The cities Buchara and Samarkand or famous in the German speaking world after Goethe wrote inspired by poems of the Persian poet Hafis in his poet book “Westöstlicher Diwan” the following lines (translated into English):
“Dried by honey sweet fruits,
From Buchara, the summer land
and thousand lovely poems,
on silk paper of Samarkand […]”
They restored several buildings in the city and we enjoyed walking through mosques and madrasa (schools for Islam) and markets and got amazed by the art of building of the ancient times. The entrance was affordable as we changed the money on the black market. Officially you get 2900 SUM for one Dollar. At the black market you get more than the double: 6250 SUM. After changing you get the money in 1000 SUM notes which makes your pockets extremely full of money.
In Uzbekistan it is mandatory to register in every hotel where you spend the night. You receive a paper from the Hotel which you should keep until you leave the country. They will ask for every night you spend in the country for that paper and if you don’t have them you have to pay a fine for up to 700 USD. Why?
Even after everybody said it is impossible we tried to find Diesel in Uzbekistan. Following my calculation we were suppose to drive 840 Kilometer in the country. When I drive in gas saving mode I can make with my 75 liter tank (+ 5 liters up to the top) 860 Kilometers. That could be tough! That’s why we tried our luck asking at gas stations for diesel but without success. The valuable diesel is a saved for farming machines, even trucks are driving with gas. One guy sent us to a private house at the other side of the street with a truck in front. After communicating with hands, feet and a little Russian the young guy in front of the house called his brother who eventually found a canister of diesel behind his house. After a successful smelling test we had another 20 Liter in our tank for around 10€.
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