Samarkand is rich with the history of Amir Timur also known as Tamerlane. He was born just south of Samarkand in 1336 and grew to conquer more territory than anyone else except for Alexander. His armies crossed Eurasia from Delhi to Moscow and from Central Asia to Anatolia. He was the last of the great nomadic leaders and has 27 states under his rule. This was a golden age for intellects and artisans who gathered in Samarkand from all over the empire.
After one of his campaigns in India, he brought back elephants to Samarkand to help in the building of mosques, tombs and palaces. He believed in uniting the best from each place conquered.
Our first stop was a Tamerlane family mausoleum, positioned in the shadow of a spiritual mentor so that his positive energy would continue to flow to the deceased. This masterpiece of Islamic architecture, built for one of Tamerlane’s grandsons, would be the inspiration for the Taj Mahal. Then we visited the fifteenth century Ulug-bek observatory, built by the Astronomer, Sultan, and grandson of Tamerlane, Ulug-bek who ruled for 40 years and never fought a war. He cataloged the stars and mapped out the sun, moon and planets. He also wrote a book that is still used and referred to today. He calculated the length of a year to within 3 degrees of what we use today. It was Nancy’s turn to talk with local women who were visiting from another province. They chatted as best they could and posed for pictures with Nancy. Whenever we tell people we are from the US, they would say America with big grins. We don’t think we have ever travelled anywhere where we have been approached so often or felt we could approach the locals so easily as here in Uzbekistan.
Next day we explored more of Samarkand. The city was established in the middle of the first century BC and was an important stop on the silk road. Did we mention that our trip is based on the cities and history of the silk road. We went to a mosque, near the bazaar. Our trip trough the Siab bazaar began at the sweets and bread aisles and moved out from there. People were everywhere but this was one of the cleanest and friendliest and most orderly bazaars we have ever seen. Next stop, carpet workshop…
Most impressive buildings of the day were part of the Shah-i-Zinda necropolis of churches, temples and mausoleums built up the hillside. The prophet Muhammed’s cousin is buried here as well as spiritual leaders, architects, military leaders and royal family members. It was breathtaking. We climbed 40 stairs and entered through an archway to a series of towering vibrant blues, purples and white painted and carved tile buildings. The people watching was as important to the experience as the building themselves. Building were added to the area beginning in the 11th century and continued through the 19th. There are three groups of structures connected by domed arched passages.
Lunch. Today we got to meet Abdu’s family. We had lunch in his neighborhood at a friends home and his wife and two daughters joined us. The young lady of the house (15) prepared the salads and starters with her grandmother who also made the soup. Abdu’s wife cooked the delicious dumplings and this quickly became our favorite meal. The girl’s were shy but it was long before Sue and another traveler had them singing ABC’s and Twinkle, twinkle…We scared them with the Hokey, Pokey. We back to eating and let the girl’s go back to playing.
Last day in Samarkand took us on a three hour drive to
Shakhrisabze, the birthplace of Tamerlane. We found a statue and remnants of a grand palace he built during his lifetime. We visited the tomb where he wanted to be buried, in the shadow of his father and a spiritual leader. We went to a mosque that was, to quote Sue, “really pretty” inside. We drove three hours back. DInner—hmmm, hmmm chicken. Roast chicken and the best bread we have had so far. A local place Abdu picked out since we were all craving a lighter meal. It was finger lickin’ good. Unfortunately, the next day brought a 5 hour trip back to Tashkent. The good news of the day was that Nancy, fellow passenger from Memphis, finally got her luggage--what a great sport she was about not having it for many, many days.
On the way back to Tashkent, we stopped at a mountain pass which was said to have been created to allow troops to pass through and defend the area. The area is called the gates of Timur. We observed the bullet train passing. We saw the inscriptions on the wall that told of the opening of the gates. The scenery was varied from desert to mountains, from sheep to cattle to donkeys. One of Sue's favorite sights was of a gas station where the sole "vehicle" pulled up at the pump was a donkey and its elderly rider....On an earlier part of the trip we saw fields of poppies, rich red carpets moving in the wind. Our final afternoon in Tashkent and Uzbekistan we had some free time so went back to the street market called "Broadway". Nancy found a red star pin given to children who did well in school during soviet times. Sue found a fountain pen on a stand shaped like a rocket with a commemorative medallion from a 1959 Sputnik 3 launch. We hoped to see the 400 year old Koran that an American UNICEF worker has recommended to us. Upon arrival at the Islamic center we fell into conversation with students who studied there to become Imams. They were curious as to our ages, Dolly at 86 and George at 90 always brings signs of respect. They told us about their studies, their current work and the school itself. By the time we got to the museum it was closed. We went to the madrassah and did some final shopping before a delicious farewell dinner.
Meet our traveling companions: Nancy and Pat from Memphis, George and Dolly from New Jersey and Abdu. We are now off to Turkey to meet a new guide and three new travelers.
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