arriving in Samarqand

What has been a crazy idea a few weeks ago, became now a reality – I am wandering the streets of Samarqand, a city situated along the old silk road that connected many central Asian countries from China to Turkey.

It is a very special experience, as I don’t feel foreign in this city, feelings I usually had when I was in the Balkans or when I was traveling to Brazil.

Following I want to share with you some of my first impressions and hopefully transmit some of my excitement.

getting prepared to take off

After my departure from Lisbon, thanks to Alex who drove me to the airport in the early morning, I spent 13 hours in plains and on the humongous airport of Istanbul. The flights were very smooth and after my initial nervousness I could relax ever deeper into the adventure that was starting. I fell asleep on the second plain and woke up from the announcement by the pilot starting to land in Samarqand. I was a bit nervous at the border check, but all went smooth and half an hour later I could drive out with my bags and the huge box that had my bike in it.

my first coffee in Samarqand airport

I had many eyes on me when I came out, I was the only white central European that was around, it felt a bit weird at first. After a morning coffee (it was 5 in the morning) I made a deal with the cap driver who then took me to the hostel. I was not used yet to bargain about the prices and payed the tourist price, which was still super cheap. They are very friendly, I thought it would be a harsh back and forth, but it is a very sweet discussion.

Arriving at the hostel I was welcomed by a very sleepy but very nice woman, I got my room and a huge sensation of joy filled my body – I ahve finally arrived. I took a nap, but didn’t want to sleep, so I would stay already within the new time zone.

When I came down into the garden, I saw that Claudio, one of the guys I will bike through the Pamirs with, had also checked into the hostel, I recognized his bike. That was a great surprise.

After some time I decided it was time to look into my bike box, it looked pretty banged up and I was a bit scared what I might find in it. Luckily it all was good and while I was working, I got a visit of two very sweet kittens.

I had a very light heart after my bike was finally back in one piece.

After I had another nap and a tea I met Claudio and we went together to the centre of the city. It was the first time I got in touch with my surroundings and saw some of the impressive architecture.

I could write hours about Samarqand, it’s history and the different locations that all have a very impressive history.

I was really excited to visit all the different sites and to get to know this very different architectural monuments.

After a long day we went out for dinner and walked to one of the most exciting places here, the famous Registan Square.

We were out for sunset, which colours the buildings in a very beautiful way. It feels so heart opening when the rays of the sun touch the walls, the different ornaments and colours. It is very spectacular and you cannot resist and sit down for a while and absorb this beautiful magic.

Full of joy we walked back home and I was falling into a deep sleep, even though it was still very hot and I heard a lot of car noise due to the open windows.

The next day I started very early, it makes sense to get up with the sun – around 5 in the morning, and to make use of the colder temperatures.

I realized I am in a tea country and so I had my first yummy black tea, while I wrote in my diary. I had to process many impressions and enjoyed this calm and peaceful time.

That day I had to take care of many things, I needed to find an ATM to get some local money, which became a bit of a treasure hunt. Many of the machines didn’t work and all banks were closed. After about one and a half hours I managed to find something.

On the way I absorbed many impressions, the city is very green with big trees, is very clean and most of the cars are white Chevrolets. I love when I find some of the older vehicles.

This is a great city to get lost in, I loved it to wander around and to bump into new facettes that shape the beauty of the place.

The most exciting thing of the day was still to come, Claudio and me went out to see some places again at sunset, the first one was an ancient sky observatory Ulugh Beg, that was built around the 1420’s. Many of the famous architectural sites were built by this ruler, who was aso a famous scientist in that time. He loved astronomy, math and music, which was also told in the medrassa of the Registan Square. When you walk around they celebrate him in many ways.

Afterwards we continued our way and were stranded on this beautiful patch in the middle of the city, which was a huge cemetery.

We got stuck at one point and had to jump over a fence to get further, unfortunately into the main burial area, which was observed by a camera. Shortly after we were greeted by one of the caretakers who was not happy that we took the wrong way. After some arguments and trying to explain how we ended up here we payed the entrance fee and could carry on our excursion.

I would love to upload so many more pictures, but it would just be too much. Yet it is such a magical space and wandering around made us realize how rich this area is in so many ways. We finally got some view into the mountains that we will soon drive into, some reach over 5.000 meters into the sky.

After a very lovely dinner, we headed on into the centre and wanted to watch the Lightshow they perform on Sundays to show the Registan Square in a different way. We saw so many people there from all over Uzbekistan, many kids playing and having a great time.

I hope I could transport the excitement I constantly feel and you enjoyed my first report of this journey.

I wish you a great start into the new week.

Thank you very much for this unique gift I am experiencing right now.

• WordPress
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Link