Samarkand, march 22-24th, 1st impressions

We went from Tashkent to Samarkand  by “train grande vitesse”  TGV, 200 kms an hour, amazing! 40 dollars for a business class seat one way! Within 2,5 hours we were in Samarkand;

 

The name of the city alone recalling associations with 1001 night, sensual, silk road centre of wisdom and trade.  We had a lovely small hotel, way beyond the big tourist group sort of thing, privately owned and recently redone.

With a beautiful view on the famous Bibi-Ghanum mausoleum. Bibi being the Chinese princess, wife  of Emir Timur, the big boss here in the 14^th centur.  Timur the Lame, better known as Timurlane. He is the guy that inspired all those beautiful buildings, both Madrassas  (universities, we would call them, learning centres where students had their own cells) and mausoleums  where his family and dear ones were buries. Interesting to see those buildings of a scale unknown till then, at the same time that  we- in Europe - were building Cathedrals  in a similar scope of grandeur and finesse.

The streets are still wet with melting snow, and ostentative gaspipes delivering cooking gas to the houses.  The weather is good, 18 degrees Celsius, beautiful sunshine and it feels like a spring holiday, which it is: Navruz, 21^st of March.