It was another good night’s sleep. I was up much earlier than Nicole, but respectfully refrained from poking her to have someone to talk to. The temperature was expected to reach 106 today, not unheard of in these parts, but unusual for mid May. Accordingly, we figured we see a few things in the morning, then return to the hotel to relax during the peak heat.
Our first stop was the Bolo Hauz mosque. It would have been about a 25 minute walk, but in this heat, we elected to Yandex over there. The driver asked (in Russian) if we were French or German. “В США”, I replied (from the USA). Now one would think that would be enough to imply English as a first language, but we just kept on speaking in Russian like it was completely normal. Luckily it played out like a 1st year Russian skit and I understood everything easily. “Do you like Bukhara?” “Yes it’s very nice.” “Have you had the meat kebabs yet?” “Yes, they’re good. I’ve eaten them.” (A lie, but it was just easier) “The road is closed here, you’ll have to walk.” “Understood, not a problem.” “Actually wait a minute. I can do better. We’ll get closer…ok now. Remember to give me five stars!” “Of course. Take care.” I hope my former Russian professors would be proud. I was unable to work in that “The clock is on top of the table,” or that “The little cat got food poisoning from the fish soup,” but the trip is far from over.
The sun was beating down quite ferociously and the heat was something else. We nonetheless were wearing pants in case we had to go into any mosques etc. I did go in the Bolo Hauz mosque, but was surprised to find it looked fairly modern inside considering it was built in the early 1700s. Nicole and I were a bit concerned as we went from Tashkent to Samarkand to Bukhara and had mosques and old public squares in each city on our to-do list, but each place does look distinct. And ultimately, I’m glad we decided to spend the most time here because the architecture is the most interesting and diverse. Yes the crowds were a bit much last night, but the heat seems to have limited much of the usual activity in the old town.
We decided to walk back to the Mercure in the heat, passing several points of interest from yesterday. The shops all kind of sell the same exact stuff — mostly clothing, scarves, and chess kits. Samarkand actually had more options as far as that goes, which works out since we are returning there tomorrow. We watched as multiple tour groups whose age demographics were 65+ paraded around the squares under the direct heat of the day. An ambulance ominously was standing by.
On our way out of town, we made it a point to get some cold drinks at a market. I also picked up some СССР мороженое пломбир (creamy Soviet ice cream). Back in the 1960s, the Soviets created strict guidelines for ice cream making which have been relaxed in the modern capitalist era, but some brands never changed. These guidelines were actually stolen from American ice cream making methods from the first half of the 20th century before the Yankees started using cheap additives and chemicals to boost profits. Anyway, it’s a literal slab of heavy creamed vanilla ice cream made simply of eggs, vanilla, cream, and sugar. No chocolate exterior — just a wrapper around a fatty slab of ice cream. The wrapper, however, was fantastically adorned with cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, as it should be.
With the heat at its peak, we stayed close to the hotel — lounging outside in the shade briefly planning out some of our future plans. Then, we did the most natural thing to beat the heat. We went to the Mercure’s sauna. They had both Turkish and Finnish style (humid and dry). Who knew that this was going to be such a hammam/sauna-heavy trip? We both packed our bathing suits as a last minute just-in-case and there have been many cases.
Then we tucked in to watch the Eurovision Grand Final. We had somehow managed to avoid any spoilers of its outcome and commenced our journey through the four hour extravaganza. We took a break to have dinner outside as the temperature had dropped to 100º. We both actually thought it wasn’t that bad and perhaps even pleasant. But having sauna-ed as much as we have, maybe our perception of heat has changed.
We watched the remainder of the Eurovision final at an outdoor lounge part of the hotel. The atmosphere was tense, and a bit warm. The temperature is supposed to drop about twenty degrees tomorrow, but Eurovision will still be hot. Remember that.
passports & pepto bismol 