Bukhara

This city recently celebrated its 2500 anniversary, although it was apparently founded in 600 B.C. Everybody who was anybody has attacked this city - Alexander the Great is 300 B.C., the Persians, the Arabs - eventually Genghis Khan trashed the place in 1220 and Tamorlane took over in 1370.

We arrived in the city after a 7 hour drive across the Kyzlkum desert. Sand drifts covering the road are occasionally a problem. In the middle of the desert, we went hours without seeing another person except for a single shepherd with a flock of goats. We also saw the skinniest cows I have ever seen in my life.

The challenge with being in a place that is so old is that its easy to get confused. The building above was considered a landmark design during the era around 800 to 1100 A.D. when "Noble Bukhara" was the intellectual & economic capital of Asia. The building below was built as a copy / replica / advancement of the design - 300 years later!! At this time, Bukhara was home to over double its current population of 260,000.

This small square building is a mausoleum - a tomb for the father of the king who ruled in the year 905. When Genghis Khan was at the gates of the city 300 years later, the inhabitants each pledged to bring a bag of sand to cover it - so it was successfully disguised as a hill. In the 1600's, the city was destroyed by a huge earthquake and abandoned for decades. This building was uncovered by a subsequent earthquake in the 19th century and dug out. This building is original - nothing has been restored. Part of the reason that it has lasted 1100 years is that its walls are 2 meters thick. If you have a wish, you are supposed to say it at the entrance & then walk around the building 9 times to get it to come true. It was 43C when we did our laps, so I think that we paid well for our wishes!

 And even though this UNESCO site has 170 ancient buildings, some things just stay the same everywhere in the world - like everybody likes ice cream and bouncy castles!

The ruler in 1807 couldn't decide what religion was true, so when he built the Char Minar entrance to a local medrassa (Islamic university) he built 4 towers - one for each of the major religions - Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Christianity - just to hedge his bets.

This statue was of a local Don Quiote type character - known for fooling the rich out of their money & giving it to the poor. Yup, that's a couple in the back ground getting their wedding photos. He's in a suit; her dress must have about 20 kilos of taffeta - at 41C!!!

Off to Samarkand today, which is supposed to have even more old buildings!!