I came to Buxoro in two days from Samarkand. The road was good and flat, with no wind. Not a big deal, though my legs still got tired.
Buxoro is another historical-sightseeing city. Its "old city" is better preserved as they used to be than in Samarkand. Narrow streets run complicatedly in between old houses. I like the quiet atmosphare of Buxoro better than Samarkand. But it's partly because it's off-season now. The owner of the guesthouse told me that there were "too many French people in big groups in this summer". The year before, there were "too many Japanese".
I heard some interesting stories from him. Here is one. Everybody in Uzbekistan has to work in cotton fields for 40 days every year. Cotton is one of the main products of the country. Students, office people, young, old, just everybody go to work, "as long as you can walk". It's duty.
You get paid for the cotton that you picked. 60som/kg. But it's cotton. 1kg is armful. And 60som is nothing. 1$=1450som. One sheet of round bread is 4~500som, which is only one portion without other dishes. You also get a place to stay, but do not get paid for meals. You must be experienced and skillful even for your meals. Students from cities are often not. They would call their parents and beg, "Please, mam, send me some money for food!" They don't use machines for some reason.
Another one. He knows a village in where there used to be many-many dogs. Everytime when he visited there, he got barked by so many of them. But in one year when he visited, there were almost none. He asked villagers why. They told him; one day a Korean doctor came and told them how great eating dog meat would be against pain on your legs (joints, probably). Villagers believed him, caught dogs in the village and ate them all. But they are supposed to be Muslim! And who knows what the dogs were eating.
People also eat pork nowadays for the same kind of reason. It's mostly imported to Russia, but you can buy it in local markets too. Some people believe snake meat is good for health, catch them and eat.
I spend lots of time in his kitchen, with tea or coffee offfered.
29 Nov 2008, Buxoro, Uzbekistan, 10478km
