On the way to Samarqand a welcome lunch break at a roadside inn
Samarqand
(Uzbekistan)
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On the way to Samarqand a welcome lunch break at a roadside inn |
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| Glen, our professional photographer, attempting to entice the urchins to do a little show for him. Three of the kids earlier were using the sand screener as a trampoline. |
Tamerlane's Tomb
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Timor's mausoleum Originally the mausoleum would have been just the center-piece of a large integrated and now largely destroyed complex of courtyards, walls, ornate gates, mosques, and surrounding buildings |
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| These people knew how to make an entrance. Massive, yet at once slender and delicate in appearance. The heavy brickwork made to appear slender and light through the use of tiled ridges and finely crafted arches | While Europe sank into the Dark Ages, the Muslim culture was at the forefront of science, math, and medicine. What a difference a millennium can make. |
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| These alcoves, inside and outside, point toward Mecca. |
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One
of the craftsmen involved in the restoration of the tomb |
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One of the
alcoves inside around the central dome. This picture can barely convey what this looks like in reality. Totally, mind-boggling and breathtakingly beautiful |
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The
exquisitely restored and heavily guilded dome over the grave makers inside
of Timur's Mausoleum |
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Marble
and jade. On the top floor of the tomb are the grave markers of the
Khan Timur and his offsprings. The markers are just that. The actual
crypt lies below this building |
