St. Lucia, Barbados, and Dominica

The past three days have been magical, I really don't know how else to describe them.

At St. Lucia, I spent the day traversing the island in the back of a 4x4 vehicle. We drove all over the island, and finally ended the day at a secluded beach that was completely devoid of human life, other than the few other people who were in the three 4x4 vehicles on this tour. It was such an amazing day. I was invited by two new friends to join them for dinner, and it ended up being the three of us and a hysterical couple from London. We stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, enjoying each others' company!

Then the following day we arrived in Barbados. I had had a bit to drink the night before, and it wasn't until about 3pm that I actually discovered we were in Barbados (and not the Dominican Republic, as I thought). I decided to do my own thing today in Barbados, because I was just scheduled to go to the beach, and since I had done that the day before, I decided to walk around the town instead, taking in the old churches and colonial architecture. It was a nice relaxing day, that was broken up with our first rainfall. But even the rain couldn't put a damper on things because once it stopped, we were greeted with one of the most magnificent rainbows I have ever witnessed. That evening a different couple invited me to dinner, and we went to the Cirque du Soliel-esque evening show on board which was very entertaining. I then met up with the Aussie guys and another gay couple for karaoke, where we made friends with another large group and again stayed up late drinking, laughing, and enjoying the company!

This morning we arrived in Dominica, and every morning I think that there is no way that this day could top the previous, but today took the cake. The Aussies and I were on the same tour, which started in town, and we drove through a large portion of the island (which is so lush and green and not very crowded at all) to Lyou River, where we went tubing down the river. The river carved its way through the rainforest and at times large limestone cliffs surrounded us on either side. I had never been tubing on a river with rapids (just a lazy stream) and it was a blast!!! Highly recommended! Then we went to the Emerald Pool, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We hiked through the rainforest and came to a large pool fed by a magnificent waterfall. We went swimming in the cool water, and I sat at the base of the waterfall and let the torrent wash away all my troubles. This was such a cathartic day and everything bad I had been feeling the last week or so just was washed away: like a purification ritual of old. It was empowering and truly a spiritual moment. It's hard to describe, but it was such a powerful experience. I do not think tomorrow can possibly compete with today. But then again, I've said that at the end of each day and have been pleasantly surprised that each day has surpassed the last. We shall see what tomorrow brings in Virgin Gorda, B.V.I.!

Gustavia, St. Barths

This morning, we arrived at gorgeous St. Barths. We passed by St. Maarten on the way. We were tendered onto shore this morning, and loaded onto a catamaran that could easily have held 25 people. There were 10 of us on board, including the captain. I was with two new friends of mine, who happen to be gay. We enjoyed the relaxing sail to a nearby beach. The ride was extremely nice: I sat in the sun, letting it kiss my white-but-now-slightly-turning-a-deeper-shade-of-golden-tan skin. I normally don't get tan on my stomach or back due to the fact that I'm normally too self-conscious to take my shirt off. Since losing almost 25 pounds the last two months, I've gotten over that.

The ride was so peaceful and calm, and the weather was so amazing, I was almost sad when we arrived at the beach, until I got the chance to take in where we were: the white sand ran into a green bank of bushes and vegetation, and then trees lined the hills/mountains behind. There was this one house made almost entirely of glass along the ridge of the mountain that had a private pathway to the beach and what had to be one of the most incredible views of any house anywhere... I privately wondered if it was for sale... I went snorkeling along the rocky side of the bay and surfaced on the beach, where I walked from one end to the other and back, enjoying the feel of the warm sand under my bare feet and the view.

I then swam back to the catamaran and we reluctantly sailed back to town. The conversation was lively, as out captain had poured us iced rum punches, which were spiced and delicious! It was early afternoon by the time we got back to town, so I decided to head back to the ship to grab some lunch. I met up with some other new friends by the pool, had a quick bite, sunbathed awhile, then headed back to my cabin because it was time for massage #2 (of 5!). I then headed to the spa where I had a steam, shower, and then a divine 90-minute deep tissue massage that felt absolutely heavenly after the long swim this morning.

I could not have planned a more perfectly relaxing and enjoyable day! We are now sailing from St. Barths to St. Lucia, where we are planning to arrive tomorrow morning! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!!!

Turks and Caicos and Puerto Rico!

So, I embarked my latest sea voyage on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and have been extremely happy with how it's been so far. I settled into my comfortable stateroom, unpacked, and then began getting reacquainted with the ship. This is the second time I've been on this particular vessel, and it's like stepping back home, although all the people on this cruise are different than the last. Different staff, different cruise director, different people to hang out with. I made a bunch of great friends the last time I was onboard, and haven't been disappointed this go-round either. There is a large group of gay guys from Australia traveling together, ages ranging from 20-45/50 or so, and we have been having a splendid time enjoying the sundeck, the pool, the whirlpools, and most definitely the open bars!

We had a sea day on Monday, which was a great chance to hang out, read, do some thinking about what's been going on in my life the last few weeks, and I was able to have some quality alone time, to figure out where I'm heading from here. For the past few months, I've had the urge to slow down with the travel and settle down somewhere, although I wasn't sure where I wanted to settle. I wanted to feel connected to a community and people, instead of being constantly on the go by myself, making friends with the groups I travel with only to leave them at the end of the trip. But as I have been traveling again after four weeks of self-imposed solitude in Shreveport, LA, I have begun to realize that travel is what I love more than anything. It is exciting and promises adventure, whereas people simply cannot be depended on, and in the end leave you disappointed. So I spent Monday thinking, and as I came to the conclusion that I would continue my world explorations, I began to get very excited about the prospect of the year to come. Let the travel planning begin!!!

On Tuesday, we arrived early to Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos, and I went scuba diving. I was worried that there were going to be tons of people on the ship who signed up to go, but was extremely pleasantly surprised to learn that there were only three of us! The water was gorgeous, the weather was warm, it was sunny with amazing visibility! We saw sharks, tons of schooling fish, some very healthy reef, and a stunning array of sponges, sea fans, etc. An amazing morning! After diving I had a few hours before we had to set sail, so I took a long walk on the beach, again giving me time to reflect on what I had been thinking about the previous day, and standing alone on that gorgeous, deserted, white sand beach, the warm waves lapping over my bare, sandy feet, it suddenly was quite clear that I made the right decision to continue traveling. Back on the ship, I met up with my Aussie friends who had spent the morning swimming with stingrays (which after what happened to Steve Irwin, you would have thought they would have known better...), and we spent most of the lazy late afternoon by the pool. That evening I got stuffed on fine French food! MmmMmmGood!

Today (Wednesday) we arrived at San Juan, Puerto Rico just before noon. My tour was of the Bicardi Rum Distillery and of the Old Town of San Juan. Since rum is my favorite alcoholic beverage, I found the tour very interesting, and the free drinks we get don't hurt, either! After a few hours of checking out how rum is made and learning more about the history of my favorite rum, we headed to the Old Town of San Juan and explored some forts that had been declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. I wish we had had more time to explore more, but alas, we had to get back to the ship... Another fun evening awaits! Tomorrow morning, we arrive at Gustavia, St. Barths!

China: Dirty, Polluted, Crowded, and People Spit Everywhere

So, I am censored in China and can't access several websites, like Facebook. I like the group I'm with. I can't say I'm crazy about China. I was so excited to see the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, but it was so smoggy, you could hardly see it, even from like ten feet away. Big disappointment. In fact, this is likely all I will write about China. It's not worth writing about, to be honest...

In other news, I'm trying to change my ticket to come back sooner. That's how much I like it here...


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Ashgabat: Day 2 and Arrival in Beijing!

So, again, I don't even know how to describe Ashgabat other than crazy town... I've never been in a city like this... If I were in Oz, I'm sure this would be Emerald City, but since I'm not, I guess this will have to be White Marble City.... Our first stop of the day was an outlet mall-style huge market just out of town. We drove for about forty-five minutes to get there, and the place was ridiculously huge...





We looked at a few carpets, but I didn't see any I liked, so I didn't do any shopping, although I did ask the price of a few that were the same size that I was looming for so I'd have an idea what they were going for. Our next stop, after the long drive back into town, was Lenin Square, built in 1927. It was essentially a monument to Lenin, but also had the five carpet designs of the five tribes of Turkmenistan around its base. Notice the white marble building with golden dome in the background (that is actually a closed theater - Turkenbashy closed them all and outlawed ballet, opera, plays, etc.):


Our next stop was the Memorial to the 1948 earthquake, and boy, was this an interesting stop for several reasons... It is a globe held atop a bull's horns, and there is a woman rescuing a small child, gilded in gold from the quake. Turkmenbashy is that golden child.


Behind this memorial, is a huge gorgeous white marble building with blue domes, that was Turkmenbashy's Spiritual Palace. I took a couple of pictures of it, but a policeman came over and made me delete them as he was watching. Apparently, you can't take pictures of that building...

The next stop was the Memorial for the Tenth Anniversary of Independence. It is a statue of ten horses. Again, there is another golden statue of Turkmenbashy which supersedes this monument...


Just so you know what is going on, I am now at the airport writing about the day's events. I am a little scared because there are police people all over the place, and I am concern they have read the earlier installation of the blog where I was critical of Turkmenbashy, and I am more than a little afraid that they won't let me on my flight because of it. I will continue on a if nothing had happened... After the last memorial, we stopped at a local state-run restaurant at the top of a high-rise for lunch, which was a smudge less than delicious, and took a bit longer than expected. I was planning on spending the greater part of the day looking at/buying Turkmenistani carpets, and at this point I wasn't going to get the chance to look at any. Thankfully, we had some crafts to look at at lunch, and I bought several pairs of place mats that I thought would look great in my kitchen hutch and dining room. Thank God I ad gotten to the handicrafts before a couple of the people in the group who will buy shit just to be buying shit (see carpet story below)...

After lunch, we dropped off everyone but me and someone in the group who at this point is a certifiable kleptomaniac/compulsive shopper. Lucky me. In fact, I had told the guide yesterday that when it came to shopping for carpets (I was the only person who mentioned that as a min reason for coming on this trip), that I did not want to go with this klepto because I was afraid that she would they to buy the carpets out from under me. Well, we got stuck together... We went to the first place, and I saw the carpet I wanted. Klepto McKlepto sat there on the couch and said she wasn't interested in anything until I told the guide I was interested in a silk carpet hanging on the wall, but that I didn't want the owner of the shop to know that was the one I was interested in so I could go about the bargaining process... Well, at Bout this time, Miss Klepto decided she was, in fact, interested in one of the rugs at the three stores in a row we were at: the one rug hanging up I was interested in... So she told the proprietor that she would wire the money for the carpet, and since I wasn't interested in any of the other rugs, we went to another store.

This would be a good time to describe the taxi system of Ashgabat... So, to get a "taxi" in Ashgabat, al you have to do is flag down a car that will take you to your next destination. This means that any Tom, Dick, or Harry can drive you to where you are going for a dollar or two depending on where you are going... So, we piled into a tiny Soviet-era vehicle on our way to the next rug store. This store was the state-run store, so although a little more expensive than the other store, I knew what I was buying was authentic and when they said they would ship it, I knew it would get there... I found a gorgeous fifteen-year old carpet for honestly, next to nothing, that I bought and had shipped home, as well as a small area carpet. Miss Klepto found a hideous green carpet that she liked more than the other carpet at the other store, so she told the proprietor that she would buy that one, and beautiful silk carpet at the first store released, I went and bought that one, the. O brought it back to the second store so all three carpets could be shipped together. When I say the carpets I bought were gorgeous, I can't even begin to describe just how gorgeous, because they were so cheap and will easily appraise at four or five times the value I paid for them. Thank you, Turkmenistan!!!

So, I waited through rush-hour traffic to find a taxi back to the hotel (it was much harder than I thought because no one wanted to take me as far as I was going, and the President had shut down most of the roads going out towards my hotel, soothe traffic was hellacious!)! I eventually found a taxi to drive me the forty-five minutes to the hotel (for the steep price of $3), and although it was extremely awkward, I made it back to the hotel eventually... When I got there, I realized I was about fifty minutes late for the hour-long lecture from the information officer for the US Embassy in Turkmenistan, and although I felt bad about it, I wasn't too sad because one the main reasons I came on this trip was to go shopping for carpets in Turkmenistan. The tail end of his discussion was interesting, and before I knew it, it was time for our farewell dinner. We ate, said goodbye (and let's be honest some of these people I will miss and others I won't give a second thought to), and then packed up, since I was the first to be transported to the airport.

The trip to the airport was an experience, since most of the roads were closed, but eventually I made it there, before my flight (thankfully), got all checked in, then waited for my flight to board. We boarded and were off on schedule, and I slept most of the flight, since it was the middle of the night, after all. With the three-hour time change, we arrived just after 7am, and I had two hours to get through immigration, customs, and to my connecting flight to Beijing. I needed every minute of it...

The flight to Beijing was uneventful, but I must admit, it felt odd flying from a country that is less than twenty years old, to one of the oldest countries on Earth... At any rate, I made it to the hotel, got checked in, and veged the rest of the day, since I have had a hectic two-and-a-half week touring schedule and am about to start another two weeks. The calm before the storm, as it were. My hotel is very close to the Forbidden City and some other sights, so tomorrow I plan on making a leisurely day of it, and will hopefully be all rested for Sunday and the start of the next tour! Should be a great weekend!!!


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Ashgabat: Day 1

Ok, before we get to today's events, I need to give some background information about Turkmenistan. As one of the former republics of the USSR, Turkmenistan was run by a secretary general of the communist party. The name of this leader at the time of independence was Turkmenbashy, and he became ipso facto the first President of Turkmenistan. No one knew at the time that this would become a perpetual title for life... As it turns out, Turkmenbasy was not his true name, but a name/title he gave himself which means "father of all Turkmens." As you can see, he was a bit of a megalomaniac. This will become apparent as I continue the story... Now, once it became clear that he was going to be "El Presidente for Life", Turkmenbashy did several things. First, he wrote a book called the Ruhnama, which is also known as the Book of Turkmenbashy's Spiritual Guidance, which he then required the entire population of Turkmenistan to purchase and read three times, because once was not enough... He demanded people be quizzed on the subject matter of the book, and if they failed, they lost their job. He also cut several school subjects in secondary school, stating that all one needed to know to be successful in life was the history of Turkmenistan, and the contents of his book, the Ruhnama. Just wait, it gets better...

Another act of Turkmenbashy was to create an 8km wall, called the Road to Health, which is an uphill hike on a wall that is slightly reminiscent of the Great Wall of China. He then required the entire population of Ashgabat (Aşgabat) to make this hike once a week. Upon seeing the "success" of the wall and how popular it had become, he then created another wall which was 24km. One week he made the entire government make the walk. He rode a helicopter to the top (due to a heart condition he, himself, was not able to make the climb) to meet the survivors. Apparently, several of the government officials also had heart conditions but weren't privy to a helicopter, and died along the way.

Another thing Turkmenbashy did was begin to rename most of the cities of Turkmenistan after himself and his family. Should you bust out a map, you will see Turkmenbashy (Türkmenbaşy) on the Caspian Sea. He didn't stop there; however, as no good megalomanic would... He renamed the months of the year (January became Turkmenbashy, April became his mother's name, etc. etc.), the days of the week, buildings (all municipal and government buildings bear his name), and even street names.

Now, one of the most impressive things he did was completely renovate the city of Ashgabat. He covered every building with white marble and gold. Every single building (just wait until you see the pictures - you honestly are not going to believe this). Also, the traffic lights are all silver-plated! Did I mention that Turkmenistan has considerable oil and gas wealth that was completely at Turkmanbashy's disposal?

Turkmenbashy died of a heart attack in 2006, and do you think they got out from under this crazy rule? No. The next person to come to power was the Minister of Health at the time. Interestingly enough, the person in charge of ordering help to Turkmenbashi as he lay dying of a heart attack, kept any help from reaching him, and afterwards became President himself... There are pictures of Second President (his name is too hard to spell) everywhere, and he has continued building white marble and gold buildings all over town. He did however, restore subjects to the secondary schools and return the names of the months and days of the week. But back to Ashgabat...

So, I really could go on and on about the things that these two men have done to this country, but that would take too long, and you probably wouldn't believe me anyway... (or maybe you would after you see some of these pictures...)

But with this background in mind, I will now take up the things we saw today... First, we drove through town during the daylight and verified that I had not been hallucinating or dreaming last night (it was late when we got in last night, after all...), and out of town a bit of ways to a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Fortress of Nessa. It is an archeological site and the former palace of Parthian royalty, dating back from the 3rd century BC (and stayed until the 3rd century AD). These people were fire-worshippers, but really had their shit together, creating a large fortress surrounded by watchtowers and even had decorated gardens and reservoirs. Here are a couple of pics of the site.








We then drove back into town to the Mausoleum of Turkmenbashy. I will wait till the end to show you pictures of the street... His mausoleum, which he built for himself and his family shortly before his death, is (of course) made of white marble and gold. I unfortunately wasn't allowed to take pictures inside, so the outside will just have to suffice.


Right next door is Turkmenbashy's Ritual Mosque. It is the largest enclosed mosque in Central Asia, and cost half a billion dollars to construct. It is called the ritual mosque because instead of verses from the Quran written on it or inside it (as is typical of most mosques), this mosque has quotes from Turkmenbashy's book all over it. It really is something... Unfortunately from the pictures you can't see the extent of the fountains out front...





We then drove to another mosque, which is a copy of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul (see last month's blog). It was built in 1998 as gift from Turkey.





We then had lunch and then visited a carpet museum. Turkmenistan is famous for their carpets (I plan on going shopping for some tomorrow!), and each of the five districts of Turkmenistan as their own traditional design, they are the calendar, boat and reflection, headdress, oasis, and chicken along the river. This means nothing to you, but is written here for my personal recollection. It cost $5 per picture in the museum. Needless to say, I have no pictures from inside. It did, however, house the largest handmade carpet in the world (the had the Guinness Book of World Records certificate to prove it!), which was HUGE and weighed over a ton.

We then visited the Monument to Independence, which was a series of huge statues and a huge white marble and gold needle thing in the center of a huge park (Turkmenbashy was convinced he could change the climate of Turkmenistan by growing pine and fir trees all over the place - so you will see some of those in the pictures even though they have no place here in the desert...).


A solid gold statue of Turkmenbashy (they are surprisingly common here in Ashgabat):








Park filled with fir trees (and white marble apartment buildings in the background, that no one can afford):


We then passed the Monument to Ruhnama, the book of Turkmenbashy's Spiritual Guidance (notice all the white marble on the buildings in the background):


After that we drove back through town to our hotel, where there was a little downtime before dinner. Now I will end today's blog with a couple of pictures from around town:














This pace is so far over the top, you can't even make the top out anymore... It's like something out of a fairy tale, or Disneyland, or a Hollywood movie set or something, or a mix of all three. The pictures and descriptions don't really do it justice... I've never seen anything like this place, and probably never will. It's ridiculous history and amazing beauty is slowly making Ashgabat one of my favorite cities in the world... I will truly be sad when I have to leave tomorrow night!


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From Bukhara, Uzbekistan to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

So this morning we were up early, packed and ready to leave Bukhara and head to the border. We drove about two hours, and finally came to the border. When we got there, one of the tour agents had gone ahead with our passports to get the process of leaving Uzbekistan started. He told us that at the present time, the guards were "loyal" to us (translation: had been bought off), which greatly reduced our time we had to wait it still took over an hour to fill out customs forms, pass through customs, then pass through immigration to get our exit stamp, but eventually we got that all done. Normally, you have to walk about a half a mile through the neutral zone until you reach Turkmenistan's section of the neutral zone, but the "loyal" guards let us take the bus to that point. There was then a shuttle on the Turkmenistan border that drove the next half a mile to the Turkmenistan border station. Since it was a nice day and I had been sitting on the bus or waiting in a line all morning, I decided to walk that distance pulling my bag behind me.

When we got to the Turkmenistan border station, we met up with Gozel, our guide while in Turkmenistan. She had taught most of the immigration officers English, and since there is a respect for teachers in this country, she was basically able to boss them all around to bulldoze our way through the customs and immigration process. The whole process from the start at the Uzbekistan side to the finish on the Turkmenistan side took about two hours and fifteen minutes. Apparently, this was a new record for Gary, our tour leader, who has done this particular border crossing approximately twenty times.

On the bus and through with the immigration process, we headed to Turkmenabad (the "d" at the end makes a "t" sound). Along the way, we had to cross a pontoon bridge, and since it wasn't safe enough for us to be on the bus when it crossed, we had to walk the third of a mile or so to the other side. We then rejoined our bus and drove to the restaurant for lunch. After lunch, we received news that since the President of Turkmenistan was flying through that airport that afternoon, our flight had been delayed by four hours, so instead of having a 7pm flight, we now had an 11:20pm flight. Gozel told us, "Even God doesn't know what going to happen tomorrow in Turkmenistan." She has already become one of my favorite guides we've had on this trip...

So, we hung out at the restaurant for a bit. There were a bunch of younger people (late teens, early twenties) working there, and they all were very eager to communicate with us. The problem is that my Russian is not very good, and neither is their English, so we definitely had a language barrier that was pretty impossible to cross. After hanging out for a bit, we decided to take a trip to the local market. That was where we got our first real taste of the people here, and let me just tell you that they are the smilingest, happiest group of folks I've ever met!


My new friends (the one wearing the scarf wanted to marry me):


After our market excursion, we headed back to the restaurant, where some exchange students had come to meet with us and talk to us about their experiences in the States, and to also tell us about their country (Turkmenistan). This country has an extremely interesting history of governance (more in tomorrow's blog), and these kids were really great. It was a very good experience, and everyone on the trip agreed that we were happy the flight was delayed, otherwise we would have just had to spend the afternoon in the airport waiting for our flight.

After the talk, we had dinner and then headed to the airport for our domestic flight to Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. Airports in developing nations are always a treat, and this airport was no exception. The whole process of checking in took about an hour, and then we got to wait in a hot, stuffy departure "lounge" for about an our and a alf before our flight finally boarded. The flight only lasted about 45 minutes, and the lighted skyline was worth the price of the ticket alone.


We collected our bags, piled into the bus, and drove to our hotel. This city is incredible, and I was glad to get to see it all lit up at night (I don't want to talk too much more about Ashgabat, because you really wouldn't believe me without pictures anyway... I'll save this for tomorrow's blog!). We checked into the hotel, and since it was almost 2am at this point, went straight to sleep.


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Bukhara: Day 2

This morning, when we were told we'd be spending the day walking around town seeing sights we hadn't seen yesterday, I didn't think it was possible, since this town has such a small-town feel to it. I was wrong. Our first stop, which really wasn't much of a stop since we walked right through it, reminded me of something out of Star Wars, from Luke Skywalker's planet, Tatooine. We walked through the Toqi Zargaron, built in the 16th century. It is a bazar.


The second stop was the Poy Calon, which means "at the foot of the big minaret." it is an architectural complex which contained a madrasah, (the only active madrasah during the Soviet period). All were closed but Stalin opened this one in 1945 as a way to thank all the Uzbeks that died during WWII. The complex also contained a minaret from the 12th century. Ghengis Khan didn't tear it down because allegedly he was impressed by it. The mosque, he destroyed. It was rebuilt during the 16th century, and is the largest mosque in Central Asia. The minaret was used as a lighthouse.


The madrasah:


The mosque and minaret:





We then walked to the Kosh madrasah, which is a series of two madrasahs facing each other. One is from the 15th c. The other from the 17th. The older one is the Madrasah of Ulughbek. The other is called the Abdul Azizxon Madrasah, built in 1652 AD.


The older Madrasah of Uluhbek:


After a nice walk, we then came to the Magoki Attori. (12th-16th c.) Foundations date back to 6th c. when it was a bazar, then they built a mosque on the site in the 12th c.


Our last major stop of the morning took us to the Labi Khaus, which is another architectural complex, which means "around the waterfall". There was a caravansary, the madrasah where we had dinner last night, and another madrasah called the Kokaldosh Madrasah, which was built in 1568-69 and is the largest madrasah in central Asia.








We then walked through a Jewish neighborhood, and went to visit a working synagogue,l but it was closed, and we couldn't find the keeper of the keys. So we went to lunch, had a free afternoon. I spent the time relaxing, took a walk around town, and just enjoyed the free-time since I know I ave over two more weeks of touring, both in Turkmenistan (where we will head tomorrow) and afterwards in China. We had a sunset dinner at a rooftop restaurant, which was our farewell to Uzbekistan dinner. We will be sad to leave this beautiful, friendly country tomorrow, but will be glad to head to a new country, Turkmenistan in the morning! Turkmenistan is famous for its hand-woven carpets, and I plan to do some damage when I get there! Can't wait!!!


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Bukhara: Day 1

Bukhara, located on the Silk Road, has been known as a city of merchants, a city of trade for literally thousands of years. Bukhara means "cloister" or "monastery" in Persian. Before we got to town, we were told that Samarkand (the town we left yesterday) was like a beautiful woman with make-up, and that Bukhara was a beautiful woman without make-up. This was a fairly appropriate comparison, as you will soon see...

Our first stop of the morning was built in the late 9th, early 10th century, called the Mausoleum of Ismoil Samoniy. He was the first representative of the dynasty that occurred after the Arabs, the Samkoniy Dynasty. That period was described as the Golden period of Central Asian history.





Our next stop was another mausoleum. It was the Mausoleum of Chashma-Ayub, built in the 12th-14th centuries. He did something important, but my claustrophobia got the best of me and I couldn't listen to the guide's description inside the small, crowded space...


Then we walked to what is called the 40-pillared mosque (even though there are only twenty). It is called the 40-pillared mosque because if you view it from across the pond, it reflects and makes 40. Its true name is Bolo-Xauz, and was built in the 18th century.








Those of you who know her may be able to spot Holly in this last picture (above).

We then walked to the Fortress Ark. It was the winter palace of all Bukhara rulers, and dates back to the 1st to 4th centuries. It was destroyed and rebuilt several times throughout history, and was last rebuilt in the 16th century.


Our last stop of the morning was the Chor Minor. It used to be a madrasah, but unfortunately all that is left now is the entrance, which was built in the early 19th century. Chor means "four" in Persian and minor means "minaret". No surprise that it has four minarets! It is currently being used as a shop.


We then had lunch at the hotel, and then set out in the afternoon to the outskirts of town. There we saw the Sitorai, or Mokhi-Hossa, which was the summer palace of the last ruler of Bukhara. The name means "the stars like the moon". The outer parts were built in the middle of the 19th century, and the rest at the beginning of the 20the century. I thought the inside was awful, and extremely tacky. Part of the palace (the harem) was converted into a museum which displayed several suzani (the hand-embroidered wall coverings described previously).





We then went to what was described as a traditional dance show. At the beginning of the show, I felt that I could have been in 1,001 Nights, but it quickly devolved into nothing more than a fashion show, shamelessly featuring the wares of a local shop, which was unfortunate because it really could have been something special...

We then went to a local house were we were treated to a cooking demonstration, followed by a delicious meal! After copious amounts of vodka, we made our way back to the hotel and went to sleep to prepare for the next day's sights!


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Samarkand to Bukhara

This morning we were up for breakfast and then off to Gur Emir, which was the burial place of Amir Temur. "Gur Emir" means "the burial place of the ruler." Temur wasn't supposed to be buried there (he had planned to be buried in Shahrisabz - see yesterday's blog), but that is where his body ended up, along with a couple other people, including his grandson, Ulughbek. Here are a few pictures of the outside and inside of the site:











After visiting the site, we headed to the market, which I didn't particularly care for for two reasons: first, I don't places that are congested with people; and second, it was a fairly unremarkable market.


We then had lunch at our hotel, packed up and then were on the road to Bukhara. The drive took about six hours along a road that was not quite as smooth as the one from Tashkent, but thankfully we did stop a couple times along the way. The first was at the ruins of a caravansary, which were the former stops along the Silk Road where the caravans would rest after a long day of travel.


We continued on and made a stop at a cotton field, where the cotton was being handpicked by several villagers.








We piled back into the bus, and drove on the rest of the way to Bukhara. We arrived at the hotel for the night and in the lobby was an acquaintance from a previous trip (those who were on the Corinthian II from Ghana to Spain may remember Holly) reminding me what a truly small world we are living in... We then had dinner and afterwards I caught up on email and paid all my bills online, wrote the daily blog, and then headed to bed because we have to be packed up and ready to change hotels in the morning. I'm not entirely sure why because our current hotel is more than satisfactory, but it is what it is. Maybe the next hotel will have wireless so I can upload my blog! Only time will tell!


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