Easily made the distance to Samarkand, which was every bit as breathtaking as I imagined. Sorry for all the copying from the trusty travel guide:
"Samarkand is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, prospering from its location on the trade route between China and Europe (Silk Road). Founded circa 700 BC it was already the capital of the Sogdian satrapy under the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia when Alexander the Great conquered it in 329 BC .
Under Abbasid rule, the secret of papermaking was obtained from two Chinese prisoners from the Battle of Talas in 751, which led to the first paper mill in the Islamic world to be founded in Samarkand. The invention then spread to the rest of the Islamic world, and from there to Europe (either through Spain or through crusaders).
From the 6th to 13th centuries it grew larger and more populous than modern Samarkandand was controlled by the Western Turks, Arabs, Persian Samanids, Kara-Khanid Turks, Seljuk Turks, Kara-Khitan, and Khorezmshah before being sacked by the Mongols in 1220 . A small part of the population survived, but Samarkand suffered at least another Mongol sack by Khan Baraq to get treasure he needed to pay an army with. The town took many decades to recover from these disasters.
In 1370, Timur the Lame, or Tamerlane, decided to make Samarkand the capital of his empire, which extended from India to Turkey. During the next 35 years he built a new city and populated it with artisans and craftsmen from all of the places he had conquered. Timur gained a reputation as a patron of the arts and Samarkand grew to become the centre of the region of Transoxiana. However, while Central Asia blossomed under his reign, other places such as Baghdad, Damascus, Delhi and other Arab, Persian, Indian and Turkic cities were sacked and destroyed, and people were slaughtered.
In the 16th century, Shaybanids moved their capital to Bukhara and Samarkand went into decline. After an assault by the Persian king, Nadir Shah, the city was abandoned in the 18th century."
We covered a huge distance of 487 miles and found ourselves stopping beyond Lake Sareskoe. To recover from all this exertion, we ate more plov, some tried manty (meat dumplings). I had a real feeling of home when I consumed more than a few chiburekki (deep-fried dough cakes), which are like my favourite "jonny cakes" found in all the fine caribbean eateries in Chapeltown.
Namaste - hello!
