I chanced on this Uzbek guide in his traditional dress with a sword to add. My guide informed me that his name is Genghis Khan,

Poi Kalyn Complex is made up of the Poi Kalyn Minaret, the Poi-Kalyn Mosque and the Mir-i-Arab Madrassa which currently serves as an institution of Islamic Studies. The minaret served as a lighthouse of sorts with lights leading caravans on the Silk Road to it. It is a centre piece of Islamic architecture in Bukhara and has been accorded recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  

Ulugh Beg Madrassa in Bukhara

Magok-i-Attari Mosque is a part of the ensemble of Lyabi Hauz.

Labi Hovus Restaurant is highly-rated in Old Town of Bukhara. Located next the Lyabi Hauz Ensemble, it attracts lots of diners daily. The food served is excellent and the service staff are very friendly and efficient. As we lodged nearby we visited twice and found nothing to be desired.

Sarbast Beer, locally brewed, has won two international medals. I found out in Uzbekistan that beer comes filtered or unfiltered. Filtered beer suits our palate, I reckon. The potato wedges went well with Sarbast too, 

Two kebabs - the one on top is beef and that below is mutton patty, Go well with beer. You may notice that Uzbeks consume lots of raw onion.

Sitora-i-Mokhikhosa is the summer residence of the former Emir of Bukhara

Built on sprawling compounds, today it serves as a museum for appreciating Russian architecture mixed with local adornments. This hall is filled with glazed tiles

An antique European clock blends well with the decorated wall.

Motifs here are largely European (Russian) in appearance.

Bibi-Khanym Mosque, named after Temur's favourite wife, was intended to be the Chief Friday Mosque of Samarkand, When it was  commissioned in 1404, the intended capacity was to be 10,000 worshippers. However, because of the rushed construction and materials used that pushed the architectural and engineering protocols of the time, the mosque began to deteriorate and parts of the structure crumbled away. Thus the aim could not be realized and it had to be abandoned. Today, it has been heavily restored and serves as an open air museum.  

Cute lovely Uzbek pottery that adorn the courtyard of the Old Bukhara Resraurant

 

A modern mobile Tandooti oven

Plov a la Old Bukhara Restaurant. It's vegetarian and the strips are yellow carrots. More details of Plov will come in a later post

Mausoleum of the 14th Century Sufi saint Bahal al-Din Naqshband, founder of what became one of the largest Sufi orders, the Naqshbandi

How Naan is prepared and perforated before baking. Naan is a critical part of Uzbek cuisine and we had it for lunch.

Potter at work where we stopped for lunch on the way from Bukhara to Samarkand.

A caravanserai which has been preserved. They are common in the Silk Road and some have been converted to hotels too.

 The first pub in Pub Street, Samarkand, we went to top up beer and pub grub,

The pub grub served here is skewered and heated up when ordered. Not to put on more, we opted for vegetables. 

A schematic of the empire of Amir Temur, the founder of Uzbekistan.

A genealogy of the Timurid Family. One of his 9th generation great-grandsons, Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, built the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. 

The golden niche in which Amir Temur is interred.

A golden dome in the mausoleum,

Shot taken in the inner courtyard of the Gur-e Emir (mausoleum of the great Emir Temur aka Tamerlane).

Registon (Registan) Square is a historic public square in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It's renowned for its ensemble of three madrassas - Ulugh Beg Madrassa from the Timurid period, and the Shardar and Tilakari (Tillyakori) Madrassas built during the Janid dynasty. People gathered in the square to hear public royal proclamations and witness public executions. It was the hub of the Timurid Renaissance. Considered one of the most magnificent examples of Islamic architecture, it is listed as a World Heritage site.

 

 The Shardar Madrassa is on the right side of the square

The Tillya Kori Madrassa is in the centre.

The Ulugh Beg Madrassa is on the left side of the square. 

An opulent dome from one of the madrassas.

An equally opulent golden alcove. When it comes to places of worship, people are willing to donate their money. This reminds me of the golden stupa of the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. 

  

At various times throughout the day, people will gather at the square to dance or perform like this group of dancers. 

This market place is called Siyob Bazaar 

Plov (Pilaf Rice) is akin to the national dish of Uzbekistan, available too in other Central Asian countries. Cooked with meat (usually mutton or beef). spices, oil or fat, yellow carrots and other vegetables, it is served with salads. I feel it to be a milder version of Nasi Briyani. Plov is recognized by UNESCO under Intangible World Heritage. 

I happened to catch this vendor cooking Plov near Siyob Bazaar. Just look at his wok (frying pan).  Imagine how many portions he's cooking at one time,

Our favourite street in Samarkand to quench our thirst plus hunger. Several pubs line both sides.

The Green Bear Bar is more a pub than a bar. It is a nice place to down a few pints and pub grub.

Without checking our order properly, we ended up with this chicken overload. There's not enough space to put this in after a few pints!

Ali, our guide, and SK at a paper-making facility in the village of Konigil in Samarkand.

In the process of making paper, the rinds of Mulberry branches are stripped.

Water is transferred from a running river to the workshop using a water wheel.

Ali is explaining a part of the process to two visitors.

Products from paper - dresses too can be made from paper.

Statue of Ulugh Beg outside the Ulugh Beg Observatory in Samarkand. He was the grandson of the great Amir Temur who built the observatory in 1428-29. Renowned as an astronomer and ruler, the observatory he built was considered one of the best astronomical centres in the Islamic medieval World.  It housed a giant subterranean 30-m marble sextant which could measure the solar year and >1,000 stars with unprecedented accuracy.

The entrance to what was a three-storey building which was looted and destroyed following Ulugh Beg's assassination in 1449, 

The remnants of the marble sextant remain intact underground surviving the destruction of the three storey building. This was buried until Russian archaeologist, Vasily Vyatkin, rediscovered it in 1908.Today, it is the centre piece of what was once a glorious observatory of the Galaxy. There is also a museum built in 1970 to commemorate Ulugh Beg which contains his Great works and other notable manuscripts.

Shakhi Zinda Ensemble is considered the most revered site and one of the finest architectural ensembles in Central Asia. Legend has it that it is the resting place of Kusam ibn Abbas, a cousin of Prophet Muhammad who brought Islam to Central Asia in the 7th Century. Over time, it became the resting place for Temur's family members, nobles and religious figures. The mausoleums here follow a unified architectural style. It is considered to be one of the greatest treasures of the Silk Road. 

One of the mausoleums  - it shows the unified architectural style with its square domed structure and an entrance framed by an elegant alcove. The facades feature brightly coloured glazed tiles.  

An alcove adorned with beautifully coloured riles

In view of its status as one of the most revered religious sites, pilgrims stream in from all over the Islamic World.

Window to one of the greatest architectural jewels of the Silk Road, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.