Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Bukhara is another gorgeous city, with a walled part, housing its historic city, with beautiful mosques and medresses. The ornate archways lead to shady retreats, often revealing handicraft stalls and carpet sellers. We stopped by one today and a lady asked us where we were from, and upon replying England, she proceeded to talk to us, keen to practise her English. We discussed many things, such as comparing the cost of living, her marriage to her husband at the age of nineteen and how she was unable to travel to America, despite paying one hundred dollars for a visa. Travel really does seem very difficult here for local people, even if they can save up the money. The lady thought that once she reaches thirty five, getting a visa to travel will become easier. Perhaps things will change slowly, although international news websites appear to be blocked in Uzbekistan.



Yesterday we had a walking tour of the city, by our guide, Jallel, an intelligent and witty character who has sussed out the group dynamics very quickly, noticing who wants to eat together and the few people that we would rather loose. We went to a street cafe last night and ate beef kebab, which arrived on an impressively large skewer. The seating area is raised from the ground and resembled sitting on a large bed with a table in the middle. Underneath us, an assortment of cats, geese and a the occassional dog wandered past the tables. Occassionally a fight would break out amongst the animals and a goose would run past, scattering my flip flops across the cafe floor. It was a fun experience, and Jallel, our local guide came and sat with us in the evening as we chatted. It feels like I am learning a lot about local life through the poeple being so friendly and honest.



This afternoon we visited a tea house and enjoyed a relaxed atmosphere, sampling local tea flavoured with herbs and spices, accompanied by various sweet treats such as sultanas and sugary seed cakes. I wandered through market stalls and bought a few local items to bring back and found an internet cafe that works, as things like internet and mobile phone signal seem to be very tempermental here.