Why Uzbekistan?

Experienced travelers know the magic of central Asia very well. But many others were asking me: why Uzbekistan and which “stan” it actually is? My dream to visit these lands is anchored at a romantic idea about caravans crossing the continents and spreading not only silk and spices, but also knowledge and awareness about other cultures. After one of my multiple business trips to China, I have visited Xinjiang in summer 2019. And yes, there are many things there going on that are not ok regarding suppression of the Uyghur culture – but behind that I could still see and smell what I have been looking for. As my eyes saw the tiled Afaq Khoja Mausoleum in Kashgar, I knew that another central Asian trip is not so far away. And Uzbekistan is in the heart of all of it, with its jewels as Samarkand and Bukhara. You are right, many years of Soviet times destroyed not only the Aral Sea – but thousands of years of history can’t be eliminated. This area went through all kinds of changes and troubles and the population of mixed ethnicities is strong and until now, in every corner I found what I was looking for – complex history with traces of neolithic petroglyphs, Alexander the Great, Djingiskhan, introduction of Islam, Soviet times, and new independent Uzbekistan. Smells of spices, tea, plov, dried fruits, roasted meat, and flat bread. Mixture of religions including ancient Buddhism. Camels with long hair ready to stand hot and cold weather. Deserts, steppe, plateaus, salt lakes. Nights under the stars in a yurt. Architecture and colorful tiles. Long drives. Carpets. Silk. Trade. Knives. Ceramic. And importantly - extremely nice local people, as I could witness in many conversations with locals in my shabby Russian. And since this country needs to boom its tourism, let me add that it is safe, you get top service for very good price and you will come home with memories that you will never forget.

My recommended guides and travel agencies

I prepared this special page about the guides and agenices I can reccommend. There are many and I dedicated a lot of time to prepare my itinerary and to get the best quality for the best prize. There are several big ones with detailed online itineraries and might be even good. But it is hard to discuss with them details of each day’s programm - for me an important part. Instead I opted for smaller local agencies that provided excellent service and I could decide at each place what I want to do. But make sure to leave some days without a guide too, like that you can absorb the atmosphere alone and interact with locals alone.

Practical tips

Get a local SIM card - it is cheap and apart completely isolated locations it works perfectly well. Book hotels yourself, here you can find list of my hotels . I was changing hotels even when staying at the same place few nights - the choice is big. As a rule of thumb, I recommend smaller and often cheaper hotels (like 20-30 USD per nigh) - they have exrtraordinary traditional decorations and warm welcome. You can contact hotels before your travel and they are often very helpful with arranging guides etc. For local transportation you have several options… Uzbek Airlines provides very cheap local flights, but they get often changed and you might not be notified (as it happened to me). Renting a car with a driver is a great option - roads are not always the best and the drivers know the area. Guides mostly do not drive themselves. This service has a very good price even for long distance drives. Uzbekistan is rich in gas and most of the cars use it. For my Termez to Tashkent 700 km overnight drive (yeah, this is this cancelled flight story…) I paid about 60 USD and the driver brought me even a big pillow to be able to sleep on the back seats. There are also fast trains but I did not use them… the countryside itself is so rich, that I preferred to be able to stop along the way. But train is an excellent option if you want to see mostly cities. Take with you USD in cash if you can, they are accepted almoste everywhere - Euros not so much. But many hotels and shops now accept also the credit cards. ATMs are also easy to find to take out local Soms with which you get quickly millionairs - they are however useful for paying smaller amounts.

4600 km tracked with mapy.cz - much better than google maps!

You can download offline maps that are very detailed and easy to understand.

Navigaton does not work well, but a good map is often enough, especially when you walk or even drive in a remote area. Landmarks, viewpoints and smallest trails are all there!