The Silk Road (Sort Of) Overland
Tuesday 9 August 2011

Well, I made the right decision in pressing on and following my plan. The taxi journey to the Kyrgyz border went OK (the driver wasn't a maniac) and the border crossing was completely hassle free and took only 45 minutes from beginning to end. So, now I know.

When I arrived in Osh, I just took a taxi to one of the hotels listed in the Lonely Planet (Taj Mahal). As the only room available turned out to be a room inside the hotel owner's flat, I gave it a miss. I was warned by some back-backers sitting there about another hotel (which happened to be the hotel listed as the official office for the Community-Based Tourism project) because they drank a lot and there were fights there. Hmm, this IS the Wild West.

I decided to take another taxi and try a hotel that seemed to house lots of NGO reps (seems safer!) but when the taxi driver dropped a bag of bread onto the street and kind of slid out halfway himself when opening the car door, I decided this was not the taxi for me.

Eventually, I found the NGO place, called TES Guesthouse. This is a great place - with WiFi! - and at USD20, it's a fabulous deal. Nice, clean, with friendly English-speaking staff. I also got a lead about a travel agent that might be able to help me with a tour of the area tomorrow.

I went for a quick walk in the neighbourhood before bedtime. The only establishments near this guest house are either bars or gambling halls (they kind of alternate). The feeling I'm getting from Osh so far is that it is a pretty depressing (and possibly unsafe) place.

We'll see what my tour of the area tomorrow will be like. I'm keeping an open mind about Osh and Kyrgyzstan. However, I really need to find a flexible tour company that can combine two or three things for me on a short notice. I need to fly back to Dubai on 19 August, and I can't really allow less than a week for my Silk Road tour in China. It wouldn't be fair.

The Silk Road (Sort Of) Overland
Monday 8 August 2011

Today, I was finally able to see the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent. I spent the whole day with Bahrom and Sevara - and Bahrom had put together a full city tour. It was wonderful not having to look at the map every ten minutes!

The highlights of today were:

• The Railway Museum (super fun climbing up these old train engines)
• Seeing the Uthman Quran (the oldest Koran in the world)
• The Old Town (especially the spartan Telyashayakh Mosque)
• The Chorsu Bazaar (extremely colourful place)
• The Kulkedash Medressa (I took maybe 50 pictures here)
• Visiting lots of fountains around sunset

After today, I feel I have a really good idea of what Tashkent is all about.

While the sightseeing was in full swing, I was having my own private Silk Road crisis. My plan is to follow the ancient Silk Road route through Osh in Kyrgyzstan and then go to Kashgar in China via the Irkeshtam Pass. However, since the brief civil war and all the killings in Osh in June 2010, I've been aware that the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border might be closed. Today, as I've tried to find out exactly what the situation is at the border, I've been swinging between mild optimism and semi-despair about my Silk Road project: "The Kyrgyz Embassy does not take calls" (the border is probably closed); "It seems like the border is open" (pessimism slowly turning into optimism); "Bad news. Russians can pass, but you will probably have to bribe someone because you're not Russian" (what??!); "Good news. The border is open and the son of a friend of a friend of can meet you in Osh and show you around" (feeling more optimistic); "Sorry, the mother of this son does not want him to have any contact with foreigners" (What IS really going in in Osh?); "Someone has offered to drive you to Osh and put you up there for USD200, but we don't really know anything about this guy" (hmm, doesn't really inspire confidence).

By sunset I feel extremely anxious about the whole thing, and very concerned about the fact that I don't seem to be able to get any clear information on the border-crossing issue or what the situation in Osh might really look like. Also, the prospect of sitting in a shared taxi for six hours doesn't really thrill me. What if the driver turns out to be a maniac racing driver?

It's a toss up. Should I press on according to my plan? Or should I curtail my Silk Road project further and just take the train back to Almaty and then go into China that way (and skip Kyrgyzstan entirely)? And during my lowest point today: Or should I even curtail it further and fly from Almaty to Dubai and skip China a well (and spend the last ten days if my holiday relaxing on the beach in Fujairah)?

In situations like these, very small things can make a big difference for me, and when Bahrom says, "You can always fly back to Tashkent if the border is closed", I feel I've invested too much in this project to give up before I know for sure I can't proceed according to my plan.

So tomorrow I'm taking a shared taxi for six hours to a border that might be closed. Yippee (not).

The Silk Road (Sort Of) Overland
Sunday 7 August 2011

When I took a taxi to the train station this morning, I realise my idea of Bukhara having a small-town feel was somewhat misguided. The taxi took me through street after street with modern buildings with lots of shops. Funny to discover that this large and modern area of the city lay just outside my Lonely Planet map.

This morning's train journey to Tashkent was uneventful. I had a first-class ticket this time, but I think the second-class train ride two days ago was on a better train. We had no air-conditioning to speak of, which surprised me since my ticket was, after all, a first-class ticket. Another thing that annoyed me was that the restaurant car didn't have any cold Coke (Why should I pay USD 1.20 for a small bottle of lukewarm Coke?!). The minute buffet-style restaurant didn't seem to offer more than cold drinks, and if your job is to sell cold drinks, I would imagine your job description is rather straightforward, probably looking something like this:

• Make sure you have drinks to sell.
• Make sure they are cold.

I had to wait for three hours before we reached Samarkand, where I found a no-fuss lady entrepreneur walking up and down the platform selling cold drinks. We were also delayed by one hour, so after eight hours in a non-A/C environment, I felt rather grumpy.

Oh, I almost forgot. About four and a half hours after we left Bukhara, the train drove through an area of mountains that looked very much like Oman. I took a lot of pictures.

Bahrom met me at the train station, he helped me to get a hotel and then we went to his and Sevara's flat for dinner. Bahrom tried to de-grumpify me the whole way there, but didn't really succeed (I'm ashamed to say - Bahrom is a good de-grumpifier).

Sevara had prepared a wonderful dinner and we were joined by Bahrom's mum, Inoyat, and one of Bahrom's friends, Taha, who also turned out to be a translator. Enjoying Sevara's wonderful cooking and being surrounded by my wonderful Uzbek friends made my grumpiness quickly disappear.

The Silk Road (Sort Of) Overland
Saturday 6 August 2011

I'm not going to say that what I've seen today beats everything I've seen this summer (as I've done twice this week already), but it's close! The historical monuments in Bukhara are absolutely stunning.

The two top-of-the-range monuments - which are facing each other - are the Kalon Mosque (big enough for 10,000 people) and the Mir-i-Arab Medressa. The Kalon Mosque thankfully has a minimum of distractions (one single tree only in the courtyard) and the beautiful tiling and the impressive design speak for themselves. You can't access more than the foyer in the Mir-i-Arab Medressa but I was still able to take lots of pictures through the grated window facing the courtyard. There's also a 47-metre Kalon Minaret between these two buildings but it has been closed to visitors for three years - so no climbing today!

The Ark, Bukhara's royal fortress, occupied from the fifth century up to 1920, is also a fascinating monument to visit. However, here the souvenir sellers have almost completely taken over. For example, in the Reception and Coronation Court, there are carpets and table cloths draping most of this huge area. A pity! You can hardly get a feel for what the space looks like. If they charge 12,000 sum in admission (USD 5.00) - which is five times what the 2007 Lonely Planet says it should cost - do they really have to make every nook and cranny of this fortress into a souvenir shop as well?

Now to my favourites in Bukhara. I really liked the small Ismail Samani Mausoleum in the outskirts of the Old City. This sturdy terracotta monument (completed 905AD) had none of the customary turquoise and blue tile work, yet it struck me as incredibly beautiful with all its detailed brickwork.

Next to the Ismail Samani Mausoleum I stumbled upon the Chasma Ayoub Mausoleum. This is built over a spring where legend says Job struck the ground and a well appeared. It was kind of moving to see a stream of people come here, sit and pray for a while and then drink water from the well. I guess I liked it as well because Job happens to be one of my Old Testament favourites.

The Abdul Aziz Khan Medressa had tile work at the gate that was different from all the other medressas I've seen so far. Instead of turquoise and different shades of blue, the tile work here was green, orange and yellow. I guess anything that is different will seem striking to you when you see it. However, it was really the un-restored mosque inside this medressa that caught my attention. It was absolutely beautiful, and although it was filled up with carpet and souvenir sellers (like squatters!) their wares didn't reach very high up along the walls, and I was able to admire this beautiful mosque without bring disturbed.

My last favourite was the Char Minar, a small gatehouse for a long-gone medressa. It has four small towers and has recently been restored by UNESCO. Charming and unassuming, it's in the middle of a neighbourhood with winding, narrow alleyways - where three young boys insisted I take a photo of a three-some somersault they performed against a wall.

A comment on vegetarian food in case anyone is looking for it. Today, I discovered this brand-new Cafe Kalon opposite the Kalon Mosque. They told me they had just launched a vegan dish in response to demand from foreign tourists: mantis filled with pumpkin and onion (manti = a kind of pillow-shaped pasta shell with a filling). It was so yummy I went here both for lunch and dinner today.

A perfect day in Bukhara was finished with a perfect evening of wine tasting. A delightful lady, Mrs Lutfiya Achilova, and her husband offer a wine tasting event on demand with eight Uzbek wines (USD 7.00). Apparently, she has won awards in this field, and several of the wines we tasted have received prizes in Europe. When I arrived, there was a group of six people from Spain in full swing of trying different wines. They had reached wine number three, and they very kindly waited for me to catch up.

Mrs Lutfiya Achilova had already put a Spanish flag on the table, along with the Uzbek flag, and when I arrived, a Swedish flag appeared within minutes. Our ninth glass was our favourite out of the eight we'd tasted, and I settled for Omar Kayyam, a full-bodied dry red wine.

Tomorrow morning, I'll be taking the train to Tashkent (7 hours), and this time I'll stay longer than three hours in the Uzbek capital. Bahrom will be meeting me and I'm invited to dinner at his place tomorrow evening.

The Silk Road (Sort Of) Overland
Friday 5 August 2011

Before leaving Samarkand this morning, I went to see the Tomb of the Old Testament Prophet Daniel and Ulegbek's Observatory.

It is claimed that Timur brought the fifth century BC remains of Prophet Daniel from Susa, Iran, to Samarkand - though apparently there is a Tomb of Prophet Daniel in Susa as well. The sarcophagus is 18 metres long so it's quite an unusual sight to say the least. Some visitors/pilgrims were walking around the sarcophagus more than once after the chanting of some prayers by an imam, so this is clearly an important place of pilgrimage for Muslims. It did say on the sign outside that the Prophet Daniel is revered by Jews and Christians as well as Muslims. I wonder if there are prayers said by priests and rabbis here sometimes as well?

The Lonely Planet says that the legend is that Prophet Daniel's body grows by half and inch every year and that is why the sarcophagus is so long. However, the girl the ticket office told me that the reason why the sarcophagus is so long is that Timur did not want anybody to know exactly where Daniel's bones were located inside the sarcophagus. A quick calculation shows that if a fifth century BC body grows half an inch per year, the length of the sarcophagus should be around 32 metres by now - unless the idea is that the body started to grow after Timur brought it to Samarkand.
There's not much left to see at Ulegbek's Observatory, only the curved track from his 30 metre astrolab. However, the next-door museum contains a great deal of interesting information (also in English) and I had no idea what an important contribution to science Ulegbek made until visiting this museum. For example, the calculations of the exact length of a year made by this fifteenth century scientist are incredibly accurate.

The three-hour train ride to Bukhara went without incident. Each passenger had a personal TV screen in second class (Russian movies only) and there was plenty of leg room. The A/C also worked (sort of). However, the most significant thing was that the toilet on the train was very clean and completely smell-free! That was in sharp contrast to the loos on the overnight trains I've been on in Uzbekistan so far.

I think I got off on the wrong footing with the city of Bukhara when I first arrived this afternoon. The first sight I came across, just outside my hotel, was the Maghoki-Attar Mosque. The Lonely Planet guide says it is Central Asia's oldest surviving mosque (ninth century facade) and it also says it's "probably the town's holiest spot" since archaeologists have found bits of a fifth century Zoroastrian temple here as well as an earlier Buddhist temple. In addition, Bukhara's Jews used it as a synagogue in the evenings until the sixteenth century. With all this background, I wasn't really prepared when it turned out they have basically turned it into a museum/carpet/souvenir shop, with an emphasis on the latter. Also, one of the guys working there lit up a cigarette just after I arrived - inside the mosque. I'm not a Muslim, but I felt really offended when this guy just casually lit up a cigarette inside this ancient mosque long before sunset during Ramadan.

However, as the afternoon turned into evening and I walked past several of the amazing historical buildings in the Old Town, I started feeling much more positive about Bukhara. The area around the Lyabi Hauz Plaza also has a great vibe about it, and I got some very good food a the Lyabi Hauz Restaurant.

Bukhara has much more of a small-town feel about it than Samarkand, but the historical sites seem to be much more concentrated to one area.

The Silk Road (Sort Of) Overland
Thursday 4 August 2011

I decided to go for the Lonely Planet's Our Pick in the hotel section, Antica Hotel, and that was a good choice. Not long after getting off at Samarkand train station I had this large room with beautiful rugs on the wall and the floor, and a most amazing ceiling, which reminded me of the Summer Mosque in Khiva. Also, the room had its own direct access to a paradise-type garden. What a pity I'm not staying here more than one day! At $40 it's a steal.

The hotel was literally next to the Guri Amir Mausoleum (or Timur Mausoleum as it said on the sign), so I started pretty much straight away with my city tour of Samarkand.

I know I said yesterday that Khiva pretty much beats everything I've seen so far. Well, that was yesterday. Today, I can say that Samarkand beats everything I've seen so far this summer. It's just the sheer size and number of all the beautiful tiled buildings in turquoise and all shades of blue that you find all over the city. I'm so grateful my Uzbek visa came through in the end! What would a Silk Road tour be without Samarkand?

Here are the monuments I visited today (following Bahrom's expert recommendations):

First, Timur's Mausoleum or the Guri Amir Mausoleum. This monument looked like it was taken from a fairytale story, with its emerald dome and incredibly intricate beautiful tiling. The inside was equally impressive, and my young English-speaking guide did a good job of explaining who was buried here and the history of each person. The mausoleum was originally built for Timur's grandson, but the fame of this monument comes from the fact that Timur himself is buried here (though he actually died of pneumonia in Otrar, Kazakhstan, where I was last week).

Second, I saw the three medressas or schools, that are located together in an "ensemble" to use a word from the Lonely Planet guide and which go under the name of the Registan. Again, breathtakingly beautiful and very, very impressive. I'd probably say totally awesome if I was American. If you ever look for the heart of the Silk Road, I guess this is it. Because almost all of the ground-floor classrooms now are used as souvenir shops, the area has become very touristy and commercialised. But then again, if you're at the heart if the Silk Road, the hustle and bustle of trading is probably exactly the kind if buzz you want to create.

Third, the Bibi-Khanym Mosque was also very impressive. The difference here was that people were in the process of restoring some of the buildings so there were rocks flying down along some of the walls quite near where visitors were walking. Also, the inside of the mosque was in a state of disrepair, with large cracks in lots of places and almost all wall decorations in shades of white rather than turquoise and blue.

Fourth, the Hazrat-Hizr Mosque was quite small but incredibly beautiful as well. The present mosque replaces an eight century mosque burnt to the ground by Jenghiz Khan. I really liked the incredibly colourful ribbed external ceiling and the beautiful view of some of the other monuments.

Fifth, I visited Shah-i-Zinda, an avenue of mausoleums. I think there are about twenty mausoleums here arranged along a path. It's, again, absolutely beautiful, but more than so, it's incredibly moving to walk along this avenue. My favourite was the interiors of the Mulk Aka Mausoleum.

By this time it was nearly sunset and to sum up my walk through Samarkand, I'll give the Guri Amir Mausoleum full marks for enchantment, the Registan full marks for awesomeness and the Shah-i-Zinda full marks for making me feel moved.

Just two comments before I sign off for today. First, if you are looking for vegetarian food in Uzbekistan (which seems to be incredibly difficult) and you find yourself in Samarkand, you can try the Art Studio Cafe next to the Bibi-Khanym Mosque. They were prepared make some of their dishes without meat. For example, their meat-less cabbage soup was gorgeous. Also, they offer quite a few salads and side dishes like mashed potatoes or buckwheat. Second, if you - like me - are getting frustrated because no-one ever has WiFi in Uzbekistan, you can try the Malika Hotel next to the Guri Amir Mausoleum. They charged me 4,000 sums per hour ($1.60), which is a bargain if you've reached the point where you're prepared to pay ANYTHING to get online.

The Silk Road (Sort Of) Overland
Wednesday 3 August 2011

Today, it's exactly a month since I arrived in Istanbul to start my Silk Road trip. I've seen many unique and amazing places over the past month, but I'm wondering if today doesn't beat them all. The sheer number of absolutely beautiful, totally jaw-dropping sights have been overwhelming. No wonder the publishers of my guide book The Silk Road (Discovery Channel) have chosen the city wall of Khiva for their front cover.

Our first stop, the Summer Palace, which is a 10-minute walk from the western gate, stopped me in my tracks before we had even begun. Huge rooms with stunning wall paper, ceilings and the most intricate tiled storage heaters I've ever seen made this slightly off-centre museum absolutely worth it.

The Khuna Ark with its stunning Summer Mosque (extremely colourful ceiling) and throne room, was another highlight. As were the Juma Mosque (reminded me of the mosque/cathedral in Cordoba) and the Islom-Hoja Minaret (which we climbed, all 118 winding steps).

When we left Khiva late afternoon for the train station in Tortkol - which is in the semi-independent Uzbek province of Karakalpakstan - I felt a bit dazed and thought that my 13-hour overnight train journey to Samarkand was quite timely. I need a bit of time to digest what I've seen before I'm faced with the Silk Road giant and focus point Samarkand.

The train to Samarkand and Tashkent arrived right on time (originating somewhere in Russia) and lo and behold it had A/Cs! The stinking factor for the loo was above average, but it could have been worse. The train was not overcrowded, and the conductor - who is called something that rhymes with Dubrovnik in Russian - was proactive and kept the carriage neat and tidy.

When I get off tomorrow morning, Bahrom, Sevara and Inoyat will stay on the same train until they reach Tashkent in the afternoon and I'll be on my own. Thank you Bahrom for being such a fantastic travel guru for Uzbekistan!

The Silk Road (Sort Of) Overland
Tuesday 2 August 2011

It was nice and cool in the train during the night, so I've slept very well. The train was running a bit late as they are doing work on the tracks at some places, but if you're on a 20-hour train ride, 22 hours does not feel like that late. The landscape we travelled through was very similar to the steppe outside Actau - sand and tufts of grass.

It was great having travelling companions. However, by 11.00 o'clock we were back at the temperatures of last night and we're all taking turns dozing off here and there during the day - Bahrom, Sevara, Inoyat and I - so there's not always that intense socialising. Train journeys are good for offing off, especially long ones.

Bahrom and I tried the trick from yesterday - going to the restaurant car when we felt too hot - but this time it didn't work. It was actually hotter than in our carriage (don't know why we stayed so long). The Russian lady was not put off by the heat, however. She kept asking Bahrom about me. What was my job? Where did I work? Was I married? Why not? Why did I keep travelling the world instead of making babies? How much did I earn? Trying to keep answers vague or to a minimum didn't help - the questions just kept coming. I might have been exposed to many types of cultures over the years but I must say I prefer the English approach. "It's awfully hot today, don't you think?" is about as personal I'd like to get when ordering food at a restaurant.

We arrive two and a half hours behind schedule at Urgensch, but the taxi journey to Khiva is less than half a hour, and we get nearly two hours to walk around the Old Town before sundown.

The Old Town in Khiva is this magical city and UNESCO heritage site, entirely surrounded by city walls. It is all untouched and time seems to be standing still here. All the museums (I think there are a total of 28 museums) were closed by the time we arrived, but we still got a piece of the magic as we walked past building after building with this gorgeous turquoise and blue tiling. The setting sun added its own glow as well.

Tomorrow, the museums will be open and we'll get to see what Khiva is all about. Good stuff!

The Silk Road (Sort Of) Overland
Monday 1 August 2011

The train crossing to Uzbekistan was hassle free, though it took a while. We spent two hours leaving Kazakhstan, and one and a half hour entering Uzbekistan. I was asked by the Uzbek customs officials to show the money I had - maybe three times - but they were always very polite about it, and the third time I was checked, the customs official shouted, "Good luck!" after me as I walked down the corridor. The currency that brought most curiosity was my dirhams from the UAE. Also, you have to declare all items of value and I had to explain what an iPad and and an iPhone was.

The train ride from Shymkent to Tashkent was also interesting from another perspective. There were people sitting everywhere in the corridors, like 80-year old babushkas sitting on the floor outside my compartment sharing a pot of tea and chatting, surrounded by bulky bags. Each sleeping compartment had four beds, so the people working on the train seemed to offer extra tickets for standing passengers. This was not a problem for the first four hours of the journey, but when we approached the border, these people had to be seated and their luggage had to be stowed away. I'm sure the customs officials know what's going on - there are obviously more people in the carriage than there are beds - but if everybody is seated neatly, I guess there's no harm for the border control people.

Also, as with all the other Kazakh trains, the A/C didn't work while we were stationary, so with a three and a half hour border crossing, it was hot beyond belief in my compartment.

Just before arriving in Tashkent, I got a text from Bahrom, who was meeting me there, that there were no overnight train tickets for Khiva for Tuesday or Wednesday night, only for this evening! Bahrom, his wife Sevara and his mum Inoyat had planned on joining me on my visit to Khiva so we had to decide very quickly what to do. The consensus was that we should take the train tonight, which meant I had only time for a quick visit to Bahrom's and Sevara's flat (gorgeous) for a quick shower and repack. The 20-hour train for Khiva left at 5.45 PM.

Before getting on the train, I managed to change some money (ATMs don't work in Uzbekistan). My USD 400 became 1,000,000 sums! Since the largest denomination is 1,000 sum, I've got 1,000 bank notes. I feel rich! My wallet won't hold a fraction of this so I'm keeping most of my money in my suitcase (like rich people do).

The first thing I can report is that although the trains I were on in Kazakhstan had A/Cs (at least when moving), the Uzbek train I'm on now has no such luxury. I think the temperature outside is nearing 40C, so inside it's incredibly hot. Bahrom keeps cracking jokes about Scandinavians liking saunas, but I'm not laughing that much. Instead, I'm busy trying to master the Uzbek way of swinging a towel around in circles to make it function like a fan.

Uzbeks seem to be very friendly. I've had a very long conversation with two brothers from Urgensch. The older one, Jahongir, is trying to achieve an IELTS score of 6.5 so he can do his Masters abroad (I think he's at IELTS 5.0 at the moment). Right now he's studying Economics at university and his family is trading in eggs. Jahongir tells me they are selling 20,000 eggs a day so there is obviously money in eggs.

This train is not "overbooked" like the Kazakh train, but it is very hot and we keep stopping over and over again, so the precious sense of a breeze you get when the train is moving has been quite rare most of the evening. Bahrom, Sevara, Inoyat and I spent maybe two hours in the restaurant car late this evening - it seems a bit cooler then our compartments. There's this loud Russian lady in charge of proceedings in the restaurant car. She sits still and shouts instructions or whatever from her seat. I asked Bahrom if she has a bit of an aggressive nature but he says no. I also asked Bahrom to find out what vegetarian options they had (if any). Bahrom told me she replied, "We only eat meat here. They should know that! Why are they (vegetarians, presumably) coming here when they know that?! Hmm, ineresting response!

The restaurant car is also where I found out that neither Sevara nor Inoyat have ever been to Khiva before. That makes three of us!

It remains to be seen if can sleep like a baby on this train tonight (as is my habit on trains). Hopefully, it will cool down a bit now after sundown.

The Silk Road (Sort Of) Overland
Sunday 31 July 2011

The people at the Roslan Guesthouse put together a tailor-made tour for me today. I wanted to see Sayram, Otrar and Turkestan before leaving Kazakhstan and that is exactly what happened today. It was a 12-hour tour and I paid $170 for that, which is good value compared to the $100 I paid for the 6-hour trip to see Shakpak Ata.

As I said yesterday, I love it when I'm on the receiving end of something that is well organised. Everything went like clockwork and I particularly liked the taxi driver who drove very sensibly and didn't do any hair-raising manoeuvres or crazy driving.

First, I saw a number of monuments in Sayram, a Silk Road stop dating back around 3,000 years. The main monuments here include the Mausoleum of Ibrahim Ata, but I actually liked the Kydyra Minaret the best. It probably dates back to the tenth century and it was possible to climb up the narrow, winding steps to the top of the 15 metre minaret. What was interesting about Sayram was that there were big groups of pilgrims visiting these mausoleums, one group after another. This city obviously has spiritual significance.

The next stop was the Otrar Museum (after almost two hours of driving). The English-speaking guide - who yawned several times during his presentation and didn't like it when I interrupted him with questions - claimed his museum had the oldest and most significant exhibits in Kazakhstan. His English was excellent, though. I'd say a stop at the Otrar Museum is worthwhile, but in contrast to the museums in Turkey (including Hagia Sophia and the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations!) there were absolutely no photos allowed. Why, I wonder. A pity, since I really wanted to take photo of this amazing-looking headstone for a tomb in the form of a vicious-looking warrior.

There's not much left of the old Silk Road town Otrar - where the scientist Al Farabi was born (AD870) and Timur died of pneumonia (AD1405) - as Jenghiz Khan completely demolished it in the thirteenth century. However, I walked around the old ruins for a while and there were remains of the palace mosque and a bath house among other things. All those remains are, however, "post-Jenghiz" the Lonely Planet guide claims. I only saw three other visitors at this archaeological site while I was there. Historical tourism hasn't really taken off in Kazakhstan yet.

Very near to the Otrar ruins are the Aristan-Bab Mausoleum. The restored tomb is from 1907 so the main building on the site is obviously not that old, but I really liked this place. There were also many pilgrims here so this place had a life of its own.

However, the highlight of the day was the visit to Turkestan late in the afternoon. The Kozha Ahmed Yasaui Mausoleum in Turkestan is the most significant Silk Road site in Kazakhstan, and the mausoleum, which was kind of completed in 1405 according to my guide, is sill intact. It was also never properly completed, so there are bits sticking out at the front, which makes it quite unique.

I really liked my guide. He had moved to Turkestan for this job and when I asked him what he thought about his job, he said he loved it because he could serve the people visiting, including foreigners. He said it with such genuine conviction. It's great when you come across this kind of attitude - a wonderful contrast to the cynicism and negativity many express when talking about their job. His languages were Russian, Kazakh, Turkish and English. He'll probably go far.

The drive back to Shymkent took over two hours and I enjoyed watching the passing landscape. However, I failed to get the perfect shot of the "endless Kazakh steppe" in spite of trying for well over an hour.

A big thank you to Russim in Almaty who made this well-organised weekend tour so utterly successful! Tomorrow morning, I'm taking the train to Tashkent, Uzbekistan.