Walking down Moskva ...

Just 48 hours after landing, I took off again in eastern direction. This time it was a business trip to Moscow.

Kreml

There I visited the Commercial Vehicle Show CONTRANS in the Crocus Expo Centre. I enjoyed the daily travels on the Moscow Metro and the beautiful old stations - see also the blog entry from June 2008.

COMTRANS is the largest commercial vehicle show in Russia and all major Russian, European and Chinese brands were present. KAMAZ and GAZ Group had the biggest stand, on the MAN stand we showcased four buses of MAN and NEOPLAN as well as several trucks.

The trade fair was interesting, even though at most of stands the staff just spoke Russian. Our staff spoke good English and German and as most of them joined only recently I tried to meet all of them.

Red Square in the evening

Besides doing some competitor analysis, I joined a business breakfast where I learnt more about Russian economy and retail. The meeting took place at the Kempinslki Baltschug from which I had a splendid view on the Kreml, Red Square and St Basil's Cathedral.

St Basil's Cathedral

In the evenings, I met Alla and her husband for dinner, strolled around Red Square and GUM and went to a Russian Dance Show.

GUM

riday after lunch I left for the airport. First I took the metro to Pavelezkaya Station and from there the Aeroexpress that brought me to Domodedovo Airport within 45 minutes.

The way back home

Our trip around Uzbekistan came to an end and we finished it as we started it in Tashkent. First we took the metro from our hotel to a park. The controls at the metro station can be quite tight, especially if you look like a tourist. So carry your passport or a copy of the same with you.

Next to the park are some governmental buildings. The park was very beautiful, quite and we strolled along the paths and lakes. The city was still covered with a lot of posters of the Independence Day.

On the way back to another metro station we saw some interesting architecture dating back to Soviet times and some younger ones.

Our last mission was to buy several things on the big bazaar. We looked for clothes and found a jeans for Andreas. We moved on through the fruit stands and made our way to the spice and nuts market.

Spice & Nuts market are under the dome

Of course, they were also selling my "most favorite" spice: zira = cumin. We found it nearly on and in every dish in Uzbekistan: in plov, on steak, in and on bread, once even on shashlik.

We took some time to find the eatery of the bazaar and then had chicken, somsa and bread for lunch. You order on the front and then take a seat in the back and you get your meal served. Actually we expected it to be warmer, more tasty and less expensive, but it was definitely an interesting experience.

From the bazaar we saw an interesting building with a spiral staircase winding up on its outside to the top. To get a better view of our surroundings we climbed the stairs up. And found a supermarket, a stork and a good view on Tashkent.

Our visit to supermarket got us some sweets but no vodka, so we nearly asked somebody but then saw the kind of liquor store across the road. There we got some bottles nicely wrapped in an old newspaper. We returned to the hotel with our treasures and packed our luggage for the flight.

Later we met Maksim (our travel agent) for dinner and a night at the favorite skiers', boarders' and rockers' hangout. At the restaurant we paid the highest bill ever in Uzbekistan (94,500 sum).

Around midnight we left the hotel and returned to the airport. We went again through all the procedures and then headed off to Riga.

Early morning we touched down in Riga and went to the city centre for breakfast. We found a nice cafe which offered a wide variety of pastry. Afterwards we strolled through the city until it was time to leave for the airport.

In the early afternoon, we landed in sunny Munich. Uzbekistan and Riga were very interesting and beside the memories in my mind, there is also a table full of souvenirs.

T-Shirt, cosmetic bag, money bag, apricots, apricot stones, almonds, scarves, sweets, book stand, nuts plate, silk paper, business card holder, bread printer, spice bottle and two bottles of vodka.

Trekking in the Chatkal Mountains

We spent the next three days in the Chatkal mountains around Tashkent that belong to the Tienshan mountain range. We drove an hour and a half from Tashkent already with our guide and cook. At the foot of the mountains we met the donkey man with two donkeys for our luggage and a little one.

We went directly vertical and climbed for a long time, at least for me it seemed like it as my shoes were giving me pain already after the first half an hour:-(. The mountain view rewarded me a little bit.

In the later afternoon, we came back to the river and set up our camp on the high bank. Now we found out what Alex (our cook) and Oleg (our guide) did pack in the big black travel bags: three tents, mattresses, sleeping bags, a table, chairs, cooking equipment, lots of food and no vodka. Andreas could not believe to be on a trip with three Uzbek and having no alcohol with them - it changed his worldview.

Then we took a bath in the river - the water was mountain fresh! - Nonetheless, we tried again and again when we had the chance.

The others built up the camp and Alex started to cook. Later he served us stuffed paprikas and for dinner he had cook still another dish, even we were not really hungry.

We were not quite alone there and some people passed by our camp on donkey or on foot with a herd of goats. We went to bed early and the river sang a lullaby for us. I woke up several times at night as it was getting really cold and the bottom was hard.

The next morning, we set out to the east and crossed a wooden bridge that looked very interesting. We continued in this direction following a river till some time after lunch when we turned south and climbed up to a high pass. Once or twice we nearly lost our luggage when the donkeys mistepped.

On this day, we had a beautiful view on the Chimgan Peak (3,309 m), the highest top of the range.

On our last day, we had to climbed again and my feet screamed like hell. After an hour we saw the chair lift bringing summer tourists to one of the tops and headed for the skiing slope and then walked it down back into civilization. Here Alex cooked his last meal for us before we had to say goodbye. Despite my hurting feet I enjoyed it very much. Both Alex and Oleg are also guides in the heliskiing programme and invited me to come back in winter.

Oleg, Chris, Alex, Inka, Andreas and the donkey man

The night and the next day we spent in a mountain resort where we had cottage all to ourselves.

After an afternoon at the pool we followed the barbeque invitation of our travel operator who booked the whole tour from Tashkent along the Silk Road and to the mountains for us. We met also his family and his father-in-law who is the coach of the Uzbek National Ski Team.

The next day we did pretty much nothing and it was the most lazy day of the whole trip. The most exciting thing to happen on this day was the drive back to Tashkent. As we boarded the "taxi from hell": windscreen broken, window lifters gone and the speedometer stucked at 20 km/h when we driving around 80 at least downhill. About fifty km away from Tashkent we changed cars, the car looked better, the driver was younger, but the driving style was the same.

Review: Hotel Malika Prime

We stayed three nights at the Hotel Malika Prime - the most luxoury of the Malika hotels.

General appearance

The three-story building was built only recently in the national style. There is a rooftop terrace with several tapshens.

Location

The hotel is located just some steps away from the Gur Emir mausoleum and a ten minute walk from the Registan on the one side and the modern centre on the other side.

Rooms

The rooms are nicely decorated and have a balcony, unfortunately ours leaded out above the front entrance and there was always some noise going on either from people talking below it or from birds in the early morning. The beds were the softest we had on the whole trip.

The bathroom was great with a bathtub and always clean.

Breakfast

We had our breakfast every morning in the dining hall. They had a big variety with fruits, pancakes, toast with jam, cheese and sausage. Two nice staff members took care of all the guests.

Other

Wifi was not for free at Malika Prime, but you had to purchase a login for an hour or the time you needed. The staff was very helpful in calling cabs and negotiating the price with them. But they helped me most by restoring my pictures on the memory stick.

Shakhrisabz

We decided to continue on the footsteps of Amir Timur on our spare day and drove to Shakhrisabz. Unfortunately, our little van was too big to cross the mountain pass. They have some tight rules about letting pass only cars as there are some problems with separatist groups.

mountains around Samarkand

Bigger overload, bigger shadow to sleep

Arrived in Shakhrisabz we started with the main site: the ruins of the Ak-Saray Palace and in front of it the statue of Amir Timur. Ramadan has been over for some days and couples are getting married again. The place is favored from many couples as a wedding photo spot - we saw at least twenty-five roaming around the statue and beyond.

Then we visited the Khazrati-Imam-complex that houses the mausoleum of Amir Timur in which only two of his sons is buried. Opposite of it, there is a mosque with beautiful floral decorations on the walls and the ceiling.

Kok Gumbaz Mosque

The sightseeing was exhausting and we headed to a restaurant for lunch - we had shashlik, somsas and salad.

Shashlik cook: Please choose!

somsa stove

On the market, we saw again white bread with different patterns and bought some fruits.

We also tried a special sweet that we saw everywhere on the markets throughout Uzbekistan: Nisholda is the beaten up whites of eggs with sugar and herbs. These food symbolizes Uzbek national holidays.

Andreas tries Nisholda

Samarkand

Although the road we took to Samarkand was more sandy than golden, this part of James Elroy Flecker's poetry captures a bit our travel mood:

...

We travel not for trafficking alone;

By hotter winds our fiery hearts are fanned:

For lust of knowing what should not be known,

We take the Golden Road to Samarkand.

...

After checking in to the Malika Prime, we started our discovery of Samarkand that does not live up to the promise of its name and the feelings it triggers in all of us. Nowadays Samarkand is a modern city with some beautiful historic sights scattered in between.

First we found a souvenir shop cum post office cum money change. The highest banknote is 1,000 sum (round about 0,30 Euro), so whenever you change money, you have to count to some really high numbers for some time (once we nearly cracked the million).

Me & Inka counting our wealth

The Registan is a main square that is surrounded on three sides by medressas that date from different times. The first was built by Ulughbek in the 16th century, the other two were built later to join the majestic of the first one. Each of them features unique decorations. Today all are converted to workshops, galeries and souvenir shops. The biennal music festival takes place on the Registan, so they block the great view with an audience seating area.

Registan with Tilla-Kari Medressa

Decor of Sher Don medressa (same ornament is also on the two hundred sum note)

From behind the Registan leads a pedestrian boulevard to the other sights. Only battery buses are allowed to go here. The boulevard is lined with souvenir shops that lead up to the Bibi-Khanyam Mosque. Only the entrance portal and the garden are restaurated, the mosque itself has many cracks and only the dome was reconstructed. The mosque faced a constant problem of buildings of that time: the architectural techniques could not live up to the wishes of Amir Timur. They faltered soon after their construction.

On the opposite hill is spread the Shah-i-Zinda ("City of the Living King") - an astonishing ensemble of mausoleos of the a cousin of the prophet Mohammed, famous persons and the women of the royal family. Especially the mausoleos of the last are very beautiful. Adjoining is the contemporary cemetary that includes the grave of President Karimov's mother. Many tombstone feature a picture of the deceased which is not common in Islam.

Shah-i-Zinda

The road leads further to the observatory of Ulughbek who did not only rule the country, but was also known as scientist. Unfortunately, his son regarded science as whitchcraft, beheaded his father and destroyed all his astronomy instruments. Only the lower part of the sextant remained hidden for centuries before it was rediscovered.

Ulughbek's sextant

The magic of Samarkand unfolds at night when all the sights are nicely lit. So we returned to Gur Emir to take some wonderful pictures. At this sight, Amir Timur, Ulughbek and some other important persons are buried. Amir Timur had already commissioned his grave in Shakhrisabz, but he died on an expedition to China and the mountain pass was covered with snow, so he was put to rest in Samarkand.

Gur Emir

On our last day, we took a taxi to the Koni Ghil Meros paper manufactory. The paper is produced from the bark of the mulberry tree. They cut the bark off, take the inner soft part, mix it water, stomp it for several hours, sieve it as a sheet, dry it, press it and smooth it. We got some detailed explanation on how it works.

cutting of the bark of the mulberry tree

innovative water supply

From there we continued to the bazaar where we bought something to eat for the train ride in the evening, vodka to take home and souvenirs.

In the evening, we left Samarkand by train to Tashkent.