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In Sanskrit, bukhara means 'abbey'. Bukhara has been a large commercial centre on the Great Silk Road. It is a museum city, full of architectural monuments from the medieval times. Along with Mecca and Medina, Bukhara is often regarded as the third holiest city of Islam. The city predates Islam by over a millennium, but some of the monuments are even older. The city is very pleasant. It has plenty to offer (there are over 140 sights), many of which show incredible brick work, so evident on the 48 meter tall Kalyan Minaret and the Ismail Samani Mausoleum, which blew me away. No surprise that it is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. My favourite monument was the Chor Minor (pictured opposite) with its wonderful four towers, so equiproportional to the mass of the entire block. It is among the most striking buildings in Asia, and it is so nicely hidden in the residential district of the old town.
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