Day 9 (July 7, 2023): Samarkand continued

One of our biggest concerns about visiting Uzbekistan the peak of summer was the possibility of excruciating heat.  We have seen temperatures of up to 50C in July, so our great concern was trying to cope with such heat, while wearing long pants (for me) and long skirts (for Pam).  For the first eight days of our vacation, however, we have been blessed with temperatures of only up to 33C.  The last five days of our trip will, unfortunately, range from 37-45C, but at least for today, we enjoyed the relative moderate temperatures.

The breakfast buffet at the Hilton Garden Inn was quite fine.  Various salads and things like chicken cutlets form the typical breakfast fare in these parts.  But one can always create a satisfactory breakfast of eggs, toast, fruit, cheese, yogurt, coffee and juice.

Having had very long days yesterday and the day before, we decided to take it easy this morning.  We didn’t leave the hotel until 11:30AM.  Being able to order taxis via the “Yandex Go” app has made getting around so easy on this trip.  A typical ride costs just $1-$2.

We had one of the ‘top four’ sites remaining on the agenda for today, plus a few secondary sights to wrap up Samarkand.

First up, was the last of the ‘top four’: Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum:

The mausoleum was built by Amir Temur, kind of the Tamirund region in the 15th century.




The gold leaf of the interior dome of the mausoleum can be described as nothing less than stunning.

As is typical is mausoleums here, the grave markers do not contain the remains.  Rather, they simply provide an indication of where the actual graves lie in the crypt below.  Entering the crypts is not permitted, but this photo shows the burial layout that corresponds to the markers above in the mausoleum.  The black marble marker is that of Amir Temur.  In June 1941, a Soviet archaeologist opened his grave to study his skeletal remains.  A marker on the grave indicated, “He who opens this will face a greater enemy than I.”  Coincidentally, the following day, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union.

Statue of Amir Temur in the heart of Samarkand.

Tomb of the Old Testment prophet, Daniel.  (As in the Daniel in the lion’s den.). Daniel is common to the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths.  In the 14th century, his remains were taken from current-day Iran to Uzbekistan, where they have been ever since.  A mausoleum holds his remains, but the casket has to be continually extended (currently at 45 meters long), as they say his skeleton grows an inch per year.  Whether it’s true or not, that is one. Massive coffin!

The land near Daniel’s Tomb is very arid, and has been the site of much archaological activity.  Great finds of a palace and community from the 7th century have been uncovered.  The area is known as the Afrosiyob.



The Afrosiyob Museum contains artifacts from the digs in that area.  The piece de resistance are the colourful wall murals from the palace’s receiving room, where the ruler accepted dignitaries from all over Asia.

Dave riding a (cement) camel (which was as hot as the blazin’ sun!) at the Afrosiyob. 

Our last stop of the afternoon was the Siob Bazaar.  From spices to breads and vegetables and everything else one could imagine, it’s all there!

Never throw out that old baby carriage!  You never know when it might be repurposed!

We laughed at some of the translations in the menu at the Oasis Garden, where we had dinner.  The “Roll Canada” doesn’t sound overly Canadian.  But if you like your meat lumpy, this is the place to come!



Dinner was amazingly delicous!  The food here is carefully and freshly prepared.  And to give you an idea, the above curry chicken with rice was $5.  The Cream of lentil soup below was $2.



And this massive Russian crepe, filled with jam, was $1.


We ended the day by returning to where our Samarkand visit began:  the Registan.  The light show gave the site a very different look and feel.  We wondered how the original builders would have felt about this!