Nov 25th

Got up at 6am and took Marshrutka 68 to train station.

The train station is around 10 km away from the city.

Arrived at Samarkand train station at 11am.

There were many taxi drivers trying to get me in their vehicle but since I don’t like taxi drivers, took public bus 22 to Registan which is located in the old city. Met a Japanese lady who was going to the same hotel as me. Even though the hostel was close by, but we spent an hour trying to find the place.
Hotel Antica (26,000 Soms~USD$13)

Smarkand is bigger than Bukhara and the city looks more prosperous. There are around 500,000 people living here. In 1370, Timur decided to make Samarkand his capital and the city became the cultural and economic epicentre of Central Asia.
Guri Amir mausoleum. Timur, his sons and grandsons were buried here.

Donkeys were used as transporation tool

The Registan. The 3 edifices here are the world’s oldest Medressa.

The Registan

There are many police around in the country and the police forces are very corrupted. The police wanted some bribes and willing to let me in if I pay them 7000 Soms without tickets. Since I had seen many similar buildings and that’s not my main interest, I decided not to go in.

Siob Bazaar

Sweets

Bibi-Khanym mosque (4200 Soms~USD$2). Bibi-Khanym is Timur’s Chinese wife. The door is around 35 meters high.

Bibi Khanym

Amir Timur’s statue.

Orthodox Church

Samarkand University

Dinner (kebab, Mimosa Salad, coffee, fries cost 7700 Soms~USD$4)

Night view of Guri Amir

Nasruddin guesthouse

Walked around Lyabie Hauz, the name in Tajik means around the pool. Most people in Bukhara and the southern part of Uzbekistan speak Tajik and they look a little different from people in the northern part of the country.
Medressa

Met a Japanese biker

Changed a hundred dollars to Som.

It’s so thick that the money can’t fit in my pocket.
Kolkhozny Bazaar

The Ark, a old town inside a fortified wall.

I didn’t go in because some travellers adviced that it’s not worth the price of the ticket to go in.
Plov is sort of the national food in Uzbekistan and there are competitions on who can make the best Plov. Asked around and someone told me yesterday that theirs is a place which sell pretty good Plov, they were the champion in Plov competition.
Took bus 55 to the restaurant.
Plov with bread, tomatoes and tea (4400 Soms~USD$2.30)

Walked around the southern part of the city.

Bought a train ticket to Samarkand which is around 250km, 3 hours away. (11,000 Som~USD$5.50)
Internet is cheap here, around USD$.50 per hour. However, the speed is quite slow so I can’t do much.

This is my 5th day in Turkmenistan so I better get out of the country soon because my transit visa only permit me to stay here for 5 days. Went to the taxi stand at 8 something and tried to take a shared taxi to Farab. Had to haggle hard and those guys weren’t honest. After getting my money, the drove me to another shared taxi stand and had to bargain with the driver again to get to the border. Finally, arrived at the border around 11am.

Passing the Turkmenistan border was quite smooth, I just need to fill up a custom declaration and a custom official just did a quick search on my bag. I heard some stories such as the police will look at every pictures and will check on the laptop but that didn’t happen to me.

In no man’s land, between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan border

Had to walk around 2km to the Uzbekistan checkpoint.

The Uzbekistan checkpoint is more bureaucratic, there are a lot more checks and forms to be filled. In total, I think the border crossing took around 2 -3hours. Changed into some Soms at the border.

The official market rate is 1USD~1500 som but the black market will provide 1USD~1900som. The biggest bill of Uzbekistan Som is just 1000som, around USD$0.50. So if I am changing USD$100 into Som, I will have around 200 bills of 1000 Som. Since I don’t trust the guys at the border, I just changed some small amount. It takes a lot of effort to count every single bill and the money won’t even fit in my pocket. Sometimes money changer will give stacks of ~ 400 bills of 500 Som for a bill of USD$100.

Then took another shared taxi to Bukhara from Uzbekistan border (an hour drive, 16,000 som~USD$8). The taxi driver quote me 60,000 Som at the beginning. Took some effort to haggle the price down. I am tired of taxi drivers, in most countries, taxi drivers are just waiting to pounce of unsuspecting travellers. That’s why I seldom take taxi, it’s not so much about the money than the feeling of being cheated.

Got to Bukhara at 3pm. There are many hotels and B&B guesthouses in the old city. After visiting a few hotels around Lyabi Hauz square which most of the hotels and attractions are located, got a deal at Nasruddin guesthouse. (16,000 Som~USD8 for a room because it’s the low season).

Around Lyabi Hauz area

Use the back road to city center

Finally ate something at 4.30pm. Plov is sort of the national dish of Uzbekistan, every region has a different way of cooking it. (3000 Som~USD$1.5)

Got some fries at a caf? and the people there are very friendly.
Friendly owner of the cafe

The owner even drove me to the Ark at the north part of town.

I remembered some travellers told me that the Ark is a waste of money, so I didn’t go in.

Across the ark

Walked around the old town, Lyabi Hauz area.

A Uzbek girl, Habiba invited me to her house

for tea and pasta.

She told me that the average salary in Uzbek is just around USD$40 a month and life is pretty tough.

Camera shy

It’s very quiet at night around the old city because weather is getting cold and most guesthouses are empty.

[mappress]

Took a taxi (USD$10) to Merv which is around 30km away. Merv is a UNESCO heritage site and is a pretty big area which not possible to walk around in just few hours. In its heyday it was known as a great center of Islam, like Damascu, Baghdad and Cairo. However today, almost nothing remains because the sons of Ghenghis Khan destroyed the city and slaughtered its population in the 12th century.

Kyz Kala

The driver drove around Sultan Kala then to Erk Kala

The taxi driver dropped me at a shared taxi stand in Bairam Ali bazaar. Took a shared taxi at 12pm (20 new manat~USD$7) to Turkmenabat which is around 2 hours ride. Arrived at Turkmenabat at around 2pm and figured I might as well stay a night since it might be dark if I continued my journey to Bukhara.

Walked around and found Hotel Lebapgurlushyk. After haggling, I got the price down from 50 new manat to 35 new manat ~USD$13.

Turkmenabat is the 2nd largest city with a population of around 200,000. There isn’t a lot to see or do in the city. I decided to stay overnight here since I always prefer to cross borders in the morning so I will have more time and won’t feel too much pressure from the border guards and taxi drivers.

Besides Ashgabat, other cities in Turkmenistan looks very old and poor.

Guess who?

President’s Niyasov statue is everywhere

Zelyony Bazaar

Found a small restaurant and had lamb soup (5 new manat~USD$1.8).

A friendly Turkmen waitress

Ate Shashlyk for dinner (3 new manat~USD$1 for a stick) and met 2 travellers who traveled with their bikes at the restaurant. There weren’t not many travellers around Turkmenistan, so I was kind of surprise to meet the 2 cyclists.

I have not been posting any videos recently because the connection speed in Iraq, Iran and Turkmenistan has been pretty slow. Furthermore, countries like Turkey and Iran are blocking youtube. I will try to post some videos when I get a chance.

Square

Mr. President rotating with the sun

Arch of Neutrality again

Earthquake museum

Took a bus to Tolkuchka Bazaar.

Colorful cloths

Shashlyk

Sheepskin hat

Turkmen’s carpet

Cloths

Korean Kimchi

Went to the terminal at 2pm to get a shared taxi to Mary. Waited for an hour for the taxi to be full. The ride to Mary is around 350km and that took 4 hours. (20 new Manat~USD7).

There weren’t any hostel in Mary and had to check in to a hotel. There is a different price for locals and foreigners for hotel accommodation. The hotel is pretty old and paid USD$30 for a crappy room. This is the most I have paid for a night of accommodation in my trip so far.
I can feel that spring under the mattress all over my body.

Walked around Mary at night. Mary is not a big city, with a population of just around 100,000.
Typical white marble buildings

Mr. President

Mosque

Witnessed a local Turkmen bar brawl later at night.

Ashgabat looks like a land of fantasy, the city is very beautiful and is so white.

The roads are wide and clean. Almost all of the buildings in the city are marble white tower blocks and there are parks, statues, fountains all over the city. People from Turkmenistan has all different kinds of look, Asian, Caucasian, Middle Eastern, Hispanics, Indians, gypsies… Everyone can blend into the Turkmen’s look and all the ladies here wear very colorful traditional dress.

Ashgabat is also a weird city. There are police everywhere, standing at almost every corner and there are many people cleaning the street everywhere.

Most while marble buildings are empty and the street is very quiet. The city looks a little fake and as if the city is built for staging some film productions.

There are no ATMs in Turkmenistan that takes international card. Took a bus to Senagat Bank, south of Ashgabat to get some cash. Even though I was charged 3% on withdrawal, I was glad to be able to get cash advances because I was low on cash and money changers don’t want my old USD bills.
Next to the bank is Yimpas department store. This is the largest mall in Ashgabat.

Took another bus to futher south to Berzengi.

Independence Park

More marble white tower blocks

Independence park.

A big fountain.

Bus station beside Tekke Bazaar

Russian Bazaar

Arch of Neutrality (The previous president’s gold statue will rotate with the sun)

Another square.

Another fountain

Ex President Niyasov statue again

Again

Plov (Rice) with Chicken for dinner

British Pub.

Beer is quite expensive in Turkmenistan, I paid 24 manat ~USD$8 for a beer. Vodka is much cheaper, around USD$2-3 a bottle.
Had to climb over the door to get back to the homestay because I got back late and the door was locked.

In 1948, Ashgabat was hit by a big earthquake. 2/3 of the population died and the city was destroyed. The city was completely rebuilt after that. From what I read before getting to the country, Turkmenistan is pretty isolated and the former president Niyasov is obsessed with himself. He built a giant statue of himself rotating with the sun and wrote a handbook called Ruhnama which is a compulsory reading for everyone. There are many gold statues and portrait of him in the city.
Internet is expensive here so not many people have email address.

Turkmenistan is a net exporter of energy and ranks 4th in the world for natural gas reserves. The country has a huge oil reserves as well. Electricity, natural gas, water and salt are subsidized by the government so it’s free. Oil is pretty cheap and it’s around 15 cents for a liter of petrol. I heard that around 5 years ago, oil is almost free.

Took bus 83 to the terminal and got on the 7.20am bus (8000 Iranian Rials~USD0.80) to Qujan. Arrived at Qujan at around 10am and then took another cab (6000 Iranian Rials) to a different terminal for shared taxi. From Qujan to Bajiran, it’s around 75km on mountain road.

Got to the Iranian border at 11am and then crossed to the Turkmenistan side.

There is an entry tax of USD$12 at the Turkmenistan side. I heard some bad stories about the border gurads in Turkmenistan but the border guards seem quite polite. Spoke with a soldier and he is just 19 years old. Every Turkmen male has to join the military for 2 years after high school. After spot checking my belongings, there’s an official van that took us down the mountain. I think it’s around 20km to the foot of the mountain.

I heard from some travellers before that the ride should be free but the driver will ask for $15-$20 from passengers. True enough, the driver wanted $15 from me. I think that’s just a bribe because I didn’t see the locals paying anything. I tried walking away but the driver tried to grab me. I managed to free myself, walked some distance on the highway

and hitch hike to the city, Ashgabat.

The time here in Ashgabat is 1.5 hours faster the time in Iran. Met a Turkmenistan guy at the bus station and he wanted to help me find my way around. Like in Iran, the money changer just want brand new USD notes. Since my notes are a little crumble, they gave me a bad exchange rate. Spent 3 hours walking around the city to find a budget hotel. All hotels are more expensive than stated in lonely planet. Locals pay much less than foreigners for hotels. Finally got to a Avanov homestay, after haggling, the owner aggreed at 20 New Manat, around USD$7. (1USD~2.85 New manat ~14,000 Old Manat).

Russian Bazaar

Night View

Went to the Turkmenistan embassy again this morning. It’s supposed to be open at 8.30am but they only opened the window at 10am. The embassy wanted the application to be typed, so had to go to a photo shop to fill up the application again.
Finally, got my Turkmenistan transit visa after paying USD$55. It’s a huge relieve for me because that’s the main road block for my trip and I needed to pass Uzbekistan by end of this month.
Most travellers agreed that Turkmenistan visa is the hardest one to get.

Turkmenistan Visa

Vali who is the owner of the homestay brought me and Harold, a german traveller to a cemetry at the north part of Mashhad.

With Vali

Took bus 86 with Harold to Koohsangi. Koohsangi is a nice park at the Southern part of Mashhad. There is a hill which provide a nice overlook of the city.
Koohsangi Park

View of the city

Mini waterfalls

Vali’s son, Reza brought me to Sajad which is at the North Western part of Mashhad. Sajad is a richer neighborhood and it’s slightly more liberal than the center part of Mashhad. There are less girls wearing Chador and I see some more colourful head scarfs here.

Iranian friends at a coffee shop.

There aren’t many coffee shops around. Coffee shops are usually hidden inside some buildings and not easy to find.

Had the 3rd Kebab from the same shop the third time today. One for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Kebab is cheap (9000 Iranian Rials~USD$.90). Since I am low on cash and not sure when can I find an ATM, I had to watch my budget carefully.

After 10 days in Iran, I just spent USD$170 on food, accommodation and transportation, USD$55 for Turkmenistan Visa and USD$250 for my camera.

Arrived in Mashhad at around 7am.

Mashhad is the second largest city in Iran with around 3 millions people and is considered one of the holiest place for Shiites. Imam Reza shrine is the resting place for the 8th Imam, Imam Reza. There are around 20 millions people who visit Mashhad for pilgrimage purposes every year.

Took bus 83 to Vali Non-smoking homestay (50,000 Iranian Rials~USD5). The place is hard to find since there wasn’t any sign and a trailer is blocking the entrance.

Walked to the Turkmenistan embassy since it’s not far away.

Like before, the embassy opened late. Then the embassy staffs asked me to come back tomorrow without any reason. Turkmenistan visa is the hardest visa to obtain.

Street in Mashhad

Then walked to Imam Reza Shrine Complex

The big courtyard

Since Non-Muslims weren’t allowed to go into the Shrine, they provided an English speaking guide to escort me around the courtyard. A summary of what I learned from him is, the main difference between Sunnis and Shiites is that Shiites believe in Imam whereas Sunnis do not. After the last prophet died, (Prophet Muhammad) Imam were sent to interpret the Quran. Most Imams were buried in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. If I remembered correctly, 6 were buried in Iraq. The only Imam who is buried in Iran is the 8th Imam. The 11th Imam dissapeared 1100 years ago and Shiites believe that when the 12th Imam, which is the last one appear, all problems in the world will be solved.

Visited the museum (5000 Iranian Rials~USD$.50) in the Holy Shrine so I can get rid of the guide.

Money was donated to the mausoleum

[mappress]

Took a bus to the terminal and got on the 8am bus to Yazd.

Yazd is a city 175 miles southeast of Isfahan and has a population around 500,000. After the Arab Islamic conquest of Persia, many Zoroastrians fled to Yazd from neighbouring provinces. Arrived Yazd at around 12pm and took a cab to Silk Road hostel (50,000 Iranian Rials ~USD5 12 beds dorm room).

Masjid Jameh

There was a tour of the Zoroastrian temple and cemetry organized by the hostel at 3pm (120,000 Iranian Rials ~USD$12). Joined the tour since some of the sites are a little far off from the city and also I had time constraint because I plan to leave for Mashhad tomorrow.

Zoroastrian temple

Tower of silence is the place where the dead is carried up and for the sun and vultures to decompose the human flesh.

Zoroastrians’ structures

Night View of Masjid Jameh

Ate Dizi (Yazd local food 20,000 Iranian Rials ~USD2) for dinner

A square

Next day,

Walked around the city.

Ate Camel burger (13,000 Iranian Rials ~USD1.30)

Old houses

Fesenjun (50,000 Iranian Rials ~USD5), a type of Iranian food cooked with pomegranate and walnut. It tasted a little sour and bitter.

Since Yazd is a desert town, they have to dig tunnels to get underground water.
Water Museum (10,000 Iranian Rials~1USD).

Took a 5pm bus (120,000 Iranian Rials~USD12) to Mashhad. It’s around a thousand kms and will take 14 hours.