The next morning when we were leaving our hotel, we saw a car from the larger rally group parked in the lot near our ambulance. No one at the vehicle. They had arrived later than us last night.
Heading for the border early, we arrive hoping for a fast crossing. The line wasn't that long. More fees. This time to exit the country. At the passport check we were told we had been in the country a day to long. We told them we never cleared customs at entry until the evening and that day was not counted. That was the reason customs and entry had added a day as the entry day was "shot" by the time we entered the country. (We had a 5 day visa total. The guy in charge finally said OK and slammed our passports on the counter. We knew we were right, and we were exiting on the last day by date that our visa stipulated. (Others have been expelled and ordered not to try and return for 10 years for being late leaving.)
The Uzbekistan entry took longer. We had to wait for a man to come back from lunch to complete another "blessing". We also had a doctor check (look us over). He said head ok. Held his stomach- like he was sick. I said no. Temperature check with inferred gun because I was sweating from the heat. Off we go a few hours later.
We head for Bukhara and our hotel which is some little boutique place. When we arrive, we find much of the old city renovated or being renovated with many tourists walking and seeing the sights. Bukhara is known by its name to be an "oriental rug" center. Manufacture never was large here, but it was a major trading and distribution center along the "silk road" in its heyday.The hotel is found having a cab lead us to it. (The best and fasted approach.) The hotel is fine, but the air conditioning is hardly keeping up as there are voltage drops all the time and the compressor kicks out. Then the usual time delay of the compressor to prevent an overload on the circuit.
We find an outdoor restaurant and have our evening meal there. The beer is cold too. The money had changed. Each place you travel, you have to recalculate what things cost in the local currency. My dinner alone cost 34,000 som.
The next day we hire a guide to show us a few of the sites of the old city. Deep in history, the tour had much to offer.
There was also another rally team from "Go Help" at our hotel. There were three in this group. Michael, Calvin and Steward. This is the first of any of the rally teams that we meet up with along the "Silk Road".
The next day we travel to the historic city of Samarkand. This was the capitol of the Mogul empire for many generations beginning with Tumor or Tamerlane as he was often called.
There are some of the most beautiful mosques in the world in this city.
Went leaving Samarkand,we stop at the site of the famous observatory constructed by Ulug Beg. Beg was the nephew of the mogul ruler Tumar. He decided the world was round. His observatory had a hug sextant which he constructed. Identifying and mapping over 2,000 stars, he is one of the most important of the early astronomers. The remains of the underground portion of his sextant are shown here along with a model of the observatory as it originally existed with a hole in the roof for the sextant to receive light from the heavens above.
Beg's own globe is in a private collection in England according the text with the picture displayed. What a piece of history to own.
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