Samarkand

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Samarkand was our final city to visit in Uzbekistan because it is arguably the most impressive city in the country. It could have been the first city we visited after Tashkent, but we would have possibly been disappointed by the other spots.

The Hotel

We took a taxi with Yandex Go (the local ride-hailing app) from the train station to the family guest house, 10 minutes south of Registan square. We were greeted by three small children, including a cute little girl who spoke English. Since her accent was good, I thought she knew more English than she actually did, and I started asking her many questions. I often make that mistake. I should not really trust the accent.

The walls of our room were paper-thin. We could clearly hear the children playing in the courtyard. The older boys cooked and served the breakfasts. The food was pretty terrible. And the stove had a very strong smell of gas. We were told to leave our shoes outside. One night it rained heavily during our sleep, and the small roof did not protect my shoes from being wet. Fortunately, Y took them in before they were soaked while I continued to sleep.

In this district, south of Registan Square, the drain for rain water is in the middle of the street, making it difficult for cars to navigate. I am not sure why the rain water does not go in the sewers.

Registan Square

The Registan Square consists of a square and 3 madrasahs. It is the iconic place in Samarkand. You need to pay to enter the square and visit the madrasahs. However, you can view the square and the madrasahs from the stairs and the observation platform.

On Registan Square, we found that the tourist police were tall, handsome and spoke good English.

If you walk around the madrasahs, you can have different points of view. When we were north of the square, we saw a couple of (local) people entering and exiting the square at gates which are not meant for that. The guards watching these unlocked and very low gates are clearly not very zealous. We did not see any surveillance camera there. And you do not need tickets to enter the madrasahs once you are in the square. It looked easy to sneak in without paying, I think we saw many people who did just that. We did not, by the way. If you want to break the law to save money or for the thrill of it, I would not really recommend Uzbekistan, it is not the most friendly democracy out there 😉

The Ulugh Bek Madrassah is the most beautiful of the 3. You can climb to the first floor using the stairs in the corners.

Special 3D Light show

At what time is the light show on Registan Square? We asked a guard, he told us 9 pm. We asked the ticket counter, we were told 8:30 pm. The normal light show starts at 8:30 pm every day. It is just some colored illumination of the buildings. However, the special 3D light show, which is a real show with lights and lasers, does not take place every day. We read on some blog it happened once every few days. Y decided to talk to the tourist police to get more precise information. It went something like this.

— Do you know when is the special 3D light show?
— Do you have 2,000 US dollars. If so, we can make it happen tomorrow.
— I don’t have 2,000 dollars. But if I pay 2,000 dollars, everybody can see the show right?

Policeman starts to smile
— Yes, everyone sees it. So do you have 2000 $ or 25M Som? Do you have a friend?
— Haha we are two but no I don’t have it.
— Where are you from? Oh, France? Did you know Macron was there 2 days ago?
— Yes, was there the special 3D Show?
— Yes there was. How far is your hotel?
— 10 minutes away.
— You can check tomorrow and the day after. It should start between 8:30 pm and 9 pm if there is a special show.
— Sure we will try!

We came back the next day and the day after, but there was no special show.

Bibi-Khanym Mosque

To go from Registan Square to the Bibi-Khanym Mosque you walk through gardens and a mostly pedestrian street.

The Bibi-Khanym Mosque, also frequently spelled Bibi-Khanum, was one of the largest mosque in the world in the 15th century. It was largely destroyed because of earthquakes and lack of maintenance. It has been renovated in the 20th century, but the tall minarets on both sides of the gigantic door are missing. I am not sure if it is worth paying to visit this monument. If you enter, you can see a huge Quran on its marble stand.

Mausoleum of Islam Karimov

The main bazaar is next to the mosque, but it’s not very special. If you continue north and cross the pedestrian bridge across a highway, you arrive at the Mausoleum of Islam Karimov, who was the president of Uzbekistan after the independence in 1991. The mausoleum is a large complex, located on a hill with unmatched views on the city. It surprised me that Islam Karimov built a mausoleum for himself, more magnificent than the Timurid kings tombs.

Shah-i-Zinda

From the Mausoleum of Islam Karimov, we walked along the cemetery to Shah-i-Zinda necropolis with the royal tombs. In the cemetery, the portraits of the deceased were engraved on the tombstones.

I highly recommend visiting this place, there are many beautiful tombs.

The security does not look very good: some locals probably enter without paying though the main door. And you can access this site from the cemetery pretty easily. In many touristic places, we were not given any ticket after we paid. I wonder if the money is properly collected.

We met a really nice Chinese guy carrying a 50+ liter backpack, a tripod, and a camera. He told us about the registration system in Uzbekistan. The hotels are supposed to register your stay and provide a registration paper. Theoretically, you cannot be unregistered for more than 3 consecutive days during your stay. We panicked a little bit and asked all the previous hotels for registration certificates. Registration is still required today. Sometimes they check, and you can get a fine if you can’t provide proofs of registration. At the immigration, they did not check that for us. He also told us to be careful with children, because some children stole his phone. Fortunately, he traveled with many phones!

Amir Temur Mausoleum

Uzbek people seem to have great admiration for Amir Temur, a great conqueror responsible for immense casualties — a true descendant of Genghis Khan. Although it is called the Amir Temur Mausoleum, there are many Timurid kings buried there. Amir Temur tomb is covered by a big block of dark jade, which was once in the Chinese emperor’s palace. It was the first time, and certainly not the last, we saw some tourist guides using their phone flashlight to examine the white marble.

We spent some time outside the touristic area. There are some green spaces on University boulevard and Central Park for instance. There are cute cafés and malls without any international shops, of course.