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Friday 2004-06-18 - Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Shaken awake
At 4:44 I wake up because my bed is gently, and quite regularly, shaking. Carla is still fast asleep — it’s not from her tossing around. I know immediately: this is an earthquake, but probably at a distance. Later, we hear others have felt it, too, and some of the men in the hotel confirm: yes there was an earthquake this morning; not an uncommon event here, as demonstrated by the cracks in the walls of some buildings (including the Registan and our hotel). They don’t know where exactly it was, but usually it’s earthquakes in Afghanistan that are felt here in Samarkand, they tell us.
Taking it easy
I want to give my foot some rest and Carla would like a day of rest as well so after our early-morning visit to the Registan for more pictures and an excellent breakfast at the hotel we install ourselves in the hotel courtyard and stay there most of the day. I’m catching up with my travel journal after getting behind as a result of the long travel days and my health problems. Meanwhile, my foot is turning all kinds of red and light and dark purple: my favorite colors but not under my skin! Every now and then I take a little walk around the courtyard to keep my foot exercised a bit while most of the day I just spend writing, drinking tea and (later) beer, and snacking on the fruit and nuts on the table. Every now and then there’s a loud ‘tock!’ when another ripe apricot falls off the tree onto the sunshade. Dinner is a portion of five delicious mantis (a kind of dumplings filled with finely chopped meat and onions) and a local Samarkand beer at the Chorsu cafe.
