30th July - Tourist price $$$

we seemed to win the food roulette game as both of us started the day with 'everything in order'.
So on our journey to Samarkand, we decided to play the game again by eating lunch out of a cobbled roadside shack/tent.  Whilst we were eating we watched the local police who were seated near by,  set up an impromptu road check point for just 15 minutes.  Perhaps they were short of cash for their lunch?! It seems to be how they operate here!
Once we had eaten Andy asked to pay for the meal. The shack owner attempted to charge us a ridiculous 75,000 som ($25) for a gristly 'meat' kebab. We couldn't help but laugh. After much chuckling we told them they were 'very funny' (via the Russian phrase book)  and left them a generous 20,000 som. Andy also said 'good try' and we all knowingly shook hands. This also seems to be the norm.
Back on the road we amused ourselves by watching a great array of creative methods of transporting goods in vehicles including, a large double bed on the roof of a lada, a sheep loose in the back of a mini van, a full height fridge freezer wedged in to the open boot of a lada, a giant coil of waste pipe (3m wide) over the roof of a lada, a fine example of 'how many melons can you fit in a lada' (like sweeties in a jar game), a horse in the back of a pickup, and cows in a standard car trailer attached to the back of a saloon car.

We arrived in Samarkand and pulled up outside the best hotel that we had selected from the lonely planet guide book. At first glance it looked closed down, it's vast expanse of soviet concrete and marble looked lacklustre, the fountains were dried up,  the plants and grass were over grown, weeds were sprouting out of the paths, and there was a general absence of any human activity.
At this point we should have driven on, but curiosity got the better of us and we decided to take a closer look.
To our surprise the hotel was actually open!
It was like stepping in to a vast marble cave, floor to ceiling marble, there were grand glass chandeliers hanging like stalactites from the ceiling and brass decorated every surface that wasn't marble. The reception was a least an acre big. It even had a post office and two full size pianos, one of which Andy couldn't resist playing. The interior did not match the exterior, it was very odd and gave me very sinister feeIing. I can imagine that in its heyday this 500 room monster would have been the most glamorous place in town. 
Upon check in Andy asked where we could park the motorbike. He was given the entire moth balled 'museum bar' as a bike garage for the night.

Once we had checked in we decided to tick a few tourist boxes and go out and see the sights. Entry to the 'Registon' was another classic example of tourist extortion. In black and white on the price list was Uzbek price 1000 som, tourist price 15,000 som!
the Registon was stunning, an absolute feast to the eyes of patterns and mosaics. Whilst we were wandering around totally absorbed we had the oddest experience yet. Women started to point and stare at me, talking excitedly.  At first I though that I may have had a wardrobe malfunction, but Andy reassured me that this was not the case. Then situation became even stranger, as we were asked for photos and what seemed like half of the museum jumped on the band wagon. We were obviously mistaken for some sort of celebrities!

Later when we arrived back at the hotel after dinner tired and thirsty, we thought that it would be no problem at all to obtain a bottle of drinking water, bearing in mind that the hotel boasted 5 bars and 500 rooms. WRONG! The receptionist told us that the nearest shop was more than one kilometre away, and offered to get us a taxi there. With the reception refusing to help, we decided to go back to the room. On our way we spied a massive private party,  so managed to bribe one of the staff to open a bar and sell us water and beer.
It wouldn't have been right for us to go straight to bed, so we scared ourselves silly by exploring the maze of unused unlit corridors. It was like something out of the 'shining ' Andy said that he felt that he should have been riding a tricycle.