Day 18 - 09th June, 2012- Bukhara, Uzbekistan

I was woken up early and on enquiry I was told that the train would first stop at Nav town. A lot of people got off at Nav Town. At the next station, that was Bukhara, everyone got down.  When the train stopped, our compartment was outside the platform, so we carefully jumped to get down. Bukhara Railway Station was mud coloured .

Bukharo Railway Station

In fact, even the houses and buildings in Bukhara were mud coloured, a color soothing to the eyes. Once I came outside the station, I saw micro buses parked a little far away. I had forgotten to take down the address of Orom Hotel, a mistake whose depth I realized when I was exposed to puzzled faces. Most people did not know the way to the Hotel. Some taxi drivers asked for 20000 soms to go to Orom hotel, but I bargained and got them down to 10000 som. But fortunately I found a young man who handed me his cell phone; his brother gave me the directions. I thanked him and followed his instructions. I boarded Bus number 378 and headed towards the city. In only 700 soms I was taken to a point from where the hotel was just a few minutes’ walk. I enjoyed the walk as the morning was very pleasant and slightly windy. 

Hotel in Bukhara

I entered the old city area which was also mud colored. There were a good number of hotels in a line and Hotel Orom was in the end. Hotel Orom was a 3 star hotel and I was welcomed by Aziz, a young cousin of the owner. He allotted me one of the best rooms, number 28, a suite. The room had a large well furnished sitting room and an equally large bed. It was the best accommodation I had  in the last few days.  After I checked in, Aziz invited me to breakfast. It was a large breakfast buffet where I had a glass of fresh juice and a glass of sour yoghurt. Tired from the journey, I ate and went to sleep.
I woke up after three hours and washed up. At 2.15, I went down and met Orom, the owner of the hotel. He was a young man who had studied in England. In our conversation he told me that the once crime free Bukhara was now a constant victim of crimes. He told me that a Japanese tourist was robbed of everything two days ago, that I should keep all my papers and money in the safe provided in the room. I then left to get the feel of Bukhara. It was still hot but I walked around and took some pictures. I found a restaurant that was built inside someone’s home. I ordered fried eggs over pasta and bread with a big bottle of water. I ate while watching an Indian movie with Uzbek language dubbing. Here in this part of the globe, there was a channel dedicated to Indian movies. The program ‘Namaste India’ was a hit favorite with the people here, probably the reason why I was constantly greeted with namaste. The meal was fulfilling and cost me 4000 soms only. 
Back at the hotel Orom was leaving for a flight to Tashkent. He let me use his computer. I completed my backlogs of writing and congratulated Sudhanshu for getting a job as a consultant with Infosy at Holland. Meanwhile Orom told me that he would return the evening next day and invited me for dinner over some real Vodka. The hotel was a good bargain. Delighted, I went to sleep.