Bukhara, Uzbekistan

It was still drizzling when we woke up. The breakfast buffet was busy; I think there was a group eating at the same time.

It started to rain harder as we got ready to head out, so relaxed for a bit more in the room. Eventually, we headed out in the drizzle.

Got to the Kalon Minaret and then realized I forgot my camera in my big pack, so we went back to the hotel to grab it. Fortunately, it was only a ten minute walk.

Today, we went further west to the Ark. This is listed in the Lonely Planet as one of the top sites in Bukhara. It has historical significance, but we didn’t find it as interesting to see.

We wandered back through the pedestrian-only areas and through the souvenir shops. It’s a very low pressure sell here, which is nice.

Went for lunch at a restaurant close to our hotel that was so busy last night we couldn’t even get a table. The food here was much better than the place we went to last night for dinner, and the atmosphere was nice on the 2nd floor terrace. We weren’t in a rush after lunch, so had a Turkish coffee and an assortment of local sweets. It was way too much sugar, but we wanted to sample a bit of each. Our favourites were the ones that tasted similar to sesame snaps except way better.

We stopped in at a clothing store where Heather ordered a custom made silk dress and skirt. It’s commonly done here. You pick the fabric, they take your measurements, and the next day (or within hours, but then they’re rushing) your garment is ready.

I wanted to get some more pics of the Kalon Minaret, so we walked back. I was looking for a place with an elevated view of the square for better pics. There’s historical buildings on three sides of the square, and the fourth is boarded off for construction. Then, we noticed a few tourists on the 3rd floor of a building inside the construction site. I zoomed in with my camera, and it looked like a restaurant!

So, we walked towards the building, and, sure enough, there was a small door with signage for the restaurant! Time for a beer :) We walked up to the 3rd floor, where there was a great view of the square, ordered a beer each, and clicked away. It was a perfect place to relax and end the day. It’s almost felt like a secret place - there was only one other table of tourists. Our waiter suggested we get some nuts to go with the beer (‘pastiche’). He showed us how to open them using a half shell.

It was still cloudy and not much chance for sunset colours, so headed back to the hotel around 5ish.

We had booked dinner at our hotel for tonight, partially because of the great reviews of the century old dining room. The atmosphere was great, tall ceilings, the courtyard lit up, local music playing. We were the only ones dining (you have to give them notice and pre-order), but it was still cool. The food, however, was just average, a bit disappointing given the care they take for everything else. Anyway, I’d eat there once for the experience, but not twice.