We arrived in Khiva late at night (again) and checked into our hotel. The following morning, Alex took the car to a local garage as the check engine light was on. The owner of the Old Khiva Hotel, Dilshod, very kindly accompanied Alex. The garage was closed, but they were more than happy to come in on their day off to help us. Unfortunately, they didn't have a diagnostics kit for our car. But as the car was also idling at very, very low RPMs, they checked the fuel pump.
The placement of the fuel pump is different in every car. Some are simply right under the car, others like ours, are inside the fuel tank. First, they unbolted the tank from underneath the car. Once that was done, they removed the fuel pump and checked it. All was ok, so they drained the tank to make it easier to put back on and then refilled it.
The mechanics working on the fuel pump.
Once all that was finished, we walked around the old city, which was just a minute's walk from the hotel. We explored the music museum and climbed up to the top of one of the minarets. The stairway up to the minaret was incredibly steep and the ceiling very low, so it was very easy to hit your head. We couldn't imagine having to climb it five times per day to call people to prayer! Once at the top, however we were rewarded with an amazing view of the old city.
The stunning view from the top of the minaret. Well worth the climb.
After a few minutes taking in the view, we climbed down to take photos of the car and left for Bukhara.
We arrived in Bukhara late that evening. (Another late arrival) The next morning we explored the old city and visited one of the oldest madrassas in Uzbekistan. We asked if we could drive into the area in front to take a photo of the car. Unfortunately, the director of the madrassa was away on business in Samarkand, so we had to settle for a photo of the car with the madrassa and minaret in the background. Once we got our pictures, we left for Samarkand.
Parked in front of the madrassa in Bukhara.
Our car in front of the minaret in Bukhara