uzbekistan: bukhara

My frustration with the lack of public infrastructure continued when I was going from Khiva to my next city, Bukhara.

My guesthouse in Khiva had arranged for me to take a shared taxi between the two cities, and it picked me up on time in Khiva. From there we picked up another lady, then went to a shared taxi stand in Urgench, to wait until more customers came along. After about 30 minutes the lady said something to the driver, who then spoke to me. 

She had suggested that each of us pay double the price, and start driving immediately, rather than waiting for two more customers to fill up the taxi. I agreed, as it seemed that it could be quite a while before we got anywhere if we waited for random passengers.

The taxi stopped twice, though neither stop was long. One stop was for lunch, and another was for buying melons from a random roadside stall. 

Remember what I said earlier about Uzbekistan growing water needy produce, despite being a desert country? Melons are another item to add to that list.

Eventually we arrived in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, and the taxi took me right to my booked accomodation. I was able to check in, and relax a bit in my room. Part of the check in process at this place was tea service in my room, which was a nice welcome.

I started walking, I didn't have to go far to get to the city center. One of the major areas tourists visit in Bukhara is called Lyabi Khaus, I think. It's basically a big platz, people could come together back in the day, and now. There is a man made pool, which was a source of water for the local population. The guidebook told me it was also a source of disease, as the pool wasn't cleaned very often, and water circulation wasn't very good.

The platz is surrounded by what used to be the market, what used to be a madrassah, and what used to be a mosque. The area didn't look very nice while I walked around, it was mostly empty. The pool didn't have any water, or very little. There were a few souvenir vendors, but not many, I assume this was because I was traveling in low season. At least, I hope that is the reason. Otherwise the lack of people would just be sad. 

I went into the old madrassah, which has been turned into a market for tourists. Each room had a vendor, all selling pretty much the same thing. Basically, it was a disappointment, it didn't feel like there was anything to see. I did enjoy the blue mosaic decorative tiling on the front of the building, but not much else.

After wandering around for an hour or so, I couldn't help but think "is this all there is to see in Bukhara? Why do people rave about the city?"

I found a few back streets to wander, hoping to see something, but it didn't happen. I'm normally pretty good at finding something photogenic in the normal daily life of a place, but I wasn't seeing anything that day. Argh.

I ended up eating dinner at what I thought was a random cafe, as I was the only person in there. When I got the bill I realized the place normally catered to tourists, as it was higher than I expected. Lesson learned.

When I was finished eating it was dark, so the platz was lit up a little, and looked somewhat better. Even so, I went to bed that night without a lot of hope for the next day.

The next day I woke up and had the breakfast included in the price of the room. Tea, bread, blinis, fried eggs, a hot dog, and cottage cheese. Despite the amount of food, it really wasn't all that good of a breakfast.

Eventually I got moving again, heading into a different direction of the city. On the street I passed the ruins of an old madrassa, not at all blocked off from crazy people like me who like to climb ruins. The stairs to get up to the second level were quite steep, and falling apart, but I liked the views, so it was worth it.

Eventually I walked past a GIANT old madrassa, and finally knew why tourists come to Bukhara. 

The entire front was decorated with tiles in mosaic designs, it was gorgeous. Across the street was another building just like it. Around the corner was a platz with a HUGE mosque on one side, and a fully functioning madrassa on the other side.

Going into the old maddrassas that were no longer in active use as schools was nice, but the front of the buildings are the amazing parts of the buildings. The interiors are now filled with vendors trying to sell things to visitors, which I think ruins the ambience of what should be a gorgeous museum. I wasn't allowed to go into the still functioning maddrassa.

The HUGE mosque was really neat to see, and it was easy for me to walk in. I was clearly there when it was not prayer time, and I was there during low season for tourists, so it was completely empty. Wow, just wow. I read somewhere that this mosque can hold 10,000 people, it must be quite a sight when all those people are there.

Next to the mosque is the Kalon minaret, but I didn't find it very exciting. It was tall, but there was no coloured tile decoration, unlike the big minarets I'd seen in Khiva. Hmmm...

I found the womens' hammam and entered, to find that I was the only person there. I paid what they asked, though I have no idea if it was the correct amount, or if I could've bargained at all. Either way, I didn't care.

An hour or two later, after being scrubbed, heated, showered and massaged, I walked out of the hammam feeling like a new person. It was amazing. I truly felt like I was glowing.

Since I was the only person in the hammam at the time, I was on the receiving end of some 'advice' from the lady who took care of me. Our conversation was a mix of Russian, English, and a little bit of Uzbek. She told me to get married and have kids, which I took with silence, since there was no point in discussing my differing views.

After the hammam I went to visit two more old madrassas, and found out they had entry fees. I was running very low on Uzbek currency, so I went to an ATM, but it only gave me the option of withdrawing dollars, which was not what I wanted. Someone asked me if I needed help and I was able to explain what I needed. This guy then walked me to an exchange point, where I was able to get more som. The madrasses ended up being full of vendors, argh. 

For all the desire Uzbekistan has for tourists, putting vendors right in the middle of the sights is a way to ruin the sights and drive away tourists.

I kept walking, eventually getting to the citadel area of the city. It's a large fortress, with plane stone walls. By the time I arrived it was getting dark, and closing hours had arrived, so I had to wait until the next day. Argh.

I did notice that across the street from the citadel was what used to be a functioning water tower. It isn't used anymore, (that I know of,) and now has digital lights along the structure, so I was treated to a bit of a light show.

The next morning I had the same breakfast, but some of the food seemed reheated, so it felt even worse than the day before. Ugh. There was a single teabag used in the teapot so the tea was too watery, and not 'traditional.'

I started walking, making my way to what I'm pretty sure is the smallest mosque in the city. It was very very small. When I got there I noticed there was a fake bird nest on top of one of the minarets. The inside of this mosque was not impressive.

From the small mosque I walked to the Jewish cemetery. Waaay back in the day, Bukhara had a strong, internationally recognized Jewish community; it is no longer the case. 

Bukharan Jews are a special group of Jews in the world. Because they have a history in Bukhara, they have a separate cemetery. When I got there I realized the entrance gate was in good shape, but very little else was. Sigh.

After visiting the cemetery I looked for the local synagogue, and ended up finding it. I was hoping for a quick peek inside, a quick photo, and moving on. This is not what happened. 

I'd forgotten that that day was a Jewish holiday, Purim. In Bukhara, the Jewish community has a community meal and gathering at the synagogue, I accidentally stumbled into this. They invited me to join them, so I did for a little while. I'm glad I got to see it, but it was really difficult to communicate, since most of them spoke only Uzbek, while I speak English with just a bit of Russian. 

In the west I've been told that Purim parties involve costumes, but each area of the world has it's own traditions. Sometime during this 'party' they tried to marry me off to one of the men in the congregation. Ummm, no.

After the synagogue I walked all the way back to the Ark (the citadel/fortress,) to make sure I was there during opening hours. 

Even though it looked huge from outside the walls, the area that foreigners/tourists are allowed to see seemed quite small to me. I don't know if this is because parts of the area are in ruins and not safe, or for other reasons.

I got to see a mosque inside the walls, with a great ceiling. I got to see the old throne room, where the coronations of Bukharan khans happened. There was a museum of money, which I loved, while the museum of ethnology wasn't as interesting.

After the Ark I followed the smaller roads leading behind the walls to get to the zindon (jail.) It had an entrance fee, and was not the entrance fee. There were a few signs describing who was held there, and why people could end up in jail, back in the day. I saw a couple cells, as well as a pit where some were thrown for a while. It must've been very cold for prisoners at this time of year.

I followed my map to find the Friday Mosque of Bukhara, which is currently the most important mosque of the country. I arrived at a prayer time, so I saw all the pairs of shoes lined up in front of the entrance, as well as men running late to prayers. They ran, took shoes off as fast as possible, and ran into the building. I didn't get to go in, but the ceiling of the porch area was gorgeous.

I kept walking, and found a couple old mausoleums. They weren't open anymore, to tourists or locals, at least not that I could tell. I appreciated the blue tiling on the front facades, and appreciated the quiet of the area. I didn't so much appreciate the way some of the 'windows' had been boarded up with plyboard. Such a sad ending for what should still be beautiful buildings. 

At that point it was getting dark, so I found another cafe for dinner, then went home. I went to sleep early, as I had to get up super early the next morning. My train left at 0500, but the train station was not close to town. A taxi picked me up at 0400, the drive was about 30 minutes. Thankfully, the train was modern, and the boarding process was straightforward.