Tuesday,
26 December 2017
We
woke up to an overcast morning and indeed it had even rained earlier. It was
forecasted to be cold today with the temperature struggling to reach 1C so I
bundled up. We had breakfast before leaving for Al Bukhari Complex about 25 km
away from the city in a village called Hartang. Imam Al Bukhari was an important
figure in Islam; he collected thousands of hadiths. He was a hafeez too. We
spent some time here paying our respects before leaving.
Our
hired driver dropped us near Registan Ensemble and we walked to the three
madrasahs there: the Ulugbek on the left if you’re standing facing them, Tilla
Kari in the centre and Shirdor on the right and across from Ulugbek. Ulugbek
Madrasah was built in the 15 Century, followed by Shirdor (it has two tiger
mosaic on the face of the madrasah) and Tilla Kari which was built 10 years
after Shirdor was completed. We spent quite a while here, including a detour to
a nearby mosque to use its facilities. It had started to drizzle again when we
were at the Registan Ensemble.
Ulugbek Madrasah
Tilla Kari Madrasah
Shirdor Madrasah
After
that, we walked down Tashkent Road to Bibikhanum Mosque. Bibikhanum was the
wife of Amir Timur, a great Uzbek warrior and hero. We spent a short while here
(well, short compared to Registan Ensemble!). Bibikhanum’s tomb is just across
the street from the mosque named after her. We also saw Khazrat Khizr from
afar; it was undergoing reconstruction. After that we walked down and took a
cab to a restaurant for lunch. The rain had gotten heavier by then.
Lunch
was the usual fare of nan bread, a choice of salad, soup and lemon tea. So good
to have piping hot food on a rainy day!
The
rain was still falling when we left for Shakhi Zinda Necropolis. There are
three levels of structure: lower, middle and upper. The details are really
beautiful although I couldn’t help feeling slightly apprehensive. ‘I hope I
won’t get nightmares tonight,’ I told Nit. I had a long nightmare immediately
after visiting Kom Ombo temple.
The
rain finally petered off and we hailed another cab to Gur-Emir Mausoleum aka
Amir Timur Mausoleum. We didn’t walk straight to the mausoleum though but
crossed the street first to the statue of Amir Timur. It had started drizzling again
then but we persevered. We climbed up and spent some Kodak moments there before
making our way to the mausoleum. The mausoleum houses Timur’s tomb and his
direct descendants. We sat here for a bit admiring the architecture of the
mausoleum. I’m not sure if beautiful is the right word to describe a mausoleum
but it certainly is breathtaking.
We
were then accosted by some shopkeepers (typical!) and I reluctantly followed
them and Nit down the catacombs where the shop is. I was tempted by some camel
hair shawl and some lovely plates but in the end left empty-handed.
On
our way to grab a cab back, we passed Rukhabad Mausoleum. We didn’t linger
though as it was already getting dark. We also stopped at the train ticket
office; unfortunately, we were later informed by Elzod that the train tickets
to Tashkent had already sold out (we were supposed to return back to Tashkent
by fast train). As it had begun raining again in earnest, we asked for Elzod to
buy some dinner for us to go. Oh, and in the end, we stayed the second night at
Konstantin Hotel too.
Wednesday,
27 December 2017
Alhamdulillah,
the day began clear and bright. We left at 09:40 and after a brief stop,
continued our journey to Tashkent. It took 4 hours and we checked back into
Hotel Uzbekistan which we stayed at on the first night. I insisted on
performing prayers first and quickly performed ablutions and prayers before
going down to meet up Elzod. We then took a cab to a restaurant for lunch. I
had some Uyghur noodles on top of nan bread and salad. Delicious!
After
lunch, we drove to Khazret Imam Ensemble with the Museum of
Quran where we viewed a unique manuscript of Quran of Usman (7AD) which was brought
to Samarqand by Amir Timur in 14 Century. No photos are allowed in the museum
though. After that, we drove to Chorsu Bazaar aka Eski Juva Bazaar. Before
shopping, we went in search of a bank to exchange money and where I finally
changed money into Uzbekistan Som. I was going to change USD40 but thought it
was too much so changed only USD30. After all, the bazaar was closing at 6. We
then set upon the task of buying our souvenirs: ceramic plates with pomegranate
design and some honey for me. I finally bought four plates (dang heavy!) and
Elzod offered to get me some honey. I paid USD10 for the honey.
Khazret Imam
Not supposed to take photo but I took a quick snap of this Quran in Hebrew with my iPad *shhh*
After the shopping was done, we took the
metro from Chorsu station to Alisher Navai (a beautiful station named after a
poet) where we walked to Pakhtakor (literally means cotton grower) station and
took the train to Bunyodkor. We had dinner at Olmazor Restaurant and had norin,
a horse meat and noodles dish. Wow, it was quite rich and I could barely eat
more than a few spoonfuls. We dropped by a nearby supermarket before taking the
metro back to the hotel.
Thursday, 28 December 2017
We woke up early and had breakfast in
the huge hotel restaurant. We checked out at 09:30 and drive to Chimgan, a ski
resort, about two hours away. Elzod’s uncle who is the GM of the local tour
company drove us there. Upon arrival, we took the chairlift up. Both Nit and I
were sporting inappropriate footwear (Converse All Stars for me) but well no
snow was going to stop us! We spent about an hour up there before returning
down to the bottom and after dealing with persistent photographers who were
trying to sell the photos they took of us, we went to the car park where
Elzod’s uncle was waiting. We then drove through some village and after a while
came upon Chorvoq Lake. We stopped for a short while before continuing on.
We stopped at a small town and went up
to a restaurant. I was heading for the washroom when I met some Singaporeans
who were about to perform prayers. I asked if it was ok and they said they had
asked permission to do so and the restaurant had allocated some space for them
to do so. I decided to join them as I was sure we would reach Tashkent just
before dark.
After a satisfying lunch, we drove back
to Tashkent. Nit was content to converse and I was happy to let her talk while
I read my book. Suddenly the conversation steered around the richest man in
Uzbekistan and I asked, ‘Is it Alisher Usmanov?’ and they said yes (to be
honest, I can’t recall Alisher’s nationality and was just guessing). I said
that I knew of him as he has shares in Arsenal. The things football teach you.
We reached Tashkent at around 5 and went
to collect our bags from the store room. Nit was supposed to collect the bags
but she decided to browse the hotel shop first (WTH) so I took back the bag
tags and went to find the man manning the concierge. After getting our bags, I
wheeled them to Nit and took mine to the washroom to change. I took all of five
minutes to use the bathroom and change and Nit had still not finished browsing
the hotel shop. And then I had to wait for the longest time while she went to
visit the bathroom. Honestly, surely people should be more considerate and
thoughtful when they travel with someone else.
We then drove to the airport, stopping
en route for Elzod to run and buy us some beef burgers (I tell you, meat and
the Uzbeks cannot be separated!). There was a horrible jam at the airport car
park entrance and we only cleared it after 15 minutes. Elzod helped show us the
way to departure and we then said goodbye, wished him good luck and gave him a
little tip. The check-in counters were late in opening so while waiting, we
used the washroom and I performed prayers too. No prayer room is provided so I
performed prayers in the vast open space outside the washroom (and I had
finished Maghrib and Isya’ prayers before Nit emerged from the bathroom).
We then checked in, filled up another
declaration form and went through immigration and security. I wanted to change
back the remaining UZS I had (easily USD5) but the money changer said I
couldn’t sell off my UZS so I had no choice but to buy fridge magnets (I’ve not
bought fridge magnets for some trips now). Our flight was delayed and we
finally boarded and took about an hour later than scheduled.
Friday, 29 December 2017
We landed in Singapore after 8 and after
a short transit, we boarded the plane back to KL. The plane would continue on
back to Tashkent after a bit of transit in KL. We landed at 10:15 and I was
reunited with my bag an hour later.
