Instagram hasn’t quite destroyed the travel experience to Samarkand, yet. There are plenty of people in the popular sites in town, but influencers would have made this city unbearable like many of the European cities that we actively avoid these days. Tour buses still disgorge plenty of people at each site, and when a place is as tight and narrow as the Shah-I Zinda, the crowd feels a bit overwhelming. Plus, twirling around in a bright red sundress in the cemetery doesn’t seem quite appropriate. Shah-I Zinda is a cemetery where the Timurid family members (minus Timur, Ulugbek, and a few other male princes) are laid to rest. It is also a place known for its beautiful mosaic tile work on the mausoleum walls.

Shah-I Zinda means “Tomb of the Living King”, and it is believed to refer to one of Prophet Mohammed’s cousins, Qusam Ibn-Abbas, who brought Islam to Central Asia in the 7th century.

If I had to pick a word to describe this place, it would be “Overwhelming”. The beauty is overwhelming, and the crowd is overwhelming. So piece of advice is to visit early in the morning before the tour buses arrive.

Having said all that, the most beautiful sight is still the Registan at night. So we made sure to visit it again on our last night.

Unbeknownst to us is that there is a light show every night at unscheduled hours (can be anytime between 7-9pm), and we ended up catching one. What was really odd was that the entire narration was done in Mandarin. I searched online, and it seems like the show had been done in different languages, and it’s unclear as to why it was in Mandarin last night.

• Travel
• Uzbekistan