Istanbul, October 2022

In October, one of our humans was going to attend a conference in Samarkand in ... Uzbekistan! Uzbekistan became an independent nation in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union. We would also be going to Bukhara and Khiva - click the Google Map to the right.
"Where is Uzbekistan?" Tom wanted to know.
"Well... it's in central asia, east of the Caspian Sea... eh... west of China, south of Kazakstan and... eh... north of Afghanistan... Does that narrow it?
"McBear, please, could you repeat that?" Roger asked. "...and slowly - please! I am trying to find Uzbekistan on our globe."

Click each photo to enlarge

It was late at night when we arrived Istanbul in Turkey and tried to find our way to the next gate. We were looking for flights bound for Samarkand in Uzbekistan. The monitors, however, showed the destinations in Turkish.
"Could it be Semerkant, we're going to?" Roger asked.
"Possibly, but wait a few seconds, it'll come up in English," McBear said.

Samarkand Intl. Airport, Uzbekistan, October 2022

It was 4.15 am before we arrived Samarkand, more asleep than awake. The terminal building in Samarkand was brand new, and it was designed to look like a book lying open.
"Hope it's not too far to the hotel - and that it's not already time for breakfast..." Roger said.

Hotel Ishonch, Samarkand, October 2022

We were going to be staying at the Hotel Ishonch near the city centre. Having slept a few hours, we got on our paws and went out. Our humans would be heading for the conference center to make sure everything was ready so the conference could start next day.

Samarkand, October 2022

Walking the streets of Samarkand, we came across a lot of vintage cars. Suddenly, Roger stopped.
"What's that?" he asked and pointed his paw towards a white car.
"It's a Moskvitch," McBear replied, "it's an old Russian car from the time of the Soviet Union, possibly before 1970. Some people would call it Oldsky Junksky.

Samarkand, October 2022

We followed our humans to the "El Merosi"; a theatre and conference center. While our humans were busy setting up the technical equipment, we went on stage.
"Maybe I should prepare myself for performing "I, Roger". I imagine the conference delegates would want me to perform.
"Roger, I am sure they will be delighted!"
"I'll go and propose that they'll give me a time slot on Sunday..."

Samarkand, October 2022

The next day we went sightseeing in the city centre. It was obvious that Uzbekistan in central asia was influenced by arabic culture, far eastern culture like the Chinese and Russian culture.

Samarkand, October 2022

We went to see the world famous Samarkand Registan. There are three building compounds, and each compound is called a madrassah meaning a religious place of education. The building to the left is the Ulugbek Madrassah, and it was built around the 1420s.

Samarkand, October 2022

Here we are having our photo taken in front of the Tilla-Kori Madrassah from the mid 1600s. Irving and Goldie Bear were with us. Goldie had been with us before but it was a good few years ago.
"Did you talk to the conference organizers about performing "I, Roger" on Sunday?" McBear wanted to know.
"Well, they said that Saturday and Sunday would be too busy, but they asked me if I could perform Friday afternoon. That's later today."
"And did you agree?"
"Are you nuts? With all the important representation I do, and all the travelling we do, even I need time to prepare."

Samarkand, October 2022

We went with the conference delegates on a visit to the Ulugbek Observatory. Ulugbek was a great mathematician and astronomer and he had the observatory built in the 1420s. Centuries later, the observatory however was demolished by conquerers and was almost forgotten, until it was exgavated in 1908. What is left is the round foundations, around 49 meters in diameter.

Samarkand, October 2022

What is also left is the underground part of a huge sextant Ulugbek had built. Ulugbek used the sextant to measure the hight or the socalled declination of the stars. From all the data he gathered, he was able to publish a catalogue with data of more than a thousand stars.

Samarkand, October 2022

What is left of the sextant is 11 meters of the sextant arc.

Samarkand, October 2022

Next to the observatory is a small museum. On display are artifacts from the observatory plus a lot of posters with details and information.

Samarkand, October 2022

Here's a model of what the observatory is believed to have looked like. It was around 30 meters tall and nearly 50 meters in diameter.
"McBear, maybe we should ask our humans to build an observatory in the garden." Roger proposed. "Then you could sit at night and learn how to take good images of the Moon and planets."

Samarkand, October 2022

After some long days of sigthseeing, we found ourselves sitting exhausted in the lobby at the hotel. But we had to go up to our room and start packing as we would be leaving the next day for Bukhara and Khiva.