Driving to Samarkand my patience is wearing thin. Our van has made a consistent beeping noise every time it goes over 10km since Artur picked us up in Bukhara the previous week and afteran hour, I’m losing my mind. Artur has taken two wrong turns onto a very potholed road which has extended our drive so we’re arriving in Samarkand two hours late. We have an hour to dump our packs in our rooms and quickly grab some food or have a shower before a walking tour of the city. A few of us prioritize food over cleanliness and find a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that appears to be a garage upon first glance until the owner waves us inside saying, “Good food. You come inside.” At this point we’ll eat our shoes we’re so hungry and we have limited time, so the garage for lunch it is. As it turns out, the owner goes above and beyond showing us pictures of menu options on Google and the food is excellent.
We race back to the hotel to meet the rest of the group and walk a short distance to the Registan complex to see the jewel of Uzbekistan. The madrassah, mausoleum and mosque are beautiful and the square is packed with the most tourists I’ve seen since arriving in the country. The architecture is stunning with colourful mosaics and tiles, but I find it doesn’t have the same charm as Khiva and Bukhara. Ismat is giving the history of the place and I’m too tired to pay attention so I let him know I’m going to wander and he gives me a time and place to meet so I don’t get left behind. I’m pointed to a set of hidden stairs by a shopkeeper and at the top I have a balcony view of the mausoleum’s atrium. Arabic music softly plays while a young artist paints.
When I meet up with the group, Ismat is standing with a police officer and he mentions that I’m also with the police. I show him my badge and give him my business card and a Canada pin. He asks me questions about my job through Ismat and when he asks how much my salary is a month, his eyes bug out of his head at my reply. I make in one month what he makes in a year😳
After seeing a few of the sights, Ismat takes us directly to a restaurant for dinner and I’m feeling especially grubby since I still haven’t had more than a drip shower after three days of hiking, two nights in the desert and one sweaty afternoon of walking the streets with my heavy camera bag. I can tell MK and Rosalie are feeling the same way and Melissa is on the verge of becoming “hangry” if we don’t get some food into her ASAP. All is forgotten when our dinner arrives. Ismat has spoiled us with his choice of menu tonight. We start with three tasty salads and the main course is a tender leg of lamb on mashed potatoes. As usual I eat way too much and opt to walk back to the hotel with MK, Claudia, Rosalie and Melissa to digest my meal a bit before bed.
I’ve lucked out and gotten a room to myself while we’re here. I step into the shower and groan in pleasure as the water rinses off days worth of dirt. Heaven.
