We started the day with a delightful breakfast served by these delightful people then took a short drive to our first sight of the day, a fairground. Well not exactly, but the walk through the Samanid Park and beautifully maintained surrounding gardens was to enable us to view Samanid's Mausoleum. The Samanid Mausoleum is located on the site of an ancient cemetery and was one of the most esteemed sights of Central Asian architecture. It was built between 892...

An 0800 start today as we have an 8 hour, 450km, drive from Khiva to Bukhara along roads that, whilst pretty poor, are still in a better condition than Britain's ice-damaged motorways!Mind you, our new driver Mormin, whom I suspect will be called Mimi from here on in judging by Maria's attempts at breakfast to get his name right, was doing his best Colin Macrae impression to avoid the potholes, drains, pedestrians, bicyclists going against the flow of traffic a...