Finally on to Samarkand...

The trip from Bukhara to Samarkand was by train..... the Afrosiyob high speed train bought from Spain.

Getting into the train terminal was very like taking a flight.....entry check with passport, to even enter the train station grounds, then again security check for all baggage within the station, a long wait in a waiting room and then finally allowed to access the platform to embark......

 with a final check of tickets at the carriage door.....

On arrival at Samarkand we were picked up by our driver who had driven ahead with out luggage.

Our hotel, the Bibikhanum, was not as charming nor the rooms as great as the prior nights in Bukhara. However it had a view to die for! On to the domes of the BibiKhan mosque! Our evening view on arrival was amazing!

We were taken out to dinner to the Karimbek restaurant.... passing by the  Registan en route! Samarkand is now a very large city so walking to a restaurant was not an option! All the restaurants we were taken to seem to be in the new part of the city. So driving to them was usually a 10 minute drive.

 Our breakfast view at the hotel next morning was even more amazing than our view the prior evening.....

However visiting its interiors were not on today's itinerary! 

We were taken to Timur's final resting place Gur-e-Amir....

The inside was very impressive......lots of gold leaf!

 

We needed to go back to explore the Registan in daylight! But the change of weather and cloudy sky made it a little less impressive than the night before........

Amazing detail!

We checked out the Tillya Kari mosque... inside the madrassah.....

However activity in today's Registan madrassas is not exactly an academic pursuit....... just tenacious souvenir sellers!

We got to try the national dish of Plov today at the Osh Markazi centre! Actually very tasty!!