4th of January, 2023.
Hitchhiking in Uzbekistan: Samarkand.
After a lovely breakfast, Lobar, Yulduz and her father take me in their car. I am assuming they will take me to a hitchhike spot. No. They actually put me in a taxi to Samarkand. I try to argue with it, but it is useless. We make a deal that I will come and meet them again at the airport, around 6 p.m., when they are coming to pick up Bohran’s brother who is coming back from Russia.
It takes about one hour for us to reach Samarkand. The taxi drive was instructed to drop me off in front of the Registan.
After taking a photograph in front of the complex, I start to, slowly, walk around and it is when I discover that you have to pay for it. I am quite sad because this building is the main reason why I came here, but at the same time I accept that this is just one of those things that I have to live with it.
I consider to talk with the people from the ticket office but there is a big queue of people trying too buy their tickets, so I give up.
Slowly, I start to walk around the complex. I stop in one of the sides to take some photographs, and remain there for several minutes, just admiring these gorgeous buildings. It is when I notice that there is another gate here, which some workers are using it. I consider to ask the police officer around if he would let me go in without a ticket, and explain to him the reason of my request. But there is a lot of tourists all the time around, so I don’t do it.
Middle time, a Russian couple try to ask me something in Russian. When I explain that I cannot speak Russian, Anna explains to me, in English, what they were wandering. We start to chat and she is lovely! Anna and Mikail are taking some vacation time here in Uzbekistan. She used to be a journalist but right now she quit her job. Mixa is an engineer who used to train Jiu-Jitsu and Kempo. After some 20 minutes talking about many different things, including how nice and friendly Russian people are and that I had a wonderful time in Russia, they leave, not before telling me that later on they will catch a train to Bukhara.
After Anna and Mixa leave, I finally take the courage and ask the police officer about entering without a ticket because I don’t have money. He is very polite and try to explain to me that I should ask in the ticket office gate. I say thank you and stat to walk away, wondering if I will try there or not, when I hear someone calling out loud: “Hey, Brazilian!”
When I look back, there is another guy near the police officer, and I had seen him before, just a few minutes ago, working inside the Registan. Walking back to him he asks me what is the problem. I quickly explain to him about me and my travels, to what he says: “Of course, come! You must see the golden mosque!” – and showing me through the gate, he was already about to leave when I call him back and explain a bit deeper about my travels, about the fact that I don’t have a mobile phone, and I show him my paper notes about Registan History. He seems happy to have helped me and tell me to enjoy. Yay! Unbelievable!
Samarkand was built during the 7th and 8th Centuries, and its name stands for “Stone / Rock Fort / Town”. The Registan was originally conceived to be a University, and it was very prestigious, becoming one of the best clergy Universities in the world, mostly in the Astronomy field. The name Registan it means “Sandy Place / Desert” in Persian language. The complex is formed by three Madrasahs (school in Arabic): Ulugh Beg (1417), which was the University; Sher-Dor Madrasah (1619); and the Tilya-Kory Madrasah (1646) as a dormitory for the students and also the mosque.
I start exploring this wonderful site by Tilya-Kori, and my mind is blown as soon as I cross the entrance gates. Even before, just by standing under the entrance. All the tiny tiles, in the infinity of shapes and shades of blue, are extremely gorgeous! Just fantastic to look at it! There is a huge open area inside, surrounded by small little rooms, both ground and first floor, all with tiny cute wooden doors. All the three buildings in the Registan have this same structure. At Tilya-Kory is located the golden mosque. I am shocked in how gorgeous it is. Seriously, it is just fantastic! To both sides of the mosque, there are souvenir shops, which offer some beautiful shots too, but most importantly, there are old pictures hanging in the walls, which show how the Registan used to be by the year of 1930, just before the restoration process started. It is unbelievable how different it was! Don’t miss that out!
The second building I visit is Ulugh Beg. They have a very detailed collection about how the years of the University were passed and all the progress made. A special room is designed to show how all the Astronomy progress was achieved.
The last building, Sher-Dor, is the one with less people on it and also fewer local shops, and perhaps, because of that, there is not too much to see it.
The whole complex is incredible! I spend almost three hours around here and couldn’t stop taking photographs because everywhere I look it seems so beautiful! It is a fascinating place to visit and I am so happy that I had the chance to see it! One more thing about the complex it is the absence of perpendicular angles, so give up on trying to take some straight shots. Everything, all the buildings and towels, have an angle of inclination. Don’t ask me. It might be dangerous, I don’t know, but it is still standing…
I eat the last potato I have from yesterday, which Yulduz gave it to me in the car, and have some chocolates, and that is my lunch. I don’t care! I am so happy to be here, to have visited the Registan, to have met Lobar’s family, that I don’t care. Plus, it is chocolate! Uhul!
I don’t have enough time to explore more places, so I walk straight to Shaki-Zinda. I will try to leave the town around 4 p.m., so I have some good 2 hours to walk to the airport in case I don’t manage to get a lift.
Shaki-Zinda is a short walk from the Registan. It is a Necropolis (city of the dead, a mausoleums and special thumbs) and it means “The Living King”. I am not entirely sure if you need to by a ticket or not. I just passed by in front of what, it looked like a ticket office, but there was nobody checking anything or asking for tickets. And I am sure that there were more people doing the same. There was no queue or anything, so I really don’t know what is going on.
It is also a nice place to visit. It is up hill so you can have some views from some points. The blue mosaic tiles are in many places, sometimes creating a beautiful contrast with the blue sky. In some areas, including in the last part which you can visit, you are surrounded by this blue mosaic tiles, which is truly beautiful, just not so good for photographs.
I leave the town a bit earlier than I predicted. After walking what seems half of the way, I get a bit confused with directions, and ask in a shop. A man with a great English, who works at the airport, tells me I am very close, only about 20 minutes walking. Seriously? I have my doubts but he says he works there so I follow his directions.
Once I arrive to a big hotel, I ask again, because I still cannot believe that it is so close. But it is confirmed. Yupi! I sit down for a while in a bus stop to take some rest.
I arrive at the airport sometime after 5 p.m. It is so warm inside that I have to stay on my t-shirts. I lie down in some seats and wait for Lobar and her family.
We have soup for dinner and chat a lot until late night. I tell them everything from my day and Lobar does the translation. I also show them my photographs. What a lovely day!
10 Years Around the World 