21 September 2024
(Saturday) - Khiva to Bukhara
Khiva to
God-Only-Knows-Where (coach) – 150 miles
God-Only-Knows-Where to
Bukhara (coach) – 150 miles
We
knew what the itinerary for the trip would be so we can’t complain… but again
we packed up our luggage and with packing packed we had brekkie. Earlier than
yesterday there were a lot fewer people swarming about, and with brekkie
scoffed we all piled on the coach and set off.
After half an hour we pulled up by the side of a field
where one of our number ran off down a track to find a shrub to hide behind.
The rest of us piled off the coach and Fax (the guide) gave us an
impromptu talk on the cotton trade in Uzbekistan.
We then drove on to a proper toilet. Or what passes
for a proper toilet in Uzbekistan. Me – I’d call it a rather gruesome hole in
the ground, but what do I know?
From here we picked up a rather impressive modern
motorway. On a par with anything here in the UK; if not better. Apparently
the Chinese
are paying for a motorway network in Uzbekistan in exchange for the
rights to any gas they might find whilst prospecting along the way.
We stopped off at an Uzbek service station for lunch
which wasn’t bad really… if you like raw tomatoes and cucumbers followed by
potato and carrot soup.
Some of our number braved the holes in the ground into
which you piss (I hesitate to use the term “toilet”); those who thought
they would instead clench stayed inside and had some of the brandy Fax
was offering.
If nothing else it helped us sleep for the afternoon’s
drive.
As Fax waxed loquacious about how men don’t need to
wash but women will die if they don’t, and about gangrene of the knob we headed
on to our next destination.
After two hundred and fifty miles we got to Bukhara at
half past four. Once checked into the hotel we all met up for a little wander
round the Jewish quarter of the town. We visited a synagogue and the rabbi
there was very welcoming and gave us quite an interesting talk (which Fax
translated for us).
Dinner was rather good… to be fair it wasn’t anything
special but compared to what had gone before it was rather good. So far the
food has been something of a disappointment. What the Uzbeks lack in quality
they make up for in quantity. Five courses were a tad much.
We went back to the hotel for a quick drink. I had a
gin and tonic which tasted almost, but not quite, entirely unlike gin and
tonic. And we then fought with the hotel’s wi-fi. Despite two fifferent hotel wi0fis, nwither
worked outside the hotel’s reception area.
I took a few photos today. But not that many – much
of today had been spent sitting on a coach. And I’ve now got a stupendous guts
ache.