Bukhara in 3 days

Ulugbek Madrassa (built 1417 by Muhammad Taraghay, known as Ulugbek — the "Great Ruler": the astronomer-king who was the grandson of Timur (Tamerlane) and the ruler of Samarkand (1411–1449)): the oldest surviving madrassa in Central Asia in its original form — built when Ulugbek ruled from Samarkand, the Bukhara madrassa was one of three he built in the major Timurid cities (the others in Samarkand and Ghijduvan). The inscription above the entrance: "It is the duty of every Muslim man and woman to seek knowledge" — the most important educational inscription in Central Asia. Abd al-Aziz Khan Madrassa (built 1651–1652 across the square from the Ulugbek Madrassa): the most elaborate interior decoration in Bukhara — the painted muqarnas stalactite ceiling of the main iwan (the arched entrance portal) with gilded floral arabesques and Chinese-influenced cloud motifs: the most spectacular painted ceiling in any Bukharan madrassa.

The trading domes (toki) of Bukhara (the five surviving 16th-century bazaar domes): the Toki Zargaron (the "Dome of the Jewelers" — the largest and best-preserved of the Bukharan trading domes: built in the 16th century at the intersection of the most important Silk Road trade routes through Bukhara, the dome covered the market stalls of the jewelers and goldsmiths who were the most important artisans in the Silk Road trade): still functions as a market today (silk scarves, suzani embroidery, Uzbek ceramics and jewelry). The suzani (the most important Uzbek textile art: the large embroidered cotton or silk cloth decorated with the most elaborate floral and geometric patterns in the Central Asian embroidery tradition — traditionally made by a bride and her female relatives as a dowry gift: the most important textile souvenir from Bukhara). The silk ikat ("atlas" — the most technically demanding Central Asian weaving: the tie-dyed warp threads create the most complex geometric patterns in any Central Asian textile).

Bolo Hauz Mosque (the "Mosque of the Forty Columns" — built 1712): the most elegant wooden architecture in Bukhara. The 20 slender carved wooden columns of the aivan (the front portico that extends over the edge of a reflecting pool) create the most famous optical illusion in Bukharan architecture: the columns reflected in the pool appear to double their number to 40 — the most photographed architectural effect in Bukhara. The last emir of Bukhara, Alim Khan (1880–1944), used the Bolo Hauz as his personal Friday mosque. The Samanid Mausoleum (built 892–943 CE — the most important building in Central Asia): the brick tomb of the Samanid rulers (Ismail Samani and his father Ahmad ibn Asad) is the oldest intact Islamic monument in Central Asia and one of the finest examples of early Islamic brick architecture in the world — the double-skin brick wall (the outer layer of brickwork is set at 45° to the inner layer, creating the most sophisticated structural system in 9th-century architecture).

Naqshbandiyya shrine — Bahauddin Naqshband complex (12km from Bukhara, accessible by taxi: $5 round trip): the most important Sufi pilgrimage site in Central Asia — the tomb of Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad Naqshband al-Bukhari (1318–1389), the founder of the Naqshbandiyya Sufi order. The Naqshbandiyya is the most widespread Sufi order in the world (over 10 million followers from Morocco to China, Indonesia and the United States — the most globally distributed single Sufi brotherhood): the order's most important principle is "khalwat dar anjuman" ("solitude in the crowd" — the Naqshbandi practice of inner contemplation while engaging fully in the social and commercial life of the world: the most practical Sufi philosophy). The complex: the white marble tomb of Naqshband (rebuilt in the 16th century by the Shaybanid ruler Abdullah Khan II), the "Hazrat Sultan" mosque (built 2003 by the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov — the most modern building in the complex), and the ancient mulberry trees under which Naqshband is said to have conducted his teaching.

Sitorai Mokhi Khosa (the "Palace of Stars Like the Moon" — the summer palace of the last emirs of Bukhara, 4km north of the city): built 1912 by the second-to-last emir, Abd al-Ahad Khan, and completed by his son Alim Khan (the last emir, who fled to Afghanistan in 1920 when the Red Army conquered Bukhara). The extraordinary architectural mixture: the European neo-classical exterior (designed by Russian architects brought from St. Petersburg) combined with the most elaborate traditional Uzbek interior decoration (the carved ganch stucco, the painted wooden ceilings and the hand-painted ceramic tiles of the most important Bukharan craftsmen). The White Hall (the most elaborate single room in Bukhara): the walls of mirrored glass panels reflecting the crystal chandeliers (imported from France and Belgium — the most expensive furnishings in the history of the Khanate of Bukhara), the European furniture (imported from Vienna — the most fashionable furniture in the late 19th-century Russian Empire). The harem building: the living quarters of the emir's approximately 300 wives and concubines — now the museum of women's costume and jewelry of the Bukharan court.

Silk weaving workshop (Bukhara has been a center of silk production for 2,000 years — the most important single craft product on the Silk Road): the traditional "atlas" silk ikat (the most technically demanding Central Asian weaving: the "ikat" (the Indonesian/Malay word for "to bind" — adopted into English from the Malay term) is the resist-dyeing process in which the individual warp threads are tied and dyed in the pattern before weaving, so that when the threads are placed on the loom and weft threads are woven through them, the pre-dyed warp threads create the complex geometric patterns (the most technically demanding because any error in the initial dyeing is irreversible — the most unforgiving craft in Central Asian textile production)): the natural dyeing (the most important traditional dyeing materials in the Bukharan silk tradition: the pomegranate skin ("anor qobiq") for the warm orange-red tones, the walnut shell ("yong'oq qobiq") for the dark brown tones, the indigo plant ("nil") for the blue tones, and the madder root ("qizil bo'yoq") for the red tones — the same natural dye sources used in Bukharan silk production since the pre-Islamic period).

Central Asian plov ceremony (the most important cultural meal experience in Uzbekistan): the "osh" (the Uzbek term for plov — the most culturally important food in Uzbek society: plov is served at every major social event including weddings (the "to'y oshi" — the "wedding plov"), funerals (the "aza oshi" — the "mourning plov"), circumcisions and the most important Islamic festivals). The Bukharan plov (the specific Bukharan variation of Uzbek plov — distinct from the Samarkand and Tashkent versions): the rice cooked in a large hemispherical cast-iron kazan (the most important cooking vessel in Uzbek cuisine) with the lamb (or beef), the yellow carrots ("sariq sabzi" — the yellow carrot essential to authentic Uzbek plov: the golden color of the cooked plov comes from the slow-cooked yellow carrot juice released into the cottonseed oil), the chickpeas, the raisins ("maviz" — the dried grape variety of the Central Asian tradition) and the whole heads of garlic (buried in the rice and slow-cooked until soft — the most important flavoring element in Bukharan plov). The chuchvara (the small Uzbek meat dumplings — the Uzbek version of the wonton/manti: smaller than the Uzbek manti (the large steamed dumplings), the chuchvara are boiled and served in a light broth).

Sunset from the Kalon Minaret top (the most spectacular panorama in Bukhara): the 105 internal brick steps of the Kalon Minaret (1127 CE) lead to the lantern gallery at 47m — the most important viewpoint in Bukhara (the gallery where the muezzin traditionally called the azan (the Islamic call to prayer) five times daily: the Kalon Minaret was used as the "minaret of death" in the medieval period (criminals were thrown from the top — the "execution by the Kalon" was the most dramatic form of capital punishment in the Khanate of Bukhara: the last such execution from the Kalon Minaret was performed in the 1870s when the Russian military entered Bukhara and the emir ordered a final public execution before Russian administration took over)). The sunset panorama: the entire Bukharan Old City spread below (the blue-tiled dome of the Kalon Mosque immediately below, the green dome of the Bolo Hauz Mosque to the west, the Ark Fortress to the northwest, the Lyab-i Hauz pool glinting to the south and the flat mud-brick rooftops extending to the ochre desert horizon in all four directions).