World Traveller: 7 Continents, 90 Countries, 871 Days Overseas
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Tuesday 30 May 2023
Highlights: Border crossing to Turkmenistan, Card game
Today I said goodbye to 10 members of the tour group and our CEO Rustam while 6 of us (Kyle, Ingrid, Amy, Mike, Nancy and me), plus our new CEO Eziz, travelled to Turkmenistan for the fifth and last ‘Stan of the Five Stans. Khiva was only 1.5 hours from the border and we left around 9 am.
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Monday 29 May 2023
Highlights: Kalta Minor Minaret, Tash-Khovli Palace, Madrasah Qutlug Murad, Tash-Khauli Palace, Juma Mosque, Islom-Hoja Minaret (tallest in Uzbekistan), and Pahlavon Mahmud Mausoleum
Today was a chance to explore this unique city-museum of Khiva in more detail. The city was established around 1500 years ago but there were inhabitants even earlier. In 1991 Khiva was the first site in Uzbekistan to be inscribed in the World Heritage List (UNESCO). Khiva was the former capital of the Khanate of Khiva, and the Khorezm People’s Soviet Republic.
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Sunday 28 May 2023
Highlights: Khoja Tabband Mosque, Exploring Khiva, Khiva at Night
A long drive ahead of us meant we wanted to be on the road by 8 am. I woke up slightly unwell but hopefully nothing too serious for today’s 8 hour plus of driving.
Before leaving Bukhara we had one final stop point the Khoja Tabband Mosque. This is a very picturesque former Mosque in a quiet part of the city. Lonely Planet had previously used this Mosque on the cover of their Uzbekistan guide.
Saturday 27 May 2023
Highlights: The Samanid Mausoleum, visiting the Boloi Havz Mosque, exploring the Ark of Bukhara (Fortress), learning the history of Kalyan Minaret, exploring the Kalyan Mosque.
Today was day 2 of exploring Bukhara in depth. After breakfast at our hotel, we left at 8.30 am to try to beat the coming heat.
Our first visit was to the Samanid Mausoleum. This Mausoleum was built in the late 9th century for the rulers of the Samanid Empire. It was built outside the ancient city and was later lost under sand and was therefore spared when the Mongol’s destroyed most of Bukhara in the 13th century.
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Friday 27 May 2023
Highlights: Sunrise over the Kyzylkum Desert, Exploring the Caravanserai Rabat-I-Malik, Exploring historic old sector of Bukhara
I woke up around 5 am in our Yurt after a mostly peaceful night sharing accommodation with 4 other tour members. The early morning meant I have time to get up and see the sunrise over the Kyzylkum Desert.
Breakfast was served around 7.30 am as we swapped stories of last night around singing and dancing under the stars. There was no shower this morning in this remote place, so we all had a small degree of sand and salt (from the lake yesterday) as we left our campground at 8.30 am on a bumpy and vert slow drive out of the desert.
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Nathan's Insights 