For the journey from Khiva to Bukhara I booked a third class ticket. The name of the third class is ‘Platskart’ and the cheapest one on the train. The total amount of bunks is 54 with 4 beds on one side and 2 on the other and an aisle between them. It is not a very comfortable class on the train because you don’t have any privacy and it is always very noisy.
If you travel overnight I would not advice to book this one, unless you are a big group. If you would like to socialize with other travelers or locals it would be the best option. The price of this ticket was approximately 8 Euros and the duration was 6 hours. It is also quite common that in the third class there are many sellers walking around to sell local souvenirs, powerbanks and other stuff.
After boarding and settling the train left Khiva at 11:00. In my "corner" of the wagon I was traveling together with 3 Australians and 3 Russians. The Australians were a couple and a friend of them. All of them were retired and were traveling around the world. The Russians were Mother, Daughter and Son. All of them were Professors in Yekaterinburg and were on holidays. They had bad luck because their travelagency "forgot" to book a flight from Khiva to Tashkent for them and needed to go back by train. Some of them would end in Bukhara and some of them in Samarkand and later on they would look how to return to Tashkent. Off course they were quite stressed about the situation. 
At lunch I met 3 locals who joined to my table. Again they showed their hospitality and shared all their food with me. Even when I was full they insisted that I have to try the burek and plov. This heavy lunch kept me full until the late evening. The last hour of the journey I spent at the restaurant carriage by having a beer with the Russians.
Then we arrived at Bukhara, actually to the city Kogon, 15 km away from Bukhara. When I left the train I saw a familiar face... it was Rie from Japan, who I met in Tashkent station and we were again in the same train. We told each other our experience in Khiva and I proposed to share a taxi to Bukhara. She said its fine but in Khiva she met 4 other Japanese ladies with whom she was traveling now. Then I proposed to not use Yandex but to negotiate for a bigger vehicle since we were with 6 persons, which they agreed. In the end we managed to get a taxi for 100k Sum which we had to share together, so talking about less then 1,50 Euro per person. 
Then we arrived at the center of Bukhara. We said goodby and everyone went to his/her own accommodation. At Bukhara I stayed at Dervish Hostel, a true backpackers hostel with a great atmosphere. It has a peaceful courtyard where you can relax and socialize. When I arrived most of the travelers were out so no socializing in the beginning, so went to to town center to explore a bit and looking for a place to have my dinner. The main square is called Labi Hovuz, which is a small pond with historical architecture around it. At the evening especially during the summer months it is a big challenge to find free tables at the cafes or restaurants around the pond. It was already evening when I arrived so together with the illumination of the historic buildings Labi Hovuz had a quite "magical" view. I had my dinner at one of these restaurants and finally tried the local cuisine "Plov" (Beef with Rice)
After the dinner I walked a bit to digest the heavy meal and had a pre look to the historical buildings which I would visit the next day. Later I took some beers at a traditional cafe with live performance.
When the performance ended and the cafe was going to close, I bought some beer at the local market to enjoy the lovely courtyard of the hostel. Here I met Arseni, a solo traveler from Russia.
The next day I spent a full day of walking to explore most of the sights of Bukhara. The first sight was Kosh Madrassah, which is a madrassa complex comprised of two madrassas. From there to the Ismail Samani Mausoleum.
The next on my list was the Bolo Hauz Mosque. Bolo Hauz means ‘children’s pond’. Water has always been short in Central Asia, so they used to build ponds serving as drinking water source for the population. Water carriers would take water from the ponds and delivered it in special leather containers to residential quarters and bazaars where they sold it. Bolo Hauz was one of these ponds.
It was a very picturesque mosque with a pond in front of it. I took a coffee break at a tea garden next to mosque. 
When I had the energy to walk again, I continued to the next sight, The Ark of Bukhara. The Ak of Bukhara is a fortress from the 5th century. The inner part include an archaeological museum, the throne room, the reception and coronation court, a local history museum, and the court mosque. To enter the fortress you need to pay an entry fee of 40k Sum and you will spend much more time time compared to the previous sights. 
After the Ark of Bukhara it was time for visiting the most important site, the Po i Kalyan complex. The complex was built in the 15th century with a huge courtyard and magnificent decoration. It exists of the Kalan Mosque, the Kalan Minaret and the Mir-i Arab Madrassah.
Behind the complex are bazaars and handcraft markets. The most famous landmark here it the trading dome of Toqi Zargaron. Most popular product here are scarves made of silk. Other popular products are artwork of ceramics and copper plates. Uzbekistan is also known for its silk carpets, so you will find many carpet workshops with many colorful carpets in their stores. 
I must admit that the Po-i-Kalyan exceeded my expectations. I had seen many Islamic architecture around the world but this place was far beyond all the Islamic sites I had ever seen.. (untill that moment.. more on the next chapter)
With pain in my neck of watching constantly to all the corners and decorations of this site, I moved to the next site, The Bukhara Prison aka Zindan. The old prison is a 18th century fortified building that used to be served as a prison. After visiting the Po-i-Kalyan this spot was just an usual spot, so they do not say for nothing "save the best for last". 
From the Old Prison I walked about 2 km to see the Chor Minor. Chor Minor means "four minarets", referring to the building's four towers. It is another UNESCO world heritage site. You can enter the site and use the stairs to go to the rooftop. On the front size of the building you can find an antique store. It is a heaven for collectors as many antique Uzbek items and Soviet memorabilia can be found here.
From here I went back to the hostel. Walking trough the area of Labi Hovuz I saw a statue of a familiar Turkish character Nasreddin Hoca. It was a popular character which I know from my childhood and many stories were told about him. Until that moment I was under impression that he was a Turkish character but realized now that he was known in the Turkic world from the Balkans till China.
Arrived at the hostel I took time to relax at the courtyard. Socializing with Arseni and some other travelers who arrived. We meet here Holly and Elena, 2 students from the UK. The ladies were planning to have a desert trip the next day. The plan was to go to the desert, camel riding and a drop off to Samarkand. They asked us to join them as well to negotiate for a better price. I had my train ticket already booked and an intensive trip like this on top of my already intensive program would kill me, so I kindly rejected. Arseni was open to join them. When they told that they were paying around 100 Euro per person, arranged via these international online agencies, I advised them to arrange the trip by themselves by agreeing with a taxi driver. My plan seemed to be interesting for them so they took Arseni with them and went to the taxi station to get a quote.
Before my dinner I went to the final sights of Bukhara. I walked first trough the Jewish quarter to the Labi Hovuz and visited the madrasahs around the pond. These days they are used for craft shops and folkloric dance shows. The inner architecutre of the Kukeldash Madrasah was more like a bazaar while the Nadir Devanbegi Madrasah had a big courtyard with craftshops, restaurants and live performance.
Then it was time for dinner. I went to a restaurant which had good ratings, but unfortunately it was fully booked. As there are many options I went to one with a nice view to Labi Hovuz and took a seat. Before I ordered I saw people waving to me on the other corner. It was Arseni with the ladies and asked me to join them. They told me that they canceled their plans because the trip they had in their mind was to exhausting. It would take approximately 7 hours driving for around 30 minutes of camel riding in the desert. The taxi driver was at least honest to them instead of accepting the deal. The trip would cost 90 dollars in total, which is much less then the initial 100 euro per person! Arseni arranged a early morning train to Samarkand and the ladies booked train tickets to Tashkent.
After the dinner we went back to the hostel. According my pedometer I walked around 19 km so I was knock out when I laid down on my bed. The next morning it was again a day to move on. After breakfast and check out I had a bit time to go for souvenir hunting. Then the time came to say goodby to Bukhara. I ordered a Yandex and went to the railway station....
This featured blog entry was written by sadikdeger from the blog Central Asia 2024.
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