We arrived in Bukara and headed to a very late (3 p.m.) lunch in a small restaurant located beside an old teahouse. To begin, they served apricot seeds and dried apricots, peanuts in white sugar, walnuts, and raisins. Then there were bread and many vegetables. The next course consisted of a gelatin mold made with ‘bones, meat and marrow’ boiled down in the pot for hours before adding a gelatin to firm the remains. This was horrible and Jim, who will eat anything, hardly touched the mold. So I ate four enormous bites hoping we would not offend our host, who devoured the dish. Then the server asked about soup – Jim and I ordered laghman – noodles with meat in broth. Once the soup arrived, I felt completely stuffed but the server asked about a main course. I thought the soup was the entrée! I ordered dumplings with meat, which were not very good. Maybe they would have tasted better if I was not so full, but at that moment, the taste of the dumplings just did not matter.