Exploring Bukhara

AM- It was a group tour to the Ark and to the Summer Palace. The Ark, a royal town within a town, is Bukhara’s oldest structure with a Reception and Coronation Court, royal stables, royal apartments and the most famous, the Zindon (the emir’s jail). The attractions include a torture chamber and several dungeons, including the notorious “bug pit” where the British prisoners, Stoddard and Connolly languished in the 1800’s.
The Summer Palace, Sitorai-Mokhi-Khosa, built in the 19th C was a gaudy royal residence where the emirs of Bukhara summered.
We had lunch at our guide’s’ aunts’ house—great plov and fresh fruit.

By this time, we were in overload from too much group mode…so we escaped to the madressa. Cold beer and cold wine. The bar man was so proud that he “got it right”.
Jack came over to meet with our young friend to talk about college opportunities.
We asked him for help finding a good place for dinner and he directed us to a great local place by the pool. We invited him to join us and had a great dinner with this 16-year old- discussing history, decisions made during WWII…. an amazing kid. After dinner, as we were heading back to the hotel, he asked us to come back to his shop and gave us a plate that he made for us. He stayed up all night getting it ready and personally inscribed.

The “barman” let us know that he’s “not a barman, he’s a craftsman”. We bought one of his brass trays and he was so happy, he gave us a pair of earrings that his daughter made.