We came back to the Registan Square on our last morning in Samarkand. Then, we visited a nearby landmark, Bibi-Khanym Mosque before shopping at Siab Bazaar.
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Registan Square with its three madrasahs - in the heart of the ancient city of Samarkand of the Timurid Empire, now in Uzbekistan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Uzbekistan.
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The NO list of Registan Square
 | The "left" building - Ulugh Beg Madrasah - Constructed by Ulugh Beg. Also the first madrasah to be built (1417-1420) in the square.
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Sign in front of Ulugh Beg Madrasah
 | Timurid style artwork on the ceiling of the Ulugh Beg Madrasah. The museum is in this building.
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 | The courtyard of Ulugh Beg Madrasah
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| The "middle" building - The Tilya-Kori Madrasah - constructed last (1646 - 1660) |
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Inside the Tilya-Kori Madrasah
 | Inside the Tilya-Kori Madrasah
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The Tilya- Kori Madrasah - courtyard
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The "right" building - Sher-Dor Madrassa - built between 1619-1636
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Entrance of the Sher-Dor Madrasah.
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| Tomb of Hazrat Imam in the Sher-Dor Madrasah |
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Group picture @ Registan Square
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Leaving the Registan Square, we walked to our next stop, Bibi-Khanym Mosque.
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| Passing by the monument of Islam Karimov, former Uzbek SSR President |
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| Entrance to Bibi-Khanym Mosque complex. Built in the 15th century, one of the largest in the Islamic world. It's also considered a master piece of the Timurid Renaissance. |
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| Beautiful mosaic, ceramic and tile work @ closeup. |
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The Mosque
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The Bibi-Kharym Mosque Complex - Courtyard
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"Echo" wall around the courtyard
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One of the 50 original copies of the Quran
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| Bibi-Khanym Mausoleum across the mosque complex |
The last stop before our lunch break was to Siab Bazaar, around the corner of Bibi-Khanym Mosque. It was our last minute shopping here in Uzbekistan.
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| Happy leaving the spice stalls with the saffron. |
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Buying bread stamps @ the "hardware" shop.
 | Samarkand train station where we caught the bullet train back to Tashkent.
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| The train's speed |
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A fascinating ride on this high tech train. It takes about 2 hours from Samarkand to Tashkent.
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We completed our tour when arriving in Tashkent. The bus was waiting for us at the train station to take us back to the Marriott Hotel where we previously stayed.
After the farewell dinner, we packed and got ready for the airport. We took the early morning departure for Istanbul and back to the US the next day. All went well. We had a great two week vacation in Uzbekistan.
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