If Samarkand dazzles, Bukhara embraces: a complete old city living its day among its monuments — from the Kalyan minaret that awed invaders into sparing it, to trading domes still trading, to Lab-i Hauz where tea and history sit together. The Po-i-Kalyan heart and royal Ark, the three merchants' domes, the Samanid dome (Central Asia's oldest most perfect Islamic building), quaint Chor Minor — and the soul: Naqshband's shrine twenty minutes out. Sleep inside the old city in traditional houses; Bukhara enchants at dawn and dusk when day-trippers leave; two days minimum, all on foot.
