Burning Sun in Bukhara

So I am writing today from Bukhara, my plan was to not get on the internet again until St. Petersburg, but it is just so hot here that it is nice to escape into an almost airconditioned building for a while.
Since Osh, we have managed to cross the border to Uzbekistan and make our way to Tashkent for an evening wich was an incredibly long day. There has apparently been quite a bit of tension between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan and the border had been closed for a week and it opened the day before we were due to cross, but because of this once we did cross the border, every 30 minutes or so we were stopped by police checkpoints, so it mad the journey a bit longer than usual. We travelled through the Feregana Valley which is relatively close to the Afghan border and a little dicey sometimes so we drove on... at about 140kph!!! Anyway we stopped at a silk factory and learned how the ladies make the silk scarves and carpets from the silk worm cocoons, which was very interesting, then another 5 hours of driving to Tashkent... we were in Tashkent for 2 nights and had a bit of a tour in the morning followed by a wander through the markets in the afternoon. The next morning we were off on the train to Samarkand...
It is amazing how people react to a 3.5 hour train journey in a drain through a desert with no airconditioning, let me just say it was a little warm...
Samarkand however was an sensational city, with such amazing history. It seems anyone who was anyone at some time or another conquered Samarkand, including Ghengis Khan, Alexander the Great and Amir Temur (Tamerlane). There was so much history that 2 days was not enough, but I did see a lot, we had a free afternoon after our 5 hour morning walking tour and I managed to walk another 10km to get out to the astrolab of Uglebek, the astrolab was designed in the 14th century, 200 years before telescopes were developed and yet from this place Uglebek and his teachers and students were able to plot around about 2000 constelations! Sensational.
I also managed to see the mausoleum of the old testament David as well as some of the excavation sites of the old town of Samarkand.
During the tour we also saw the Ragistan, the necropolis and a bunch of mausoleums and mosques, I have taken so many photos to date and I still have 3.5 weeks to go, and from what I have seen so far Bukhara is as impressive as Samarkand, but before that we spent a night in Shahrisab (sp??) A town about 200km from the Afghan border and also so ful of history, along with being the birthplace of the local hero Amir Temur, it too has a lot of Muslim history including a masive palace that now only consists of 2 towers. We spent the night in Shahrisab in a home stay where we were able to take place in a cooking class that consisted of stuffed sweet chilies and cabbage leaves, the food was absolutely amazing and the host family was once again so hospitable and warm to us it was wonderful.
So today we arrived in Bukhara after a 5.5 hour drive through the desert from Shahrisab, it was an interesting drive, but also very hot, so this afternoon has just been a time to flake out, as we have a big day tomorrow, trying to see all the amazing sights of Bukhara in one day... I think I need my rest....
So after today I have only 2 days left with this group and then I am off to St. Petersburg to begin my next adventure with a bunch of other travellers. So until next time, stay safe.