Uzbekistan - Central Asia - page 177

Amir¨Timur¨Museum¨ MUSeUM
(ipak Yoli; admission 4000S; h 9am-4.30pm Mon-
Fri, until 2pm Sat & Sun) Housed inside the
renovated Chubin Medressa is this simple
museum. Its highlight is a model depict-
ing Timur's entire kingdom, from Egypt
to Kashgar. Beyond the boundaries of the
kingdom, a yellow line illustrates his 'pro-
tectorates', including Kiev and Moscow. If
that doesn't interest you, the museum is
probably not worth the price of admission,
although there are some old Buddhist and
Zoroastrian artefacts here that predate
Timur by many centuries.
4 ¨Sleeping¨&¨Eating
The main hotel in town, the Orient Star, was
being totally renovated when we visited.
If it's still closed when you visit, there are
a couple of other accommodation options
if you want to stay the night. Food is not
a highlight here: along Ipak Yoli there is a
strip of chaikhanas whose fortunes ebb and
flow like the surrounding desert sands.
Fayzullah¨Ravnakhi¨B&B¨ B&B $
( % [phone], 521 02 77; Ravnakhi 55; r per
person incl half board US$20) This homey spot
has two unique quads and one cosy double.
The quads are basically open spaces with
patchwork carpeting, two basic beds and
not much else. Staff will throw a couple
of kurpacha on the floor to accommodate
bigger groups. The friendly owner, Lutful-
lokhon Asamov, who speaks English and
also works as a guide to the nearby Hissar
Mountains, can arrange hiking trips with
notice.
Shahrisabz¨Hotel¨ hoTeL $$
(ipak Yoli 2; s/d/ste US$50/70/100; aWs ) This
new hotel is the only midrange accommo-
dation in town and it has clean and comfy
rooms with fridges, safes and cable TV.
There's an on-site restaurant and a sauna
(30,000S per hour).
Aquarium¨ UZBeK $
(ipak Yoli 22; mains 2500-5000S; h 8am-9pm)
This bustling cafe is in view of Ak-Saray and
serves up the usual shashlyk, shulpa, lagh-
man and vodka shots.

8 Getting¨There¨&¨Around
Shakhrisabz is about 90km from Samarkand,
over the 1788m Takhtakaracha (Amankutan)
Pass, a glorious drive that is one of the high-
lights of a trip here. The pass is occasionally
closed by snow from January to March, forcing a
three-hour detour around the mountains.
Buses and shared taxis to a handful of other
destinations leave from the long-distance bus
station, south of town. To Tashkent's ippodrom
station there are about six daily buses (20,000S,
eight hours) and regular shared taxis (30,000S,
ive hours). To get to Bukhara take a shared taxi
to Karshi (6000S, 1½ hours) and change there.

Termiz
% 76 / POP 140,000 / ELEV 380M
The last stop in Uzbekistan on the way to
Afghanistan, Termiz is a colourful border-
town with an edgy, Wild West feel. While the
present day city bears few traces of its col-
ourful cosmopolitan history, the surround-
ing area is full of archaeological finds, many
of which come together in Termiz's excellent
museum.
1 ¨Sights
The highlight of any trip to Termiz is its ex-
cellent archaeological museum. There are
also several other sights around Termiz that
can be visited in a half-day. Figure on paying
a driver US$5 per hour, or about US$15 for
a half-day tour.
The main sights lurk northwest of the city
on the road to Karshi. Driving out here you'll
notice various piles of rubble in the cotton
fields of what used to be Termiz (and is now
known as Old Termiz). These are Buddhist
ruins, levelled by Chinggis Khan along with
the rest of Old Termiz in 1220.
Termiz's other main sights are clustered
northeast of town off the airport road.
Termiz¨Archaeological¨Museum¨ MUSeUM
(Al-Termizi 29; admission 10,000S; h 9am-
5.30pm) The Termiz Archaeological Mu-
seum is reason enough to visit Termiz.
Unveiled in 2001, the museum is a treas-
ure trove of artefacts collected from the
many ravaged civilisations that pepper the
Surkhandarya province of which Termiz
is the main city. The highlight would have
to be the collection of 3rd- to 4th-century
Buddhist artefacts. The museum also has
an excellent model of Surkhandarya that
depicts the area's most important archaeo-
logical sights. Serious archaeological buffs

8 Information
Most Samarkand guides can arrange day trips to
Shakhrisabz, including a driver and a tour of all
the main sights. Change money for blackmarket
rates at the bazaar.