Samarkand

Sat 6/6/26

After breakfast at 8am, we ventured out to Bibikhanum mosque first (ticket required for entry). Then we surveyed around the stalls in the Siyob Bozori (market), but would return later to buy some fruits and souvenirs.

breakfast at Istat

breakfast at Istat

Bibikhanum mosque

Siyob Bozori

Siyob Bozori

From Siyob Bozori, we walked across the pedestrian bridge to Hazrat Khizr mosque on the hilltop with vantage views of Bibikhanum mosque. Next to the mosque is the mausoleum of the first president of Uzbekistan which have beautiful decorations at the courtyard.

balcony at Hazrat Khizr mosque with Bibikhanum mosque in the background

inside Hazrat Khizr mosque

balcony at Hazrat Khizr mosque

courtyard at President's museum

Bibikhanum mosque view from the hill at Hazrat Khizr mosque

We then walked about 10 minutes to Shah-i-Zinda necropolis (ticket required for entry), which houses a mausoleum and other ritual buildings of 11th – 15th and 19th centuries. (wikipedia). There are separate prayer rooms for men and women at the entrance.

Shah-i-Zinda necropolis

From the necropolis, we walked back to Siyob Bozori and bought a strawberries (UZS 50K or RM15), yellow cherries (UZS 10K or RM 3) and some fridge magnets (cheapest one cost UZS 3000 or RM1 which have the tiger mosaic of the Sherdar Madrasa in Registan Square). 

After shopping, we went to a chaykhana (teahouse) near Bibikhanum mosque to have lunch of plov, beef samosa and a pot of tea for UZS 95.4K or RM 32, paid by card.

plov and samsa lunch at chaykhana

After lunch, we went back to the hotel to rest and take a respite from the sun. For afternoon tea, we walked to a nearby bakery Chorraha and bought some beef and pumpkin samsas for UZS 19K (RM 6) paid by cash.

beef and pumpkin samsas

There are free daily lightshows at the Registan, so at 7pm we walked to the Registan Square and waited. Finally the 15 minute show started at 9pm, but it was narrated in Uzbek. There was a supposed to be a laser show after a short break, but it didn't happen (we waited until 10pm). We went back to the hotel to rest for the day after the light show.

lightshow at Registan square

Bukhara to Samarkand

Fri 5/6/26

Today after sunrise we ventured out to Chor Minor to capture the site without tourists. 

From Chor Minor we re-visited Labi Hovuz ensemble to enjoy the calm morning view by the pool. 

We then visited some architectural monuments nearby our hotel such as Arabon mosque (1880) and Sallahkhona mosque (19th century).

After that, we went back to the hotel to have breakfast and rested until check out time. After checking out, we went for lunch at a restaurant near Bolo Hauz mosque. We had lagman (pulled noodle), meat shashlik and a pot of tea for UZS 135K (RM 41) paid by cash.

lagman and shashlik

We saw the congregational Friday prayer at Bolo Hauz mosque was conducted outside, in the mosque compound. After the prayer was finished, we tried to see if we could enter the mosque to pray, but the entrance was cordoned off.

We then walked towards Kalyan mosque and asked the mosque caretaker if we could perform our prayers there, and he said yes. The prayer area is separated from the tourist visiting area, near the mosque courtyard.

Kalyan mosque courtyard

Kalyan mosque courtyard

From Kalyan mosque, we walked back to our hotel and then ordered our Yandex taxi to go to the train station. No drama this time, the taxi fetched us from the front of the hotel and we arrived within 25 minutes. The Yandex ride cost UZS 27K (RM 9 ).

cute street and number plate at our hotel (and around Bukhara)

all the train stations look like this

Our train from Bukhara to Samarkand was scheduled to depart at 1655 and arrive at 1913. The train ride cost UZS 169810 (RM 114) per person and bought online from the Uzrail app.

seat arrangement in our economy coach

We arrived in Samarkand about 10 minutes later than scheduled. The 15 minute Yandex taxi ride (UZS 32K) or RM 11 to our accommodation Altair boutique hotel was also smooth and cost . Our hotel cost RM 768 for 3 nights with breakfast and paid by card.

Altair hotel courtyard

Altair room

After checking in, we walked to a chaykhana (teahouse) near Bibikhanum mosque to have dinner. We had manti soup, kebab and a pot of tea for UZS 147K (RM 50) paid by card.

manti soup and kebab

After dinner, we walked to the Registan square where the weekend crowds were enjoying their family time together. It was then time to go back to the hotel and rest.

Registan square at night

Registan square at night

Bukhara

Wed 3/6/26

Since we arrived in Bukhara late last night, we slept in this morning and only venturing out after breakfast at 9am. It was a hot summer day. We started with Chor Minor monument, it was a part of a complex of a madarasah, about 10 minutes walk from our hotel. There is a souvenir shop selling Soviet memorabilia in front of the monument. 

breakfast at Istat

breakfast buffet at Istat

Chor Minor 

Then we walked towards Labi Hovuz ensemble, with a pool in the middle surrounded by Kukeldash Madrasa, Nadir Divan-Beghi Madrasa (with a drawing of birds and a sun face ) and Nadir Divan-Beghi khanaqah (lodging house for Sufis) source:  wikipedia 

Nadir Divan-Beghi Madrasa

Kukeldash Madrasa

Nadir Divan-Beghi khanaqah facing the pool

We enjoyed having ice cream (UZS 15K or RM5, paid by cash) with views of the pool at Labi Hovus to beat the heat.

enjoying ice cream 

Moving on, we walked towards Poyi Kalyan complex, with the Kalyan Minaret and Kalyan mosque. Ticket is required to enter the mosque, but for prayers we could enter it for free. We only entered the mosque on our last day in Bukhara during prayer time.

Poyi Kalyan complex. Kalyan mosque is on the right, with Kalyan minaret visible

On the way to Poyi Kalon complex, we passed by countless of madrasahs, caravansarays and Toqi or trading domes or bazaar, which are no longer functioning now. The madrasahs now function as museums which require tickets for entry, caravansarays now houses restaurants and cafes; while the Toqi houses vendor stalls selling souvenirs. There were also hamams for both men and women near the Toqi Telpakfurushon.

Among the Toqis are Toqi Sarrofon, Toqi Telpakfurushon, Tim Abdulla Khan trading dome and Toqi Zargaron.

dome at Toqi Zargaron

stalls near Bozori Kord hammam

dome at Toqi Telpakfurushon

Toqi Zargaron facade

The madrasahs were Mir-i-Arab madrasah in the Poyi Kalon complex; Madrasah Mirzo Ulugbeg, Ulugbeg Madrasah,  and Abdulaziz Khan madrasah.

Ulugbeg madrasah

Abdulaziz Khan madrasah

Mosques that are no longer functioning for prayers, but now functions as museums are Magoki Attori mosque (carpet museum).

Magoki Attori mosque

At noon the heat became too unbearable, so we sought refuge at a teahouse nearby, having orange juice, iced americano, dumpling soup and a pot of cherry tea, costing UZS 245K (RM 83) which we paid by card. 

dumpling soup with orange juice and americano

and a pot of cherry tea

We then made our way back to the hotel using the shortest distance possible according to offline maps. We rested in our room and watched Roland Garros quarter finals matches to pass the time. 

We headed for dinner at 6.30pm at Khoja Nasriddin restaurant near a jew museum. We had Bukhara Osh Shofi plov, dolma and lula kebab with a pot of black tea for UZS 185K (RM 62). 

Bukhara Osh Shofi plov, dolma and lula kebab

We ventured back to the Poyi Kalyan complex to capture views at sunset. There were still many tourists around. We could hear the call for prayer from the Kalyan mosque, as it is a functioning mosque. We also revisited all the sites that we went through this morning for capturing night lights at the historical complex. 

Poyi Kalyan complex at sunset

Kalyan minaret at sunset

Ulugbegh madrasah at night

Caravansaray Mirzo Ulugbegh at night

Labi Hovus pool at night

It was then time to go back to the hotel at 9pm and rested for the day.

Thu 4/6/26

We ventured out early today after sunrise at 5am as we planned to walk to Bukhara's Markaziy market (bozor), about 30 mins walking (about 3 km). We again revisited the sites yesterday for views without tourists, which are all located along the way to the market.

Poyi Kalyan empty in the morning

Toqi Telpakfurushon empty in the morning

New sites visited today was Ark of Bukhara, and Bolo Hauz mosque, both located after the Kalan mosque, which was the furthest site we covered yesterday. 

Ark of Bukhara was a fortress built in the 5th century and is now a museum, with entrance ticket required.

Ark of Bukhara

Bolo Hauz mosque is a beautiful wooden columns and decorative ceilings built in 1712. It is still an active mosque. There is a pool (bolo) in front of the mosque with ducks swimming. The mosque is only opened during prayer time, and for Friday Prayers, the congregational prayers were done outside, in the compound of the mosque. 

pool in front of Bolo Hauz mosque

beautiful Bolo Hauz mosque

wooden column at beautiful Bolo Hauz mosque

Just before reaching the market, we visited the Chashmai Ayob mausoleum (said to be Prophet Ayob's tomb - but we couldn't verify this) and Imam Al Bukhari museum next to it. Both were still closed at 7am. 

Chashmai Ayob mausoleum

Imam Al Bukhari museum

We reached Bukhara's Markaziy market at 7.15 am and it was already buzzing with activities with traders setting up their stalls. We bought 1.4 kg of cherries for UZS 100K ( RM 30). 

Bukhara's Markaziy bozor

Bukhara's Markaziy bozor

Famished, we made our way back to our hotel to have breakfast and then rested in our room and only going out for lunch at Magic House coffee shop which claimed to serve home made Bukharan plov (Osh Shofi) . We ordered a big plate of the plov, manti (dumplings) and a pot of tea for UZS 116.7K (RM 40) paid with card. 

manti

Bukharan plov Osh Shofi

From the coffee shop, we jumped into buildings by buildings and bazaars, doing window shopping as it was too hot outside, until we reached Silk Road Teahouse, where we had cardamom coffee and saffron tea with honey sesame sweets, pistachio walnut and vanilla confection, raisin and walnuts. We paid UZS 70K (RM 21) per person for the set (cash only). This was the only available option in the teahouse, but you could have refills free of charge and change the coffee or tea flavours (but we didn't as we were already full).

sweets, tea and coffee

We then headed back to our hotel and rested for the day.