Bukhara, Uzbekistan:

Waking up it became clear why people stay at the Hotel Old Bukhara. The proximity to historical sites and views. You simply can't beat waking up to this:





We also had breakfast included in our nightly rate so I decided to check out what they had on offer.

I ended up making it down to breakfast about 20 minutes before they were set to closed and didn't see any food set out or people eating. Initially I assumed they had closed, but I was very wrong.

There appeared to be a few waiters or cooks who seated me and began to bring out dish after dish...



Dining Room

Breakfast

Quite the breakfast for one person! The fruit and bread was pretty good and there was certainly no shortage of food to be had. Not quite at the level of the Hilton, but for a free breakfast it was pretty darn good.

With this day scheduled to be the hottest on our trip we decided to opt for a night/evening tour of the city. Since we had some time to kill before our tour we decided to wander out around the city.

Bukhara is quite a bit smaller than Samarkand, but is filled with small allies and corridors that are easy to get lost in. Personally I found that aspect quite nice and felt it added to the charm of the city, but I could see others viewing it as a negative.



Kalon Minaret & Mir-i-Arab Madrasa




Bazaar!

With the extreme heat we began looking for somewhere cool to sit and relax fairly early on in the day. That place ended up being Labi Hovuz, a restaurant on Lyab-i Hauz. Lyab-i Hauz is one of the few remaining hauz pools in the world and is worth visiting if you are in the area. There is also a cultural dance show next to the lake that occurs in the evening. I would have gone had I known it existed in advance, but the little I saw from outside looked good.




Afgan bread

Bukhara Plov

Lagman


The food wasn't the best I've had, but the location is hard to beat. It isn't bad food per se, but I wouldn't go there for the food--go there for the views.

With lunch out of the way I decided to go to the Palace of Moon-like Stars. It's a bit outside of the city center, but you can get there by Yandex for only a few dollars.

Most of the historical sites charge for entry. There is an Uzbek national price and a foreigner price. The Palace was a bit special in that they made me pay extra for having a DSLR. I'm pretty sure other sites were also supposed to charge, but the only one that actually did was this one.













Beautiful stained glass


There are many displays of traditional clothing, carpets, china, and more




There are tons of peacocks at the palace

I hadn't initially included the palace on my itinerary, but I am very glad I managed to make it. Built for the Emir of Bukhara by Russian trained architects it is quite different from the rest of the city. Although the ancient cities are amazing it can feel quite repetitive seeing mosque after mosque. The palace was a nice change of pace.

With the sun beginning to set it was time for our city tour to begin. We had already seen many of the major sites earlier in the day wandering around, but it was nice to hear the story behind them. Here are some pictures from the tour.




Mir-i-Arab Madrasa

Kalon Minaret (Great Minaret)

Ark of Bukhara

Ark of Bukhara

Kalan Mosque

Kalan Mosque

Mosque (wooden pillars) Moschea Bolo-khauz




Bukhara Synagogue

Chor-Minor




With our overnight train to Khiva fast approaching we decided to get something to eat at restaurant Old Bukhara (not to be confused with the Hotel Old Bukhara). Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the food here, but it was pretty good. The rooftop seating is very nice too.



As our midnight train continued to approach we went back to the hotel, picked up our bags, and got a Yandex to the train station.