.... Samarcanda

 After an oks night sleep and an amazing shower and breakfast I decided I would have enough time to go into registan square before I met the boys.

It had not been open long so there were not that many people.   To be honest there are no words...three incredible structures all the same but at the time different!! All I can say is that you have to see it with your own eyes to see the beauty and the magic these buildings hold.

I had a play with my camera and managed to get some good shots.  I was also photographed with a lot of uzbec women.  It was hilarious, like being famous.  We love you please can we have a picture.  Bless them the uzbec people are just so lovely and friendly! 

The boys pushed back our meeting time which gave me an extra 15mins soaking it all up.  Like Khiva I just couldn't get enough!! 

 With another yandex we made our way to the observatory.  It's at the top of the town with great views.  The observatory is famous for determining time dates and years.  When a small spot of sun hit the metal rods it was 12 o clock ! It was amazing...we happened to be there still at 12 so see this happen! 

As we were wandering we met a girl called Pru who was working in Afghanistan!  Super interesting.  After the observatory our plan was to walk back into town via all the attractions.  We invited Pru to join us.

After saying goodbye to itchy boots male version, not before checking out his ride and getting a picture! We set off on our way, Pru happily taking the map reading into her own hands.  

We passed a museum, mosque, Jewish cemetery, normal cemetery and ended up at another mosque.  Different in structure as was made of wood similar to one in Bukhara, equally as impressive! 

Went to a fountain to fill up our bottles but it wasn't working, all of this walking is thirsty work especially in the heat of the day.  Anyhow some locals pointed towards a hosepipe, they were drinking from it so we joined them! 

There was another structure to see and we were told if you walk through the cemetery you can hop over the wall and sneak in without paying.  So off we trundled in the general direction not really having a clue whether it was possible.  We were definitely in the heart of the cemetery...no one would find us if we couldn't find our way out.  The news headlines we made up kept us amused 🤣

Finally we could see the big blue domes in front of us , up a little staircase and through a few more gravestones we could see what we were told.  There just happened to be two locals praying... Giving them distance until they finished we followed them down a slope and into the mosque 😉😉

I quickly put my scarf around my legs and we headed in, blending into the crowds that had just entered.  We were also meeting another girl there. 

So before when I said registan square was the daddy, honestly this place was on another level.  An absolute nother level.  I mistook this for somewhere else so it was by chance that I made it... Cheese on bread..I don't know where to start. 

So I won't you can either go for yourself, look at my pictures or research Google! Shah-i-zinda.  We took advantage of foto ops ..some more than others ( insta fotos had to be perfect ) 

This blew my mind, another level.  I've seen a few impressive places in my life this is way up there!!

Fotos done , off we trotted.  Two main things we still wanted to see, the bazar and the gigantic mosque.  But first we thought we had earnt ourselves a very cold cheap beer! Headed to our beef soup not beef soup place.  First beer didn't touch the sides.  So obvs it was rude not to have another.  

My travel plans were quite straight forward..my time was limited so planned to the t.  The others on the other hand constantly changed.  After putting some plans in motion for them we headed to the liquor store as we were on the hunt for pomegranate wine! 

First I was surprised there was a liquor store, secondly they had the talked about wine.  We tried to barter , We're talking cents but we managed to get a cheaper price.  I have to note that this shop had more bottles of vodka than I had seen people 😲 

We headed to one of guys hostel to try the wine and recheck one if them in.  The wine has to be said was vile !! We figured it would be better cold.  So we chilled it then headed to the bazar.  Of course there were apricots in all stages, spices and veg.  To be honest if you've seen one bazar you've seen them all .

I did spot a lady selling cooked corn 😋😋 love it, vegetarian 😁 😁 the rest of the market was closing so we headed to the gurt mosque, again you had to pay and you couldn't actually enter most of the domes.  After a quick scan on Google we decided it wasn't worth the fee, just to be there close to this gigantic mosque was enough. 

On our way back into the center we stopped into the hostel to try the wine, a mere improvement but definitely wouldn't recommend!! 

And now it was definitely time for tea.  We found a kebab place and managed to order two hot dog pittas without the hot dog and a beef kebab.  Omg it was delicious and so cheap we finished off with a cheeky ice cream.

I wanted to head to registan square for one last time, we'd missed the light show (shame 🤔) but there was talk of a laser show at 2230.  2230 came and went 23h came and went...I went and asked the translator..we are waiting for the important people, special people.  We don't know who they are and when they will come.  This was my queue to leave.  But we had been talking to a uzbec guy who was like.. How often would you see this show, you are here now so we have it another 20 mins .. y'esta done.

We went our separate ways.  It's funny I didn't have any expectations of meeting people, but ended up meeting a really nice group of people.  On all different paths, journeys.  This is why I love travelling!! To now go on a proper holiday I think would be very difficult.