There is nothing on today as we managed to double up two days of sightseeing into one. We spent most of the day in the room packing for the flight home, working on the blog and photos and relaxing. It is good to have a bit of down time.
At ten o’clock we all met downstairs to get our COVID
test that will need tomorrow for our flight home.
We had a fairly late breakfast and the whole group
is going to an early dinner, so we decided to have a light lunch of ice cream
from the food truck across from the hotel.
Perfect lunch.
We met in the lobby a bit before 5:00 to head out
for dinner. We didn’t linger much as
there is more packing to do. Plus, our
wakeup call in the morning is 2:45am to get to the airport in time for our 6:30am
flight home. We will have been gone for
two months.
In school we learned about the "big names" like the Persians and Alexander the Great and Tamerlane and Genghis Khan. And the Silk Road. But the area seems so much more than that.
We certainly saw our fair share of the Third World with shacks and holes in the floors for toilets and yurts in the meadows and markets and bazaars that have operated from the same locations for hundreds of years.
And also saw herds of cattle, sheep and horses being driven down the center of the road on their way to summer pastures. And ancient crafts that are still practiced by master craftsmen.
Besides the pastoral villages and hamlets there were modern, bustling and Western feeling cities. There were vast stretches of rich, lush farmland and beautiful mountains and Las Vegas style deserts...it is so diverse there.
The food was great most places. Bland in others. The city restaurants were lovely and bustling and vibrant. Mosques were everywhere yet the Stans are some of the most secular Muslim nations in the world. There were world class museums showcasing their ancient history (turns out much of their legacy resides in museums in Russia...just like many Mediterranean artifacts reside in the British Museum).
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