Greetings from Bukhara! I’ve only just arrived here a few short hours ago, and already it’s my favourite place in Uzbekistan, and maybe close to my favourite place on this trip altogether.
The long desert road
Today, we drove the 450 kilometers across the desert from Khiva to Bukhara.
We left Khiva this morning and headed out through Urgench and several small towns towards the open road. At first, there was lots of greenery. But then it abruptly disappeared, turning into sand and shrubbery for endless miles. There really is a whole lot of nothingness between Khiva and Bukhara.
The first 130km of desert went by very quickly, as we were driving on a smooth, German-constructed concrete road. The Koreans have promised to rebuild the other half of the road similarly, and large sections have been built parallel to the old road. But that’s not done yet, so the next half took twice as long, since we still had to use the old Soviet-era asphalt road. The asphalt has a bad habit of melting in the hot desert sun, not to mention the sandblown sections or the washed out parts.
All told with stops, the drive from Khiva to Bukhara took us nine hours, including stops. Before the German road, it took thirteen. When the Korean road is complete, it will take six. Then again, when you consider that the Silk Road camel caravans used to take four to six months to cross the same distance, nine hours doesn’t seem so bad.
Along the way, we made a couple of short stops, first at a shop to buy snacks and water, and then later for bush stops and fuel. The fuel stop was by the Oxus river, looking out at the Turkmenistan border in the distance. We were first told it was okay to take photos of the river, but then some soldiers showed up and apparently it’s not so okay after all. Once they saw a few people using the bushes for, erm, bladder relief, they waved us on our way.
By the way, a word about fuel: Uzbekistan purchases crude oil from neighbouring countries and refines it here. When negotiations fall apart on crude prices, or during peak demand times like cotton harvesting season, fuel shortages are common. We haven’t been affected because apparently the tour companies tend to store surplus fuel in big tanks, so that tourists won’t be inconvenienced. But private citizens can end up in queues at the pump that have been known to last for days.
Early afternoon we stopped at a roadside cafe for tea, bread and winter melon. It was really nice and relaxing to sit outside on a supa in such good weather. Vacation life is great sometimes. After that, it was a few more hours of driving on the bumpy old road, and we arrived in Bukhara just after five in the afternoon.
Beautiful Bukhara
Our boutique hotel is located in a small laneway just on the edge of the Old Town. It’s beautifully decorated in Arabic style, with labyrinth-like courtyards, spiral staircases, and supas. The rooms are decorated in a busy style that’s just this side of harem, with gold bedspreads and busy patterns. But somehow it all works.
We’re right next to a square flanked by madrasas and a caravanserai, and centered with a deep pool of water. The square, known as Lyabi Hauz (“lips of the water”) is a popular picturesque tourist spot during the day, and is surrounded by restaurants and cafes and musicians and nightlife in the evening.
Rustam gave us a bit of an orientation tour of Bukhara, which also happens to be his hometown. He walked us through Lyabi Hauz, the market areas, a spot where an ancient hammam is in the process of being excavated, and the old caravanserai.
He also took us through what used to be the Jewish Quarter of the Old Town, and we had a peek inside one of Bukhara’s two remaining synagogues and some 500-year-old Sifrei Torah. Bukhara is home to one of the world’s most ancient and unique Jewish communities, dating back as far as — some claim — the second century. (There are theories dating the community from even further back than that, or claims that they were descendants of one of the Lost Tribes, if you’re inclined to believe in them).
Bukharan Jews, while mostly integrated into Sephardi traditions these days, had their own language — similar to Yiddish or Ladino except that it was derived from the Tadjik-Persian language — and their own unique music, clothing, foods, crafts and traditions. As many as 100,000 Jews lived in Uzbekistan at the height of the Soviet Union; most have since emigrated to Israel or the United States, but a handful of Jews remain in Bukhara. Most of the old Jewish quarter no longer remains, since those who left mainly sold their properties and many of the old homes have been converted into commercial establishments and hotels and such. But there’s still an elementary school, a high school, two synagogues, and a vestige of community life.
Wine, chocolate and dancing
For dinner, we ate at a restaurant on the roof of an old caravanserai. The food was just okay, but the view over Bukhara all lit up at night was pretty amazing. Rustam took his leave of the group so he could go see his family, and we relaxed over food and tea.
After dinner, most everyone was tired and ready to head back to the hotel. But Laurent and I had seen some chocolate cake at a cafe off Lyabi Hauz and we were keen to get some dessert. So we decided to have a short walk through the Old Town to see it all lit up at night, and then stop for cake.
We got a bit distracted when we found a small caravanserai that advertised wine tasting out front. Curious, we decided to duck our heads in for a look and maybe a photo. Instead, we ended up being invited to sit down to taste a selection of eight different local Bukhara wines, all served up by a woman who billed herself as a local wine expert — not to mention a mother of five and a grandmother of fourteen. Hey, why not, right? Where else were we going to get an experience like this one?
The wine, which ranged from dry to extremely sweet, probably wouldn’t rival anything you’d find in France. But it was definitely unique, and was served with a side of alphabet crackers on the table, ’cause, of course, right? We tasted our way through the selection, enjoying the dry wines at the start and forcing down the syrupy-sweet ones near the end, and just generally having a good time.
After that, we walked back to Lyabi Hauz and got that chocolate cake after all. There was some live music playing at a nearby restaurant on the square, and people were out dancing. We let ourselves get pulled into the crowd and joined the fun for a few songs. It was good fun.
I’m completely and utterly enchanted by Bukhara. I can’t wait to see more tomorrow!