Travel to Cairo

 The 30th was spent in Khiva wrapping up school work. The kids have been massive troopers finishing it early so we can just relax for the rest of the term.

The airport at Tashkent made me realise how light we are travelling. The 30kg per person baggage allowance wasn’t sufficient for most of the travellers and they were taking out coats/ books/ shoes or paying at the counter while we were 11-12kg per person !

The Tashkent to Sharjah flight got diverted due to the fog so our 3 hour flight became a 6 hour flight which worked really well as we slept through it all, getting more sleep than I had reckoned we would be having that day. Luckily our next flight was delayed too so we made it to Cairo just an hour late.

The airport in Cairo was exactly how I imagined Egypt, a big fight was happening at the carousel. Loud with a large crowd on both sides of the argument along with security involvement.

We are staying in a quirky place on an island in the Nile. Chose this place as it has all sorts of animals and a pool with a slide. The kids were so excited to see the deer, giant tortoises, white peacocks, ostriches, flamingoes, bunnies and more.

Early night as we are on Uzbekistan time. 

Khiva Day 2

 

 We all are reading interesting books on our e- readers, along with the heat and the fact that we walked around most of the old town yesterday made us very sluggish in the morning. We eventually ventured out with the plan to stroll for a bit, relax in the hotel for the afternoon and go out in the evening.

The old town is bustling with tourists but not as many Indian tourists here. It’s the last stop of the silk route in Uzbekistan but much harder to get to, so not as many people venture out so far. 

Lots of photo spots with props are set up, including furry hats and camels. There was a spot where Uzbek music was blasting with people of all ages dancing in the middle of the street. The rhythm made everyone walking along dance too.

We then walked on the walls of the city, the children were not impressed by it as the sun was beating down on us. We headed off to lunch with a large courtyard which had a very relaxed atmosphere, exactly what we needed in the heat. It also had cats for the kids to pet.

In the evening we watched a show with men performing on a tightrope. It was very entertaining especially when they were blindfolded and with man on the shoulders of the other. A little boy joined them for a part of the show too.

We then did a quick visit to amusement park as we some time before our dinner reservation. Dinner was at the most popular restaurant in town as it had the best rooftop views. We were in time to see the sunset and then the town lit up. It was a perfect way to end our time in Uzbekistan, an absolutely gorgeous country. 

Khiva - Day 1

 Slept well and woke up to the woman in our cabin asking if she could take photos of us, only time I have said no as we were still half asleep.

Arrived at our hotel to realise that Savik’s iPad had been left behind in the train. Good learning lesson for Savik as I had asked him not to take it out of my bag for this very reason. Luckily for him the tourist police were amazing and the iPad was found and would be back in Khiva at night. We had phoned them, with in 10 minutes we had an officer at our hotel sorting it all out. He later sent a car for us to tour the police station and tell us more about the work of the tourist police.

The government has done a lot to help grow the tourism in Khiva. The old town (Itchan Kala) is within a well maintained curvy wall that you can walk on for part of the way. There are tourist police booths in all four entrances and inside too, they all look very approachable and welcoming. There is free wifi in all of the areas too.

The inside of the walled area has all the same mud coloured buildings (mandated by the government), all of it is a UNESCO heritage site. Lots of beautiful Madrassahs, minarets and mosques to marvel at, especially the stories associated with them.

The children are a little over the stunning buildings and we headed to an amusement park in the evening which they really enjoyed. Surprisingly one of their favourite bits was the jumping castle !!

The restaurant we had dinner at also had a 1 year old’s birthday party in a separate hall. The entrance of the birthday boy was with a dancing entourage with loud music and money being thrown in the air. Savik was very excited to pick up 300$, a little disappointed when he found it was fake notes. 

Khiva looked gorgeous all lit up at night. 

Bukhara to Khiva

Today was a day of school work, trying to finish the term before we reach Egypt . There were some random videos we had to make and send , including a three minute video of Savik doing yoga .

We did a bit of a last minute change in plans so took the train back to Samarkand and then the overnight train to Khiva. The train from Bukhara to Khiva is at 0345, not a time we want to be awake . Going back to Samarkand ensured we got a full night’s sleep.

On the train we met a very interesting older couple from Canada. Initially I thought the man was a little odd and halfway through he told us that his hearing aid batteries had died that morning so could not hear properly, his conversation then started making sense. They have fostered and sponsored a lot of children and enjoy their travels. Felt very inspired by talking to them, hope to do some more things when we return home.

We got on to the overnight train with very excited children as it’s their first overnight train ride.

Bukhara - day 2

 

  

Yesterday morning we had discussed packing our puffer jackets away but we needed them again today. Rugged up in our pink and blue we were out to get a more in depth look at Bukhara’s old town .

We started off at Chor Minar, the four minaret mosque. The minarets are actually decorated with symbols of different religions on them . Being a Sunday morning not many people are up and about so we had the place to ourselves . 

We then headed to a statue of man on a donkey that is a popular spot for pictures . Savik is going to be in a lot of photos as he climbed on top and no one waited for him to get off . Google tells us that it’s Nazreen , a character quite frequently mentioned in the folklores . Next to it is a beautiful Madrassah that was an inn but the Emir thought it was a Madrassah so it was redone to become one as no one wanted to correct him !!

Across the square was the largest mosque in Bukhara which is active to date . Maybe because it’s a paid attraction there were very few people in there so had a very serene feel to it . 

We meandered along to the Bukhara ark (the fort), where we accosted by a large group for photos . We even had babies being handed to us for photos. Somehow we are Indian celebrities, even some photos were taken on the sly, paparazzi shots 😂😂.

In the Ark the children spent most of the time discussing all the ways they could earn money while Jeevan and I actually saw photos and artefacts from the times gone by. Our plan had been to go to the tower next door but after being on the ark we saw all of the city from up above and skipped the tower.

As the kids wanted to go back to the park to try their new skills , we went back there . They spent heaps of time and then had ice cream next door , just like any ordinary Sunday . 

Dinner was pizza but the kids favourite part was the cat that landed on Savik and refused to leave his lap . I had read about the cat in the reviews of the restaurant, Savik was stoked that it chose him. 

After dinner we headed back to the Kalyan Minaret, Savik spent him time honing his photography skills with Aanya as his model. They had Jeevan and me laughing as we watched them. Nice end to the day even though freezing cold as we walked back.