A much quieter day today as we left Bukhara by train for Samarkand. The journey passed pleasantly enough watching the scenery; desert, industrial areas and large cotton fields where the last picking was being undertaken, and chatting to our fellow passengers, nearly all travellers like ourselves. It's always fun to compare stories and to meet people from all over the world and hear their views.
We had problems getting to our hotel due to road closures whilst the president was visiting, so stopped off at a very grand hotel for lunch, after which we embarked on our tour. The first place we visited was a museum of the history of the people of Samarkand and it was the first time on this trip that I felt perhaps we were the objects of propaganda. Some of the exhibits did not seem genuine and I was convinced they were reconstructed articles. I might be completely wrong of course!
The next place we visited was Daniel's tomb, supposedly the final resting place of Daniel (as in the lions' den). In fact his body is probably in Iran , but local legend has it that it is here and that the body has continued to grow so that the tomb is now 18 metres long!
In 1966Aleksiy II visited the mausoleum and sanctified it. Legend says that after this a pistachio tree which had died blossomed again. It didn't have too many leaves on it when we were there!
As you can imagine there were some very sceptical comments from some of our party, but everyone washed at the fountain which is supposed to wash away all negativity from one's life. We shall see!
Our final visit of the day was to a paper making factory. Samarkand is one of the first places in the world to make paper and the workshop we saw was making beautiful paper goods from the bark of the mulberry tree. We were shown the whole process from stripping the bark to the final product, then offered tea and sweetmeats in the traditional manner.
Returning to the hotel we all made ue of the pool and saunas before dinner and an early night for most!
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