Bukhara

My days are starting to run together, and I am really not even sure what day it is. So, we are now in Bukhara. There is some wonderful history there, but not a single McDonald’s. Evidently there are no McDonald’s in the entire country, just KFC.

Bukhara was a stop on The Silk Road– a very important stop for caravans and markets. Markets? Did someone say markets? thetwinsontour love markets! It seems like a lot of our walking tour of the city was based on markets! First up was the blacksmith– there were no demonstrations of blacksmithery, but there were knives and scissors. Cute little scissors shaped like storks, that they will engrave for you! Amazing! I might have bought a pair– now I don’t need to worry about my sister stealing my scissors and claiming them for her own BECAUSE I GOT MY NAME ENGRAVED ON MY SCISSORS! They are so cool! And sharp!

Honestly, I’m not sure what we did. I’m currently on information overload. Our guide is wonderful and gives us lots of information, but quite honestly I am too busy absorbing all of the beauty of the buildings and taking pictures to concentrate on the important information he is imparting to us. Even more distracting is that most of these ancient buildings have been turned into what Davron refers to as “craft centers” which thetwinsontour refer to as souvenir stands. We try to be good, but sometimes it’s so hard not to buy something.

Everything is so beautiful. We went to the main sites in the old town during the day and at night. The ancient minaret there in Bukhara is amazing, but at night it is absolutely breathtaking when it is lit up against the night sky.

We also went to the Summer Palace of the last Khan of Bukhara (maybe because of the Bolesheviks?). It was beautiful, but it was built in 1905. A 116 year old building is nothing in comparison to what we have seen.

For our dinner, we went and watched them make Plov. What is Plov? Well I am glad you asked! It’s the national dish of Uzbekistan. There are many different minor variations, but the important thing to know is that Plov cooked on an outdoor oven is far superior to indoor Plov. And outdoor Plov is traditionally cooked only by men even though it was a woman that gave us the demonstration. Plov is rice (but they don’t have basmati in Uzbekistan, carrots (preferably yellow carrots so it’s not as sweet), raisins, and meat (lamb, beef, or chicken). And then as extras you can have chickpeas and quince fruit (Asian Pear if you find it at the grocery store I think) and quail eggs. Obviously, this is absolutely delicious. It’s so good! The beef in our Plov literally just melted in your mouth. It tasted even better than 3 day old pot roast (because everyone knows that pot roast is better on the 2nd day, and if you are lucky enough to still have leftovers by day 3 that is the absolute best!) Such a tragedy that we have only had Plov once.

That pretty much sums up our time in Bukhara: shopping, beautiful buildings, great food.

Love,

thetwinsontour