Middle-aged flash packers

Executive summary: Khiva supermarket gets the thumbs down; Chernobyl Ferris wheel finds new home; people wander about carrying armloads of som and don’t get mugged; train journeys are the new cruising

We had a bit of time to kill this morning before our journey to Bukhara so we took a wander to the nearest “supermarket “ to stock up on provisions for the train.

You can tell a lot by a country’s supermarkets. What people like to eat (eg Italy where you’ll find 30 different types of pasta) and how wealthy they are. Judging by this supermarket, people are very poor and like unprocessed frozen chicken, quails eggs and sweets. There really wasn’t much else. They also like to sell biscuits individually. The thought of dirty hands sorting through them and also their potential staleness meant I gave them a wide berth.

We did manage to buy some Pringles and some Oreos which will have to do for our train dinner.

We meandered down to the park just outside the inner city walls. I’ve been dying to go there as I spotted a Ferris wheel from the minaret we climbed and was curious to see it up close.

You know the big wheel always shown on Chernobyl photos? This is the same. The carriages are rusting and ancient. It looks ready for demolition so we were shocked to see it in use a bit later.

There is a little boating lake with ducks on it, which is surprising as the water is so filthy I can’t imagine anything surviving in it. There are pedaloes made of metal, rusting at the side.

The positive side of this is it appears that a new park is being constructed near by which is lovely and I hope it happens soon before someone either gets cholera or meets a gruesome death in a disintegrated gondola.

As we strolled we kept being passed by people carrying huge piles of Som, probably on their way to the bank. Amazing how honest people are here, you’d definitely get robbed in the Uk, but then again it’s probably only about £20 they’re carrying.

And so on to Bukhara. We arrived at the station very early but were welcomed and ushered into the VIP area as we had splashed out on the most expensive carriage (around £20 each for an 8 hour journey and that was through an agent). We sat on white leather sofas, sipped tea and used a posh loo. Before long the lounge was overflowing as many other tourists had decided to upgrade too. Even serious backpackers – young people! Goodness me, hang your heads in shame. I bet you don’t tell your friends.

Our compartment was shades of Thailand trains. We were given crisp white linen to put on our seats and cushions, a man came round with beer. My only complaint would be the seats need more padding. And the train sat in a station for 1.5 hours during which time the loos were locked so I couldn’t release any of the beer. Torture.

Otherwise a pleasant journey spent reading, looking at the unchanging desert scenery, drinking beer then falling asleep, soothed by the gentle motion of the train. I think it might be luxury train travel for me in my dotage rather than cruises.

At 10.30pm we arrived in Bukhara. Our friendly host drove us to the very atmospheric Salom Inn which will be home for the next two nights.

£