Boysun in hostel. We believed it had no hot water, but in fact the beautiful en suite was not yet plumbed in and the toilets were outside. Running water came from a stand pipe. Beds were fine. Owner took us across the road, and woke up the owner of the cafe. Her child was asleep on the huge day bed, Wives and Daughters was on the TV, and fantastic beer served in Pyrex cups with hearts and flowers on. Discuss if it fair to judge a whole country and its people whilst just passing through for two days? I thought not. So glad we started on this journey towards the border tonight. Crept out without waking the owner.
It would have been great to see the scenery, but it will still be there in the morning. Inshallah.