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.
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