Unfortunately I was rather unwell in the night and we discovered that the bag with vital meds had been left behind. I felt a little better in the morning and attempted breakfast but it was soon clear that something was needed and luckily I was able to catch Farik before he left the dining room (today is a free day so he's off duty). He kindly said he'd take us to a pharmacy to get something but in the end Ian had to go on his own. It was quite a long walk to the other side of town where Farik knew there was a medical centre but unfortunately when they got there it was closed so he asked some taxi drivers where else they could go and arranged for them to be taken to the main pharmacy attached to the hospital - a 5 min drive. There Ian was able to get some loperamide (same 2mg dosage as UK) and the taxi duly dropped them back at the original pharmacy. It had been quite a fast walk there and during the return trip Ian mentioned, purely in conversation, he was approaching 80 and with that Farik's pace dropped considerably.
I slept for most of the morning but towards mid afternoon started to feel a little better and so we decided to head out and walk into town. Yesterday the sun had been very strong but today there was a layer of cloud which made it more bearable and we arrived just as the main crowds had left. No doubt these are complete repeats of yesterday's pictures, but here we go.
I was very pleased to see these; I have photos of severed hands and feet from Guatemala so good to add a few heads to the collection, especially ones with such delightfully squashed noses.
Apparently this is made of papier-mâché and designed for tourists to take photos with and occasionally allow small children to sit on it but sadly tigers have been extinct from Uzbekistan since 1950s.
These would definitely be in with a chance of winning the "Worst Souvenir" award.
This lady was completely oblivious to her exquisite surroundings.
We then decided to head to the edge of town and find the way up to walk the walls, Farik having sent everyone a copy of yesterday's tickets which also gave us access. Walking through the lived in areas I was intrigued as to what might be behind this canopy.
How cute, a baby swing.
I guess this was a honey trap or similar.
Getting up on to the walls proved quite difficult, Farik had given us precise details as to where the stairs were and our ticket to cover the entrance fee.
But what we didn't realise was that they were behind a locked gate and we had to ask for access, then climb practically vertically about 40' on stone steps with no handrails whilst the gate was then firmed locked again behind us leaving us potentially trapped on the city wall. Dodgy, but I'm very glad we made it; some random photos as we walked along.
This photo is all about the matching shapes 😂
The weather wasn't as clear as yesterday but it was nice to see the buildings from a higher perspective.
These reminded me of the rooftop scene from Mary Poppins
There is a Ferris wheel outside the city walls so I thought it'd make a good shot framed by the turrets.
Again there is no H&S and at times it would've been quite easy to fall off.
A couple of LOLs (Little Old Ladies) for my collection - except they're probably younger than me.
Rather interesting to see that it really is "all front" for this building.
We wandered into a woodworking place and the guys were very happy for me to take their photos, although I do appreciate
they’d have been even happier if I’d have bought something.
There was some quite "interesting" knitwear on sale.
My bactrian had somehow escaped his handler for a few moments.
Knives are available to buy anywhere so obviously they don't have the same youth problem as the UK.
Nice to see a YoYo is still good fun.
There was a life size sculpture of a camel train but unfortunately I didn't manage to get it without people around and I do wonder just how much Coca Cola had to pay to have a stand just there - what dreadful positioning.
At least this pottery seems to be made in Uzbekistan rather than Chinese stuff which we're seeing everywhere.
We revisited the Pahlavon Mahmad complex as Farik had given us our original tickets and said they were valid for 2 days.
When we tried to gain access to the mausoleum we were told it would cost extra but as soon as we explained the place was heaving with school children yesterday, she immediately said we could go back in without charge. How nice.
There was a group of ladies visiting from Kyrgyzstan we think, judging by their traditional dress, and they had brought their own Imam with them
Later outside the mosque they were happy to pose for a photo.
They wanted to then have a photograph with us. It's really rather delightful and reminds me of our first trips to India when tourists were still a bit of a novelty in some places.
This little boy and his fan made me smile but he'd stopped fanning himself by the time I got this picture.
Luckily my stomach problems didn't cause any problems and it was lovely to walk around the city without the crowds of yesterday.
Back at our hotel and we took a glass of wine and sat as comfortably as we could (not easy as there's nowhere for your legs to go) on this Tapchan for an hour or so.
