Thunder storm brewing over mosque.

Blue tiles - check. Entrance portal on an enormous scale - check. Here's a classic Central Asian shot from Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Mum and I had spent the day wandering about in the sun and were pretty hot and tired by this time - the clouds and later a burst of rain were welcome relief. This is the Juma (Friday) mosque in Bukhara. It's the second largest mosque in Central Asia, apparently capable of holding over 10,000 people. It's one of the few mosques still functioning in Uzbekistan (the Soviets extinguished most religious fervour in the country), but most activity is confined to a glassed off area in the far right corner. Uzbekistan is the first country I've been to where it wasn't obligatory to cover your head and remove your shoes when entering a mosque. Shoes only had to be taken off when there were carpets on the floor, and head coverings were a personal choice even for Muslims.