Samarqand, Uzbekistan!

One of the five 'Stans that used to be controlled by the Soviet Union. In Central Asia; borders Afghanistan to the south. Samarqand was an important city along the ancient Silk Road from China to the Roman Empire, and was proclaimed the capital of the world by the 15th century conqueror Amir Temur, known by his western nickname Tamerlane.

We fly in from Georgia in the early afternoon and are presented with traditional Uzbek clothing -- a hat for the men and a scarf for the women.

Aren't we dashing?

Then we visit a museum commemorating the great 15th century astronomer Mirzo Ulug'bek and the observatory he built (replica shown here) where he calculated the location of over 1000 stars and calculated the duration of the year to 52 seconds of accuracy.

Not much remains of the observatory except an underground circular, calibrated stone construct. Light entered the top of the observatory and struck this inverted stone arch at a precise point which (somehow) aided in the effort to pinpoint the stars.

We also visited the mausoleum of Amir Temur (Tamberlane). The pictures don't do justice to how beautiful and colorful the mosaic tiles are.

Some photos of Uzbek people we saw at the sites...

This guy knows how to rock a sun hat!

Downtown Samarqand.

And a local fast food joint. Just like in Georgia, most vestiges of Russian signage have been replaced with English.

Needs no translation!

 

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