History. Fairyland of the East

First meeting with town
You can reach Bukhara from Tashkent by train or plane for which a ticket costs about $23 with a flight time of 70 minutes. The airport route by taxi takes 10 minutes and costs $1 or 1000 sum. Don't give more and take only "TIKO" cars (since they are cheaper) and you will be driven along well-constructed streets with modern buildings. If you are in Bukhara for the first time we recommend you to stay in one of the hotels of the "old" town where there is such a high concentration in one km square which you will not find anywhere in Uzbekistan or even in the whole of Central Asia.

The hotels are very convenient since you are on the doorstep of the old streets of Bukhara but the disadvantage of a holiday in Bukhara is the quality of water (which in my opinion is not suitable for drinking or for washing). But man becomes accustomed to everything so now I don't feel discomfort from the water. I am acting wisely by buying bottled water and from the choice of food I prefer shashlik and not soups but it is necessary to drink tea after shashlik. From the beginning of May and before November it is a very hot city because of the climatic zone of Bukhara and influence of the desert.

A walk along old Bukhara
I would not tell you about architecture of the old monuments but I will better tell you about things that may seem incomprehensible compared to other towns. So on one wonderful morning I walk to Lyabi House along the way through the first cupola (this is the way the native people will describe this place) and then to the right again to face the second cupola, which is near the minaret PoiKalyan. In the first and second cupola locals trade in ceramics, metal products, fabric's, miniatures, musical instruments and self-made toys. There is a blacksmith workshop near the second cupola and the blacksmith whose family has been in the business for 6^th generation's kindly agrees to pose for us.

The fire blazes in the stove and the man takes a big piece of metal with his tongs and after 10 minutes there is a little black chared knife on the anvil. After sharpening it on a big rotating stone it becomes a little knife for cutting paper. Suddenly my nose is attracted by the scent of eastern kitchen herbs, which wafts over from the neighboring store. The scent of familiar and strange kitchen herbs conjure up dreams and the imagination draws up pictures of eastern fairytale's. It is known that silk absorbs scents and I can imagine how the camel caravan comes to the cupola.

The merchant takes off the first camel a back big package, unpacks a strong canvas and cheerful silk flows onto the counter. During long days crossing through desert, silk absorbs the scent of grass and roots so if the dress of Scheherazade were from the same silk than I understand why Padishah agreed to listen her fairytales for 1001 nights. I don't know about a man's sense of smell in different countries but in the east countries they at once react to the scent of kitchen herbs. On the counter I recognized carnation, bergamot, and cinnamon but the names of the different kitchen herbs and species I don't remember. In the square of the minaret Poi Kalyan I listen to the story of the guide and then went to the hotel Zargaron (a modern comfortable hotel for 30 people), saw its sights and then head through the wide street towards the citadel Ark.

Jewelry rows
Jewelry masters settled in this district and now this street has the name Hodja Nurabad. The pedestrian part of the road on the left and right sides is divided from public road and situated under an awning. There are only few cars here and women sell even on the public road. Goods sold are mainly for household and everyday use and sometimes dresses. There are million's of sellers of this kind in Uzbekistan but the other thing that interested me, was the jewelry bazaar about which I had heard during my previous visits. This is a lattice gate where there are woman sometimes man sitting at the tables covered by red velvet rags under awning trading their jewelry. Looking at their goods I am quite disappointed since for a long time I wanted to buy real eastern earring's made from different stones 5 cm long but not traditional jewelry sold here.

This typical kind of jewelry is presented to the brides before their wedding and this type of jewelry woman buy themselves after their marriage. The gold is accumulated and then passed down generations but mainly to the granddaughter. During the manufacturing of rings and earring's traditional technology of fusion and polishing are used about which I know something. Although I did not find any exclusive jewelry, there some, which was manufactured 15 years ago, called 'soviet' gold. For different reasons people sold gold jewelry here acquired in USSR for which the average cost was US$60. There is an entrance to another trade row on the opposite side to jewelry bazaar where furniture such as sofa's, chairs and bed's are sold made by locals from trees, cotton, foam and fur which is always the mode. Much of the furniture is second hand and there are many people mainly woman with their daughters present which is not surprising since autumn is soon the period of Uzbek weddings.

Traditionally parents should keep in mind that furniture must be also be purchased after buying gold and as per traditions the bridegroom provide accommodation to which the bride must furnish. Mothers and daughters are worried during the choosing of this furniture as they want to save money since they also need extra's including a large amount of "kurpacha" (Uzbek mattress), pillow, tea service, por-tieres, bed linen with of course the national dresses and lazim (woman trousers) for every occasion. Even during the wedding the bride should change dresses several times but what if the wedding goes on for three days? Then the numbers of dresses increases dramatically but let's revert to our old theme! Now I invite you to the hotel Caravan, which was built one year ago near the citadel ARK.

The Interior combines national color with European comfort so it was a pleasure to buy the balsam "Ibn Sino" for US$3 filled in original bottles & jugs in the bar. There was also a factory producing balsam in the town so I was able to make a conclusion that the balsams were very good since they were light with a pleasant aroma, which was of a sweet taste, to make you cool but not too drunk. So one bottle in your house would be good for your health so leaving you with this thought I will now tell our dear readers about the bars and restaurants in the town.

Restaurants, nightclubs and hotels
There are not many places of entertainment in Bukhara but if you stay in the hotels of the old town than you are welcome to Lybi House. You should like the dishes of the Asian and European cuisine accompanied by music of all ages and types in the fresh air. However a familiar waiter Akmal told me that many foreigners do not like the salads but it really depends on what you order. There is very little choice of vegetarian salads and the ones with mayonnaise may be really the standard required. But why do you choose them?

You do not have to rely on the menu since you can just the ask waiter to bring a tray with the range of salads to choose from according to smell and taste. This system of service is available in many restaurants and cafes in Samarkand, Fergana, Bukhara and Tashkent which leaves no room for entertaining any claims since it is an eastern tradition to look, taste, touch everything before buying something. The Disco on the 12^th floor of Uzbektourizm is very popular among the young people of the city but may be when you will read this article it will be closed because of new management since as I was informed one Polish company will begin reconstruction of the hotel in the autumn.

By the way one more new private hotel called the "Olmos" (diamond from Uzbek) will soon begin its operation. I had a pleasant meeting with the owner of the other hotel "Bukhara Prestige" which is distinguished from other the hotels by its high ceilings, heated pool, and rooftop restaurant with views over Bukhara from which the very impressive sights may be seen. Moreover the hotel is situated in a mahalla and surrounded by gardens so can you imagine how beautiful it is here when the cherry trees blossom. There is even one sauna and little pool with a permanent water supply to the deluxe rooms. This hotel is 5 minutes from Lybi House and near the famous hotel "Sasha and Lena".

There is one more observation about hotels such as the Hotel "Nodirbek" located near Lyabi House which has built a new annex with a restaurant in the basement. It is built based on the old Bukhara house where the owner has left half of the old walls so the name of the hotel also will change. I recommend two names "Marvarid" or "1001 nights". Are they really interesting names? What do you think? Please send me on the e-mail: time-out@buzton.com, and I will send your recommendations on to the owner. I can also tell you another story devoted to the hotel "Bukhara Palas" where the disco bar works till 3:00 and is the only place in the town for good night out. The entrance is only US$1 and it is very prestigious among young people to go to this bar in the hotel. Not long ago the bar was opened after capital repair and is of high quality even for the city.

There are two more restaurants for our attention in Bukhara, which are "Kyk Saroy" and "Samarkand Pulsar" which you can also visit. It is very long to tell you about the "Ismoil" restaurant so the only thing I want to mention is that the restaurant is drowned in the greenery of grace, its fruit garden and rose bush where they offer very delicious dishes. So that was all our news from our fairyland Bukhara so don't forget to write your name for the new hotel. See you on the Tashkent streets (See Page 28-29).