Previously we had stayed at the New Moon Hotel, not yet in any of the guidebooks and a recent addition to Booking.com.
They had also won our approval and heartfelt thanks, by the kitchen staff volunteering to get up at 4am and make us a take-away breakfast to support our early start.
This was our backup but we tried a few alternatives first...
The place immediately next door was certainly cheaper, but was grubby and Cheryl was none too impressed with the brief view of the filthy kitchen.
As we walked out the "fixed price" suddenly dropped to $24 but it was not a patch on New Moon.
We tried a fancy looking place down the same road, staffed by sullen youths.
The receptionist was obviously annoyed having his smart-phone time interrupted by the inconvenience of potential customers, and it was almost beyond his capabilities to haul his scruffy backside off a settee and slouch over to reception. The price was high at $80, but to be honest even if it was 80 cents I'd have still walked out...
So...New Moon it was. We cheekily told the receptionist that next door was only $24 (even though next-door was a pit) and she offered us $30 a night, explaining that we were now at the start of the low season.
New Moon has since become our accommodation calibration.
$30 per night, nice buffet breakfast (get in there quick before the flies!), a smart, spotless, en-suite room, aircon, spectacularly crackly Uzbek television (albeit on a big Samsung flat screen!), nice communal courtyard, and friendly, helpful staff.
The only downside was the lack of secure parking, but that did not matter, we found the Hotel Asia just down the road - with gated, secure parking for a few quid a night (talk to the guard) - and they didn't care that we were not hotel guests either.
In fact - you could stay anywhere and use the Hotel Asia car park.
Hotel Asia (Secure Parking):
N39.46.414
E064.25.152
It was also only a 200 metre stroll from New Moon to the Lyab-I-Hauz square which is well worth an evening visit.
Hotel New Moon:
N39.46.387
E064.25.349
Symptoms included nervous twitching and sweating whilst reading applicable sections of the guidebooks, and (I am ashamed to say) a bit of listless apathy walking around the sights in the heat of the day.
Luckily Bukhara has a few other surprises up its sleeve, including the aforementioned Lyab-I-Hauz square. This is a tree shaded, man made pool in a rather beautiful city setting, surrounded by a promenade, and a few bars, restaurants and ice-cream stalls. It got very crowded one Thursday evening (I guess because it's the start of the Muslim weekend?) and the thing that delighted us was the fact that, for once, locals were in the majority - claiming back their city from the bus loads of tourists that were now in decline with the height of the summer heat.
We sat briefly in the restaurant that borders the pool, but it's a victim of it's own success, and they have simply crammed in too many tables on the poolside veranda for eating there to be a pleasure.
The fat waiter was also no more than twelve years old - and I really cannot take food recommendations from an obese child poncing about in a fedora - so we upped and left before we were offered sponge bob shashlik (or whatever overfed Uzbek kids prefer).
Bukhara also has some quality tourist tat for sale and a couple of nice venues for food and drinks (even if the food itself is pretty ropey). A lot of Central Asian food is heavily flavoured with dill. Not unpleasant - at first - but it soon becomes sickening, the sheer volume of the stuff they spoon over everything. Even walking past a kitchen extractor fan one evening we both recoiled in horror from the smell of dill pouring out over the street.
This was my daily treat - I loved the place so much...
For food we visited Minzifa three times - even though 2 of the 3 meals were not up to standard. The young waiter (at least this one was in his teens) was so over attentive it was excruciating, hovering constantly and engaging in protracted, unwanted conversation whilst our food grew cold.
He even told me (with a breath taking lack of sincerity) that I looked like Brad Pitt - the little prick. His crowning comment was the embarrassing question "So, please tell me, was I a good waiter tonight? Was I as good as your London waiters?". "No. You were shit" I screamed inwardly whilst offering a tight smile and a small tip as we Brits do...
But we kept going back - for the lovely rooftop venue and the incredible sunsets over the Kalon minaret.
Dolon - also mentioned - no longer exists, or never did and was a figment of the authors imagination...
(LP Central Asia - great for the broad brush and background - but challenge the detail and the inaccuracies are frequent and frustrating)
In fact the best meal I had was a bit of a Cornish Pasty affair from a street vendor also selling man-hole cover sized bread.
"Anglia" we replied...
His response was totally unexpected, a single word screamed over and over again at the top of his voice.
"What the f***?" I asked Cheryl.
"Arsenal" she replied.
This guy was a fan, and insisted on photos with Cheryl, the sale of the pasty (which I yummed up, pastry and all - despite my wheat and potato intolerances) whilst he disappeared down the street, still screaming "ARSENAL!" at the top of his voice.
We had a great evening with them - a nice pre-cursor to meeting up with them again in Bishkek and Issy Kul in Kyrgyzstan.
They were a real pleasure to spend time with - although Robert did bully me rather into drinking beer (which I don't really like that much)...
We walked in by our own volition, and, then, we,
BOUGHT A BLOODY CARPET!
A rather fetching little Bukhara rug, containing 1.2 million hand made knots, which blew our budget for the rest of our time in Uzbekistan - but we rather enjoyed the whole experience - the mint tea, the sales patter, the haggling...