Day 29 Samarkand-Bukhara 318/8.666 km

Bukhara is another famous silk road city Rudy had to visit. We set off at 8:15am for this 300 km drive. Paula and Meija had already left 1 ½ hr earlier but we caught up with them along the way. The road was mostly good. Several police stops where passed without incident. At one point Rudy did not slow down quick enough after being warned by oncoming drivers and the police stopped him for speeding (80 km instead of 70 km). The officer was very friendly and found it too difficult to communicate in English and let us go. In general all contact with the police was pleasant. In a small town along the way Jeroen had given us a waypoint for a diesel station. It was on the outside of town. There was a hose connected to a rundown petrol tanker. Hopefully the quality is good. When driving out of town we were confronted with several height barriers to prevent trucks from going though the (dirt) street. A local driver guided us out of the town.
In Bukhara we found a parking space on the overpopulated parking lot of Hotel Asia. Another travel group (Perestroika Tours) beat us to it. This is a mixed German/Dutch group making a 28.000 km trip to Shanghai and back. After the completely restored and cleanup Samarakand, Bukhara is a change. It is smaller and therefore the tourist groups stand out a bit more. It is much warmer and dusty. Each medressa is full of merchants selling you silk table cloths or cotton shirts. Jamaliah was in a good mood and bought both. The tile decorations on the buildings are less restored but they are still impressive. There is a lovely pool in the centre of the old town where we sat down and had a local hamburger and Doner (so much for Uzbek cuisine). There is also a small covered souk with round mud brick arches and ceilings. On the camper parking lot there is internet so we can update our website .