As I do whenever I go on holiday I miss home. And I miss my
dogs. I was particularly homesick this morning, but got up determined to make
the most of the day.
I slept better than I had for the last few days and we went
into breakfast shortly after eight o’clock… as did everyone else. The place was
heaving. But the breakfast was better than we’d had in Tashkent and was streets
ahead of the carrier bag we’d been given yesterday. It was only a shame the
coffee machine wasn’t up to the job and was spilling the stuff all over the
tablecloth.
We all assembled. With twenty-seven of us, there’s always something
of an atmosphere of a school trip on every excursion. This morning we had a
walking tour around the city. Seeing there was a reverse Wherigo cache nearby I
sparked up my phone. With one of these your phone tells you how far you are
from the geocache you are hunting, and when you get close enough it tells you
the GPS co-ordinates and gives you a photo of the hide.
As we walked so the thing counted down and down, and we
actually stopped about two yards from it. Seeing where it was I thought we’d
come back later. It wasn’t far from the hotel, and it was far more interesting
listening to our guide Fax. He really brings enthusiasm to his talks, and he is
clearly very knowledgeable, but some of the things he says… Apparently William Shakespeare
got a lot of his ideas from Uzbek legends, and you can keep milk cold by
dropping a frog into a jug of the stuff.
We had a good walk round Khiva visiting all sorts of places
of interest. Most of them were “madrasas” and involved
taking shoes off on every visit. I wish I’d brought along a pair of slip-ons.
We popped back to the hotel if for no other reason to use
the toilet. Uzbek toilets are on the feral side.
We were left to our own devices for the afternoon. We went
back into the town to have a closer look at the bits we’d seen earlier and to
go at our own pace. Our own pace was slow enough to get the only two geocaches
within fifty miles.
We got pressies for people back home and I got an amazingly
sexy jacket. I doubt I will ever wear it, but it is there should the occasion
arise.
After a brief lay-down our group assembled and we walked
into town for a meal which was accompanied by local entertainment. There was a
lot of howling and some strange sort of play which looked interesting but I had
no idea what it was all about. Something to do with a small boy stealing a pie
I think?
After a quick pint in the bar with some of our group we
went back to our rooms again feeling worn out.
I
took a few photos today.
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