Samarkand – The furthest East where Vámbéry got
I needed one and a half day to get to Samarkand; I directly went to the Bahodir homestay. Most of the tourists travelling to Uzbekistan are arranging the stays for themselves and many of them are staying at the Bahodir. You can find here cyclists and backpackers. So this is the place where you can meet with people from all around the World, sometimes also people who are travelling in the opposite direction, to the West.There is a wall located here where travellers pin out they planned route, home page addresses or they just leave a couple of words. I also find the picture of Zita and Árpi on the wall, and glued my leaflet there as well. And the inner courtyard is amazing! Have a look at the video made here in Bahodir homestay. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgPRUWrBVU4
The next morning I went to visit the town. Without a guide the entrance fees were quite expensive. The Gur-e Amir mausoleum, build in 1404, hold the tomb of Tamerlane (Timur), two of his sons and two of his grandsons. Next I visited the place called Shah-i-Zinda, which is also referred to as the Street of mausoleums. Along the road to the necropolis a great number of square based tombs remained, some of them were made very detailed and decorated on the inside as on the outside as well. The most well known, most characteristic spectacle in Samarkand is the Registan. You can find three madrasahs here; two facing each other and the third on the side. The sight is spectacular, monumental, it blows you away. I will give you a more precise description of the view in my upcoming book, which should be ready around Christmas. The entrance fee to Registan is the highest among all the spectacles in Samarkand. But thank to corrupt security guards I was able to get entrance for 10USD; to top it off one of them even opened the doors of the minaret for me, so I was able to climb up in the tower and was able to enjoy a not everyday view of Registan and its surroundings.
It was already July 11th afternoon, my Visa in Uzbekistan had was valid only for additional 48 hours, so I was left with no other choice, I had to use the bus to get to the South-East located border crossing at Sariosiyo. What bothered me the most was the fact, that till now I only ones used another way of transportation – the ship to cross the Black Sea. I was determined to keep the expedition fair and clean, to cycle for the whole distance of the expedition. That means, every time a truck or a bus offered me a lift I always denied. And now, I was at Samarkand, just 40km from Tajikistan, and had to step on a bus. It was devastating, but this is Middle Asia. Here you cannot foresee everything, that' s why the journey may take you to unplanned routes.
I rolled out to the bus station, which was a parking place with shops around and old ladies selling bread. There was no such thing as a time schedule; the buses from Tashkent are usually already full so I could not afford to wait till the last 24 hours of my Visa. I was thinking, that if this is not working, than I will go back to the Bahodir and will try again the next day, on the last day of my Visa. I waited for two hours and then a bus came, with only one free seat at the last row. My bike was next to me; got squeezed in between the two rows.
