Bukhara

Getting to Bukhara was an experience. From Tashkent to Samarkand, you pick up the bus that goes there - it will leave when it is full, but that is pretty much the only quirk. With it being a nice big bus, and air conditioned, I was almost a little disappointed. Almost. The Samarkand to
Bukhara one was much more interesting, despite being similar in appearance. For a start, it was the Tashkent to Samarkand bus and it would only stop if it wasn't full, which ruled out the first few. Then it got to the ar$e end of nowhere and everyone got out. Those going on to Bukhara were shunted into a minibus which was, by happy coincidence, exactly big enough for all of us. As long as people sat on the stools in the aisles. Yay! The spiderweb lattice work on the shattered windscreen was standard equipment. I was grinning pretty much all the way in. I'm expecting similar or even worse in China - especially the Yunnan trip.
The madrassas and mosques are very similar to those of Samarkand. This is no bad thing as they are still wonderful.
Too much history is a bit overwhelming!


The pool in the centre of Bukhara where all would gather.


The tower. Genghis Khan didn't flatten it because he felt something so impressive would bring him bad luck.



The citadel. 500 BC or somesuch

A wooden mosque

The oldest bulding in town. Also not razed by GK, but this one because he didn't know it was there.

This one has a pole with a yak's tail hanging from it. This symbolises that a saint is buried here. This one devised a branch of Islam based on working as well as worshipping.