In Silk Road cultural capital, all you need is Plov

SAMARKAND-In this stunning Uzbek city, the most popular item on the menu,is Plov the national dish, a culinary masterpiece, cooked with rice, lamb or beef, carrots, onions, and cumin. This is usually accompanied by Uzbek bread, lepeshka, which is round and flat and is baked in a clay oven.

 On most menus were samosas, pastries filled with meat onions and potatoes, and kabob skewers. Achichuk was the most popular salad choice I had a chance to sample, consisting of cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, with oil vinegar and lemon juice.

 Off the menu, the city is filled with so many restored stunning Silk Road monuments it is difficult to choose which one is the favorite. “Its like asking who you like better, your father or mother. Some buildings are beautiful by history, and some are beautiful by construction,” said Fayoziddin, our tour guide, when I asked him which one he liked the most while we were walking to our next site. He had been giving walking tours for a few years and really enjoyed showing off his city.

 After a quick flight from Almaty, Kazakhstan to Tashkent, the Uzbek capital city, on a very impressive Air Astana, which included a great meal, reclining seats and a full range of newly released films. Then a four-hour train ride through the night with a questionable meat sandwich, finally landed me in Samarkand around midnight.

 My hotel was basic but situated with an open courtyard facing the imposing Bibi-Khanym Mosque built in the early 1400s by the famous ruler, Timur, from the spoils of his successful India campaign. It made for quite a picture - the dome is made up of green turquoise, blue, and white tiles lit up at night.

 Timur, a distant relative of Genghis Khan, was a conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in the 14^th Century in Central Asia that included Iran and Afghanistan. He is regarded as one of the greatest military leaders in history. He is also responsible for the Timurid Renaissance by contributing to the arts, architecture and he also celebrated intellectuals of the time. Samarkand was his seat of power, his favorite city, and where you can see his influence throughout.

 When researching all the places to visit in Uzbekistan, this city came up on a lot of lists as one of the most preserved cultural centers on the Silk Road. This is due to several restorations of historical sites during the 1970s. The most famous of these sites and easily my favorite was the Registan, a group of three historic madrassas facing each other, thereby creating a market square that’s considered one of the most beautiful squares in the world.

 The Ulugbek Madrassa was finished in 1420 and was named after Timur’s grandson who ruled until 1449 and who taught mathematics there. The other two were completed in 1636 and 1660. The site is most beautiful just after sunset when the lights first come on. There is a lightshow most nights as well as several performances and cultural events. A night before I arrived, Andrea Bocelli performed to a sold-out crowd. Our guide mentioned that the least expensive tickets were 100 dllrs, way more than the locals could afford.

 An admission ticket allows you to walk around and see all the buildings up close. The Madrassa dormitories have now turned into shops with a few cafes. The most interesting part of the experience was in the museums where you could see photos of what the Registan looked like at the turn of the century before the restorations. One of the minarets is held up by an anchoring rope, and the square is an active bazar.

 The town is divided between the historic center and the more modern Russian Town. At the start of the Russian Town is the Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum, the final resting place of Timur and his family including his grandson and Heir Ulugbek. Like most of the monuments of Timur, the tile work is striking with its design and detail.

 Shah-i-Zinda, the “Living King,” is an impressive row of mausoleums said to have some of the richest tile work in the Muslim world. Quasm ibn Abbas, the prophet Muhamed’s cousin who brought Islam to the area, was buried here in the 7^th Century. The interior architecture of the domes made for incredible pictures, and outside, the different shades of turquoise blue captured the sunlight.

 As I was wrapping up my stay in Uzbekistan, I had one last country to visit, Tajikistan. This was a challenge, given it’s the least developed country on my trip. Samarkand is close to a border which was recently opened, and I assumed I could find a tour guide to bring me over to the stunning Seven Lakes region, also close to the border, for an overnight stay. I had a trip worked out already, but the operator almost doubled my price 24 hours before we left. I went back to the other two operators I was working with, and they both agreed to a lower price.

 Then, 12 hours before we left, the price was raised again. I thought this must be a technique they use. They blamed the recent fall of the dollar, the fact that I was traveling alone, and that the sky happened to be blue that day. I felt stuck and realized it was a good strategy on their part. The idea went through my head, “When is the next time you will be here?” I decided to pull the trigger.

 After spending a few days in the cultural capital, I was ready to head back to nature and get on the road.