Uzbekistan



The abandonment of Kazakhstan was unfortunately very ugly. One of the frontiersmen, a thoroughly corrupt person sent me from one place to another. In the car he just took out cigarette packs and sweets and told me to give him 2000 (5Euro). It was clear if not, he sends me another 20 nonsense stamp to pick up. Later I heard from Lena that this depraved man wanted to drag her into his house and only by the help of unsafe customs could worse be prevented. But through this incident Lena got to know these two unsafe customs officers something and the acquaintance was very pleasing and very accommodating. The Uzbek control of the vehicle was intense but much less than that of the Uzbeks who crossed the border. After 3 hours we had also made this border crossing.

 border crossing made

The next day we reached Bukhara, which used to be an oasis trading city on the Silk Road at 39 degrees.



We stayed in a very nice hotel in the picturesque old quarter and enjoyed the luxury. In the evening we strolled over the place Labi Habous flanked by 2 beautiful portals and embellished a small park with lake. We were overwhelmed by the beauty of the old town. The next day we visited the fabulous places of the Thousand and One Nights. The old town of Bukhara looks like an open-air museum, just beautiful. By the way, Bernd was crowned king of Bukhara as you can see in the pictures and a first harem lady sat down at his feet.



In the old bazaars made of vaults you can buy very nice gifts. The next day we drove to Samarkand which is a big city and does not have such a closed old town like Bukhara. The next morning we visited perhaps the most beautiful place in the world, the Registran. This huge square is framed on three sides by portals and looks like a fairytale. Behind each portal is a huge courtyard with other small portals, just fantastic. Coincidentally, we found in one of the many shops that are in the courtyards, the image of the Schleierverbrennung that took place after the liberation of unsafe women by the Red Army. We knew this picture from the magazine Ketzerbriefe. This moment was a big step from the Middle Ages into modern times. Despite the reunification, which is less compared to Kazakhstan, one sees little women wearing a headscarf and even today it is still forbidden that the muezzin with loudspeakers constantly remind people of the prohibitions.



We also visited an old cemetery, which consisted of small buildings that formed a blue-tiled street, one felt reminded of the Ischtartor in the museum in Berlin.

After our stay in Samarkand, we drove towards the border of Kyrgyzstan and landed in the notorious Ferganatal, where we stayed overnight with a queasy feeling. The Fergana Valley is a stronghold of the Islamists and recently Swiss bicycle tourists were killed. The Fergana Valley borders on the Afghan drug trafficking line. The next day we realized unfortunately that the targeted limit is only open for Uzbeks and Kyrgyz and would have to drive 150 km to an international border at Osh in Hardcore Islam. As in Chechnya, we got a very nice impression of the inhabitants again. When buying cushions, we were invited to dinner with a very nice family who cared for us warmly and would like to have invited us for several days. But then we drove on to the Kyrgyz border.