04
Samarkand
2 days
The name Samarkand alone conjures up images of travelling traders arriving on camels and selling their colourful treasures from faraway places. The evocative Timurid Architecture is exuberant in this city, though very polished.
After visiting the Gur-Emir Mausoleum where Timur and family members lie, a friendly Uzbek asks us where we were from. We don’t come across many people in this region who know more about our country than naming Kevin De Bruyne or Romelu Lukaku, but he studied a semester in our hometown so that was a nice surprise. He is a teacher, but does not mind to keep his class waiting to explain to us a brief history of the Timurid Empire.
On the train from Samarkand to Tashkent we share the compartment with a lovely Polish couple and two friendly Uzbeks. Once again our intended time reading our books or listening to a podcast is spent having a pleasant conversation instead, where we all share food, tea and laughs.