Holiday in Central Asia (16): from Tajikistan back to Uzbekistan
On Day 15, it was wonderful to wake up over-looking a glorious lake scene. Before breakfast, I made.a short walk by the lake-side and, after breakfast, the group drove a bit further round the lake for different views. Iskander-Kul, named – according to legend – after Alexander the Great, is a mountain lake of glacial origin and lies on the northern slopes of the Gissar Range in the Fann Mountains.
It is located at 2,190 metres (7,200 feet) so, in the early morning and nighttime, extra clothing is advisable. The views are breathtaking and I could happily have spent the morning there but, as always, we were on the go.
We returned to the main road – another three quarters of an hour of bouncing around – and then, back on that road, we headed west to the town of Penjikent. This is a place with an ancient history dating back to the Silk Road days. Indeed, just outside the modern town, are the ruins of an old Sogdian town which was destroyed in 722 and discovered in 1946. it is dubbed ‘the Pompeii of Central Asia’ but in truth there is no comparison.
After lunch at a restaurant called “Nigina” (where nobody knew the password to the WiFi), we had another look at Tajik history when we visited an impressive history museum named after Abu Abdullah Rudaki (858-941) who is known as ‘the father of Persian poetry’.
After three days in Tajikistan, it was time to return to Uzbekistan, so we said farewell to Shahbaz (who is now my friend on Facebook) and hooked up with our Uzbek guide Timur on the other side of the border where the group returned to travelling in one coach and we drove to the magical city of Samarkand. I was here in 2006 and never expected to return.
The previous two days, Samarkand hosted a meeting of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation with President Putin of Russia and President Xi of China as two of the participants. Also in attendance were the presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan whose armies have been fighting border skirmishes while we have been in Tajikistan. According to media reports, 26 people have been killed.
Our boutique hotel was the Grand Samarkand and dinner was at a restaurant called “Xan Atlas” which especially enjoyable because the main dish was fish (we have eaten so much meat) and the dessert was birthday cake (one of the group was 67).