The King of Kings, though, was the one visitors wanted to see, when they had braved the broiling heat and terrifying emptiness of the desert to get so far.
Hopefully, with Uzbekistan's uninhabited and incinerating deserts now behind me, the bus journey will be the last occasion I have to rely on public transport.
Furthermore, the designs were covered with "desert varnish", a glaze that develops on rock surfaces over thousands of years of exposure to the elements.
If we worked hard to bring wealth to build pipelines to bring in an earthquake or the desert, a solid foundation, the earth will shake, the result of their efforts can be imagined.
In the distance half a dozen sand-spouts, swiftly-moving white pillars, looking like desert genii with too much "tanglefoot" aboard, were careering about in every direction.