A grave that grows in size

Now on its territory is the mausoleum of the first President of Uzbekistan.

- Hello!

- Hello!

- We have to check your bags.

- Okay.

- In general, you're not allowed not film here, but are. An exception was made for us, when we said, that we came to Samarkand from Russia. It was nice.

We continue to walk down the street of Islam Karimov.

It will lead us to a unique place - the tomb of St. Daniel, which length is 18 meters.

But it will happen in the second part of our walks in Samarkand.

And there you will learn about the ruler-scientist, see the Registan.

And for us will be prepared Samarkand pilaf and giant samosa.

If you continue walking along Karimov street, after a while you will reach the picturesque place where Daniel is buried.

The Saint is revered by representatives of three religions: muslims and christians and jews.

On the banks of the river Siab is a nice green square.

Above the park there are hills, on one of them there is an 18-meter grave.

Why is it so large?

There is a belief that it gradually increases.

How? It is unknown.

But the servant of the complex says - there is no mystery here.

The grave is so big, because it was a very respected person.

It also slightly increased during the reconstruction.

And then the curator tells about a miracle, which is supposedly accurate take place.

In the courtyard of the mausoleum grows pistachio tree.

Long time it was considered to be dead, but after the visit of Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' Alexy II, when he sprinkled the tree with Holy water, it came to life and bloomed.

The source of Holy water is also situated here, at the foot of the hill.

Not far away from the grave of St. Daniel, the next attraction of Samarkand is the Ulugh Beg Observatory.

Who was this? Soon you will find out.

Lunch! I want to taste the pilaf and to compare it with Bukhar pilaf, which, frankly, was on top and to and to reach this level will be difficult.

But we have a worthy contender!

- This pilaf was made by the Champion of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2013. His name is Abdumanon.

- This is a real Samarkand pilaf.

Well, what can I say - I have a new favourite! (Price: 3$).

Bukhara pilaf was good, but Samarkand is no worse - it is magical.

Happiness is when one person has a talent, the desire to use it and the opportunity to do it.

It just all happens to Ulugh Beg, Tamerlan's grandson, ruler, educator, astronomer, historian and poet.

One of the sightseeings in Samarkand is the Ulugh Beg Observatory.

Or rather what is left of it.

- On both sides was a corridor for Ulugh Beg's assistants, he and his Professors walked along the central path.

- They watched the stars, but this is certainly not the end.

- There had been a continuation of the Observatory.

- Before its destruction the Observatory -went 33 meters up.

- Only 31 meters left at the bottom.

- The total height was 64 meters.

The symbol of Samarkand, the Registan, is getting closer, but on the way we will visit the cafe, which only few tourists know about and will have a samsa for lunch.

Well, it won't be a problem to find  in Uzbekistan ordinary tandoor samsa.

In different cities, villages areas it will costs 2.000 - 5.000 so'm.

But in Samarkand in a cafe with a non-standard name for the East you can buy a giant samsa.

It costs 15,000 s'om ($2).

But it can feed an adult man, two children or a dozen losing weight girls.

And the fact that samsa is huge is not the only difference.

Those, who taste it for the first time will be surprised.

In addition to lamb meat there is a piece of chicken.

To make sure, that the client is full.

And a tomato after all.

It was getting dark. Finally, we got to Registan.