Sunday Spotlight: Bukhara

Bukhara streets

Hello! And welcome to the Sunday Spotlight. Each Sunday I aim to provide a post about somewhere in the world I’ve visited that is pretty darned awesome, in my opinion at least. I hope this Easter everyone is safe and enjoying a relaxing weekend with their families and friends. As for me, well, I am off to Mount Fuji today, finally getting up close and personal with this iconic landmark of Japan.

Main Square in Bukhara with lake.

But it’s too Uzbekistan I’m taking the blog to, and the Silk Road city of Bukhara, an ancient place with a middle eastern feel. It’s really the perfect place to appreciate Islamic Architecture and feel a part of history that many tourists worldwide have never considered and have never heard of. And Uzbekistan has loads of this sort of stuff, but the old quarter in Bukhara is quite self contained, great to roam the streets and alleyways, and is somewhat away from the bustle of the larger, more modern part of the city.

Getting there? Well the train from Tashkent, when I visited a couple of years back now, took around 7 hours, but they have since bought Talgo trains so the journey should be somewhat faster.

Sleep where? I slept at a great little guesthouse called Sarafon Bed and Breakfast. Uzbekistan has a great collection of Bed and Breakfasts, and this is no exception. Rooms are $25-30, comfortable, have bathroom and air conditioner, and the owners are friendly and eager to help. Good location in the old town.

Eating – Plenty of restaurants around, try the one in the main square Lyabi Hauz, I had a good meal with a couple of drinks for around $8.

Some of the things to see in the town include (from my ebook ‘Short Journeys: Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan’ –

Kalon Mosque

Kalon Mosque and Minaret from outside.

Wandering the streets is, on its own, a real highlight of visiting Bukhara. Dusty streets, high walls, many of them were pretty much deserted as I wandered around and then suddenly – Bang! A tour group. But I also passed Medressas and mosques in the amazing streets of Bukhara. The Kalon Mosque has a striking minaret which you see above the houses and walls in the area north east of Lyabi-Hauz. It’s kind of nestled between houses and such and it springs up on your out of nowhere.

Inside, the Kalon Mosque continues to impress with its great beauty. It features wondrous high arches and a blue dome, and isn’t quite as popular with the tourist as some of the other attractions in Bukhara. It’s big and mosaic work is exquisite. There are lots of corridors with arches in what are sort of cloisters, it’s also really peaceful. A real highlight of Bukhara.

The Ark

‘The Ark’ – with a name like that, I expected a big boat! Except of course that I’d researched already and knew it wasn’t. It’s actually a big citadel, reputedly the oldest part of Bukhara that was bombed by the Soviets in 1920. So what you see today is mostly rebuilt. But nevertheless, it’s very impressive.

From Lyabi-Hauz you walk past the Kalon Mosque and Minaret, through to the Registan area. The Registan is the square outside the Ark. You’ll see the Ark rising above the buildings as you close in. Then past a whole stretch of tourist shops selling artefacts and carpets and if you’re lucky postcards (postcards in Central Asia are rarer than hen’s teeth. Well, almost!).

Then there she is, rising out of the sand with huge turrets, a huge entrance, it’s almost a sand castle that got bigger than the kids had intended and will now stand forever. What’s inside? Well it starts with an impressive passageway past the opening gate opening up at the top with various buildings and so forth to explore.

Central inside the citadel is the Juma (means ‘Friday’) Mosque. It’s not massive, but it is interesting. It dates back to the 17^th century and inside are many different Korans. There are a couple of courtyards you’ll find once you start exploring. Everything may have basically been rebuilt, but it’s still quite striking and impressive. Be aware if you are there in summer as I was it will be very hot, and as in all of Bukhara there is very little shade.

If you explore the buildings and courtyards you will come across a couple of different museums. I always find the history of the last century or so more interesting than that of ancient times with broken pottery and the like, both are on show here. Perhaps what is best though is the view across Bukhara. Definitely worth the admission price (double if you have a camera) to get up there and look out across this amazing city that was once part of the Silk Road.

Bolo-Hauz Mosque

Pretty much opposite the Ark, you’ll find the Bolo-Hauz Mosque. It’s a really nice place inside, and worth a peak. If you’re lucky you won’t have too much company, although the tour groups kept coming in and out of there whilst I was there sadly. Its façade features thin wooden columns and a sort of lattice-worked wooden roof, then you enter and look up to a beautiful white dome. There are many arches, and the floor is covered with interesting carpets. It dates back to the early 18^th century and was specially built for the Emir of the time.

Outside there is something of a pond and a water tower between the mosque and the Ark. Apparently you can climb the water tower for great views. I didn’t, I hate heights and no-one else was climbing whilst I was there so decided it probably wouldn’t be a good idea.

If you’d like to learn more about Uzbekistan and my experiences there, check out my ebook available on Amazon Kindle – Short Journeys: Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Top Ten Countries Number One - Iran

10 – Slovakia

9 – Romania

8 – Mali

7 – The United Kingdom

6 – Japan

5 - Central Asia

4 – Laos

3 – Ethiopia

2 – India

1 - Iran

Eman Khomeini Square, Esfahan.

‘What? Your number one favourite destination is Iran Andrew? That’s the axis of evil! That’s where all the terrorists come from!’

Well, throw away all your preconceptions about Iran because for me it was the ultimate backpacking experience. I spent a month there nearly ten years ago now and it hasn’t changed as my favourite backpacking experience. I doubt it ever will. Why? Because it is a simply wonderful country to visit as a backpacker. Disregard what you think you know about the place and the people. There is not a country I have visited (and I’ve visited 69) with friendlier people. No, I’m not talking about the government or the theocracy, but the real people who are nothing but genuine, warm, hospitable folk prepared to open their doors to you at the drop of a hat.

The family I was 'kidnapped' by in Kerman.

People joke about being ‘kidnapped’ in Iran, about a family taking you in and it becomes impossible to leave not just because they don’t want you to, but principally because you are taken care of so well that you lose the urge to move on in your trip! It happened to me after crossing the Pakistan border. Met a guy as we crossed, stayed with his family in Kerman and was there for ten days. I don’t even impose of relatives for that long! Usually…

It’s good value for money Iran, and no mistake. The buses are comfortable, there are a plethora of historically important or just stunningly beautiful sites across the country, a month was not long enough for me there. You get decent hotels for little money, hospitality, kindness, adventure… the only catch is it’s pretty hard to get in if you’re from the UK and close to impossible if you’re from the US.

Karanagh

Yazd is a wonderful city, lots of mudbrick buildings and alleyways and lanes to explore. Not too far from Yazd is the site of a Zoroastrian temple, at the small village of Chak Chak, in the middle of a desert built into the side of a hill. It’s really beautiful and I did it on a day trip which took me also to the abandoned village of Karanagh. A really special little village of mud-brick houses. There was a lot more to the tour as well, including Camel kebab for lunch.

Persepolis

Shiraz is another great place. It’s the spot to reach Persepolis from, an ancient ruined Roman city in the desert. Another day tour combined with a couple of lesser sites. One of those sites was Naqsh-e Rostam, four tombs carved into cliffs that were reminiscent of the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. Lesser sites? If it was a lesser site, it was only just!

Naqsh-e Rostam

Shiraz has a great market, good for buying carpets if you so desire, some ruins of its own and a couple of shrines dedicated to poets – poets are very popular in Iran.

Esfahan or Isfahan if you prefer, is regarded as something like the ‘jewel’ of Iran, and it’s not hard to see why.

Esfahan

In the centre is one of the most impressive squares on the planet – the Eman Khomeini Square. It is named after the first Ayatollah, father to today’s Iran and be warned – it’s not the only place named after him in Iran. It’s not the only Square named after him in Iran. The square boasts an amazing Mosque at one end, a market, space, life, it’s where it’s at in Esfahan. Esfahan has a lot more to see though, beautiful gardens, a bird sanctuary and the river is awesome. Some of the bridges over the river have little tea houses built into them. It’s really charming and picturesque and the sort of place you could happily lose yourself in for days.

Tabriz, in the north towards the Turkish border, is another pleasant city with some nice parks and shrines to poets. It feels like a university-town. An easy day trip takes the visitor to Kandovan where people live in houses formed naturally by volcanic rock centuries or more ago. If you’re lucky you might get to go inside a house and see how it’s set up, it is truly a special little place. The spring water flows near the river at the base of the Kandovan cliffs. It’s highly prized and apparently has remarkable healing qualities. People come from far and wide to bottle some of this water and take it with themselves.

Kandovan

And then there’s Tehran. It’s not the monstrous of capital cities and it has a stunning mountain-backdrop, but I wouldn’t have it on top of your places to visit list. Simply, it’s a big city. It’s busy and even the Iranian hospitality is not quite what it is in other places. Mashhadd, a city in the north-east, which I didn’t visit as it was a long way from any of the places I did, sounds like a great place to visit, so if you’re headed to Iran, do consider this place.

Perhaps an odd choice for number one, for me it was an easy choice. If you’d like to know more about my time in Iran, it features as part of Dhaka to Dakar: Book One – Through Asia. The individual chapter is also available for kindle separately.

Dhaka to Dakar: Book One – Through Asia (Second Edition,Payhip)

Dhaka to Dakar: Book One – Chapter Five: Iran (Firstedition, Amazon)

And with that, my top ten countdown, began in November, is finally done. Do you agree? What countries am I missing which you think deserve to be in a top ten? Please do comment below. The blog will continue. I am going to do a series of blogs on top sleeps of various kinds and various regions, plus I want to write a little about the epublishing experiences I’ve had so far, and of course I am having experiences regularly to blog and post photos about. So – WATCH THIS SPACE!