A Week in Bukhara: Silk Road Diary from Bukhara, Uzbekistan's Holiest City
Day 1: Lyabi-Hauz and the Sound of Chess Pieces
The overnight Sharq train from Tashkent pulled into Bukhara at 7 AM. The station is outside the old city — a shared taxi (UZS 10,000, ~$0.80) dropped me at Lyabi-Hauz, the tree-shaded plaza around a 17th-century pool, in fifteen minutes.
I sat at a chaikhana (tea house) and ordered green tea and non (flatbread). The tea came in a chipped blue bowl. The bread was warm and crispy from the tandoor oven behind the counter. Total cost: UZS 15,000 (~$1.20).
Old men played chess under the mulberry trees. They'd been playing here — not these specific men, but men like them — for four hundred years. The plaza is flanked by the Nadir Divan-Begi Madrasa and Khanaka, both 17th century, both covered in ceramic tilework that glows turquoise and cobalt. A stork nest sits on top of one of the minarets. The storks have been coming back annually for as long as anyone can remember.
I watched three chess games. I drank four bowls of tea. Nobody hurried me.
Day 2: The Tower of Death and the Mosque That Impressed Genghis Khan
The Kalyan Minaret is 47 metres tall, built in 1127, and earned the nickname "Tower of Death" because criminals were thrown from the top. When Genghis Khan's army reached Bukhara in 1220, he destroyed most of the city but spared this minaret — supposedly so impressed by its height and beauty that he ordered it preserved.
I stood at the base and looked up. It's not just tall — it's elegant. Fourteen bands of decorative brickwork create patterns that shift as the light changes. The guy who built this nearly nine hundred years ago understood that a tower is experienced from below, looking up, and designed every centimeter accordingly.
The adjacent Kalyan Mosque is massive — space for 10,000 worshippers — and the Mir-i-Arab Madrasa opposite is an active Islamic seminary. Students in white caps crossed the courtyard as I photographed the tilework. The combination of the three structures — minaret, mosque, madrasa — is called Po-i-Kalyan, and it's Bukhara's defining view.
Mosque entry: UZS 25,000. The madrasa is exterior viewing only.
Day 3: The Ark and 2,000 Years of Who's In Charge
The Ark Fortress is a massive mud-brick citadel that has been the seat of power in Bukhara for over two millennia. Emirs ruled from here until 1920, when the Red Army showed up with artillery.
Inside: a throne room, a small mosque, a section about the emir's court that's more fascinating for what it implies than what it shows. The audio guide (rent one) tells stories of diplomatic intrigue, court poisonings, and an English soldier who was executed here in the 1840s for being a spy.
The western gate entrance is the photogenic angle — massive walls rising from the plaza. Entry UZS 50,000 (~$4). Allow 1-1.5 hours.
Afternoon: the Ismail Samani Mausoleum, a ten-minute walk through Samanid Park. This 10th-century structure is small but architecturally extraordinary — interlocking baked bricks create geometric patterns that change appearance throughout the day as the light angle shifts. I went back at sunset and the shadow patterns on the walls had completely transformed from my morning visit.
Day 4: The Trading Domes and the Art of Bargaining
Bukhara's covered bazaars — four 16th-century trading domes — are still functioning as markets. Toki-Sarrafon (moneychangers), Toki-Telpak Furushon (hat makers), Toki-Zargaron (jewellers), and Tim Abdulla Khan. The names describe what was sold there 500 years ago. Now it's suzani embroideries, ceramics, silk scarves, miniature paintings, and spices.
Bargaining protocol: the vendor names a price. You offer 50%. You meet somewhere around 60-70%. Tea is offered. The transaction takes fifteen minutes. Nobody is offended.
I bought a small suzani — maybe 40cm square, hand-embroidered with red pomegranate motifs. Started at $40, settled at $22. How do you know if it's real handwork? Check the back. Machine-made suzanis have uniform, flat stitching on the reverse. Hand-embroidered ones have irregular, textured stitching. Mine was definitely handmade. The colors were slightly uneven in the way that only human hands produce.
The trading domes themselves are architectural achievements — vaulted ceilings, natural light filtering through oculi, crosswind ventilation that keeps the interior cool even at 40°C outside. They were designed as climate-controlled shopping malls four centuries before air conditioning.
Spent today: UZS 310,000 (~$25) — suzani, lunch, ice cream (Bukhara's ice cream is excellent and costs UZS 5,000).
Day 5: Chor-Minor and Getting Lost on Purpose
Chor-Minor is Bukhara's quirkiest monument — a gatehouse from 1807 with four towers, each with a different design. It's said that each tower represents a different religion, reflecting Bukhara's Silk Road diversity. It's down an alley off Khodja Nurobobod street, tucked behind a residential block, and easy to miss completely.
I found it after twenty minutes of wandering. This is the correct way to find it.
Bukhara's old city rewards aimless walking. The areas between the tourist monuments are lived-in — families hanging laundry between 400-year-old walls, children playing football in courtyards, bread baking in communal tandoor ovens on street corners. The air smells like fresh non and cumin.
I ate lunch at a local canteen — a stolovaya — where I pointed at dishes behind glass and a woman loaded my plate. Plov (rice pilaf with lamb, carrots, and chickpeas), salad, bread, tea. UZS 25,000 (~$2). The plov was oily and rich and exactly what it should be.
I visited the Bukhara Artisan Development Centre, where women embroider suzani textiles using techniques passed down through generations. The center supports artisans by providing workspace, materials, and market access.
Watching the embroidery process is meditative. A woman traced a pattern — pomegranates, vines, celestial circles — onto white cotton, then began filling it with chain stitches in silk thread. She'd been doing this for twenty years. Her fingers moved without looking at what they were doing.
A large wall suzani (1.5m x 2m) takes 3-6 months to complete. Prices range from $100 for small pieces to $500+ for large wall hangings. The center sells directly, cutting out the middleman.
I also visited a miniature painting workshop where a man painted intricate Silk Road scenes on paper-maché using brushes with a single squirrel hair. The level of detail in a 10cm painting was absurd. He charged $15-50 depending on complexity.
I went back to where I started. Lyabi-Hauz, mulberry trees, tea, chess.
The Nadir Divan-Begi Madrasa hosts nightly folk music and dance shows (UZS 100,000 with dinner, ~$8). I went. The courtyard was lit with lanterns. Musicians played traditional instruments — doira drums, rubab strings, nay flute. Dancers in embroidered silk performed Uzbek and Tajik traditional pieces.
Was it touristy? Yes. Was it good? Also yes. The musicians were talented, the courtyard setting was genuinely beautiful, and the dinner (plov, salad, kebabs, non) was substantial.
I walked back to my guesthouse through empty streets. The turquoise domes caught the moonlight. A cat followed me for two blocks. Bukhara at night, away from the lit monuments, is profoundly quiet.
Total trip cost (7 days): UZS 1,285,000 (~$103). That includes accommodation (UZS 400,000 for 6 nights in a boutique guesthouse inside a restored madrasa), all meals, all entry fees, a suzani, and the folk show.
One hundred and three dollars for a week in a 2,500-year-old Silk Road city. I don't know what to do with that information except go back.
Combine with Samarkand for the ultimate Silk Road trip See our 10 incredible things to do in Bukhara for the highlights. Spring (April-May) or autumn (September-October) for the weather. And I want to take the train to Khiva next time.
