2017-3 – Silk Road

Always great to be at Hong Kong airport. Means we’re almost home! Waiting for our last red-eye flight.

Last dinner with our group. Flying to Almaty this afternoon.

See our latest post and pictures at: https://www.facebook.com/cindy.macie/posts/1402768723171269

See our latest post and pictures on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/cindy.macie/posts/1401540419960766

More of Samarkand. Mausoleum of Tamerlane, The Registan, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, History Museum, and amazing sound and light show at the Registan. See full post and pictures on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cindy.macie/posts/1401531106628364

Drove to Samarkand today. Interesting visit to the ancient Ulug-Beg Observatory and the phenomenal Shah-i-Zinda necropolis of tombs, mosques and mausoleums. Fantastic tiles from the 14th century.

Off the grid for a day as we drove into the desert to a yurt camp near Lake Aydar and Nurata. Stopped to view petroglyphs and the ruins of yet another fort of Alexander the Great. Got to ride camels

A free day to explore Bukhara. Checked out a couple of museums and wandered the streets. Got to see the actual Bug Pit of Stoddart and Conolly fame. https://www.thoughtco.com/execution-of-stoddart-and-conolly… Did a bit of shopping then back to the hotel for

A long day touring around Bukhara. Way too many madrassahs and they all look the same! Also visited the last Emir’s summer palace, The Ark, a mausoleum, several mosques & minarets and markets. Finished the day with an ethnic music

Today we drove across the Kyzylkum desert from Khiva to Bukhara. Hot and dry 8.5 hour drive. Got to pick cotton in the fields near Bukhara.

Excellent day wandering through the town of Khiva. Beautifully tiled mosques, madrassahs and palaces. Traditional tiles are always white, blue and turquoise. Our hotel was a converted madrassah and we slept in an old study cubicle. Sunset atop a watchtower

Flew to Urgench in the morning then spent the afternoon touring 3 of the Qala Forts of ancient Khorezm – Kyzyl Qala, Toprak Qala and Ayaz Qala.

Started our tour. Nice group of people all from the UK. Tour of Tashkent for our first day.

Last full day in Tajikistan. Stayed in a sanatorium on the shores of the Kayrakkum Lake reservoir then spent the morning visiting the sights of Khojand. Tomorrow we’re overland to Uzbekistan!

Hiking in the Fan Mountains of Tajikistan. Beautiful scenery up around 2400m in the area of Haft-Kul (the Seven Lakes ). Excellent home stay in Padrud. Fantastic food but the toilet facilities left much to be desired.