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Uzbekistan Travel Blogs

Russia conquered Uzbekistan in the late 19th century. Stiff resistance to the Red Army after World War I was eventually suppressed and a socialist republic set up in 1924. During the Soviet era, intensive production of "white gold" (cotton) and grain led to overuse of agrochemicals and the depletion of water supplies, which have left the land poisoned and the Aral Sea and certain rivers half dry. Independent since 1991, the country seeks to gradually lessen its dependence on agriculture while developing its mineral and petroleum reserves. Current concerns include terrorism by Islamic militants, economic stagnation, and the curtailment of human rights and democratization.To be updated

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By meghanvesey
October 4th 2008

Strolling through the Stans...

Asia » Uzbekistan

Hello! Minor Internet difficulties have kept us from updating our blog.... But, here we are in Tehran with a reasonable computer and Internet connection! Here's what we have been up to since Kyrgyzstan: Uzbekistan Farghana Tashkent Samarkand Yurt Camp Bukhara Khiva We really enjoyed Uzbekistan. All of the monuments (mosques, madrasases etc) were all covered in beautiful blue tiles. Meghan, especially, loved every second! Uzbekistan could not be captured on a postcard and Kwesi's [View Full Entry]

By TomandLucy
September 29th 2008

On the Old Silk Road, Bukhara & Samarkand

Asia » Uzbekistan » Bukhara

Hats for Sale
Samarkand

After an afternoon of waiting patiently for our passports at the Kazakh embassy we dashed across Tashkent and booked ourselves on the next train west, the night train to Bukhara. The bar was full of drunk russians, with the police keeping a tight watch on all passengers(particularly the man who fell asleep on the table!) Bukhara is the an old spiritual city, once very important on the Old Silk Road until the 16th Century. We spent our time wandering through the charming old town, with its winding roads and old bazaars and mosques. The Kalon Minaret and mosque was spectacular, although [View Full Entry]

By michaelpaddo
September 27th 2008

Silk Road Shenanigans: Fun & Games in Uzbekistan

Asia » Uzbekistan » Bukhara

Ulugbek Medressa in the very early morning
On one side of Samarqand's jaw-dropping Registan.

“He follows us for long time now”, M whispered nervously, eyes flickering over the crowd around us. “Very bad man. You know CNG?” Not personally so far, thankfully, but I’d heard a bit about them. The Uzbek branch of the KGB, which had apparently survived more or less intact after the collapse of the Soviet Union. While they don’t inspire quite the same level of fear as back in their Soviet heyday, these are still not guys you want to exchange pleasantries with if you can avoid it. Keeping her head down, and barely looking at me at all, M outlined [View Full Entry]

Mir-i-Arab Medressa in the early morning

By TomandLucy
September 24th 2008

The Tashkent Games

Asia » Uzbekistan » Tashkent

Sunset around Parliment

We arrived into Tashkent after a pretty hectic day crossing the Kazakh/Uzbek border by foot. The border gaurds were seemingly pleasant on the outside, laughing and joking with us but were less amused when they looked through my bag for "guns and "narcotics"( or more likely some petty cash which they could pilfer for their own added tax) and all they found were postcards of Nantwich and Newark. I proceeded to tell them these were pictures our home towns and they could keep them as a gift if they liked, a momento of our impromtu meeting, unsurprisingly they didn't keep them [View Full Entry]

By kirstent
September 22nd 2008

Bukhara

Asia » Uzbekistan

We are now in Bukhara.... another awesome place in Uzbekistan. We had city tour yesterday and cruised around the sites. I currently cannot get my photos loaded but when I can will show you all the amazing sites. [View Full Entry]

By kirstent
September 17th 2008

In the middle of the middle of the world

Asia » Uzbekistan » Samarkand

The Registan Samarkand

b]After Tashkent we travelled to Samarkand . The actual countryside in Uzbekstan is quite boring - lots of cotton fields and not much else. The irrigation of the cotton is putting pressure on the water supply in rural Uzbekistan and they are also going through a long drought. The extra problem for the Uzbekis is that it is a country rich in natural gas but the source of the major waterways is in the neighbouring countries. Back to the journey - we had a 6hr drive from Tashken to Samarkand. We arrived in Samarkand late in the afternoon and got our [View Full Entry]

By kirstent
September 15th 2008

Just watching a Lada flip in Tashkent

Asia » Uzbekistan » Tashkent

After Arslanbob we headed to Osh. We had time there to have a look around. We went up King Soloman's mountain and just generally took in the city. Osh is Kyrgyzstan's second largest city. It was a lot prettier than Bishkek and I enjoyed kicking around. The weather also has turned warm again as we are starting to head towards Uzbekistan. The border crossing was relatively pain free - it was only about 2hrs ... which was a lot better than the Chinese border. We made our way into Fergana for one night and now we are in the capital of [View Full Entry]

By dancing01star
September 9th 2008

Samarkand, the Amir's last sigh

Asia » Uzbekistan » Samarkand

Have just visited Amir Timur's mausoleum the Gur Emir... it was the end of a vast display of turquoise and midnight blue majolica tile. The buildings were impressive the Bibi Khanum mosque, the Registan with Ulug Beg's madrassah and the Shah Zinda as well as the big man's tomb itself. But somehow I was left slightly cold, it was not how I imagined I would feel being in Samarkand. As you try and dodge the many tour groups, on a trip of a lifetime! Such a hold on our imagination that city has, as somewhere almost beyond the realms of the [View Full Entry]

By maxicoley
September 9th 2008

Arab Ata

Asia » Uzbekistan » Samarkand

Best day on the whole central asian part of the trip was spent venturing out to a 10th century Samanid mausoleum somewhat between Bukara and Samarqand. Katherine had a great book about mouments of central asia which included a tiny section about ArabAta in a town Tim about 200km from Samarqand along the old royal road between the two great cities of the Syr Darya. Our plan was public transport was after first walking away from the Tourist part of town nearby the Registan we found a taxi driver who took us to the mashruka stop for minibusses heading west. After [View Full Entry]

By maxicoley
September 7th 2008

Bukara - The Pillar of Islam

Asia » Uzbekistan » Bukhara

Kolon Mosque and Minaret
16th century Mosque and 12th century Minaret

I spend two days spent in Bukara visting Madrassas and Mosques. Sublime architecture with stunning tile work and madrassahs with wonderfully simple rooms. The Kolon Mosque is massive and gives a real sense of the power of Bukara as a seat of Islamic learning. In addition i'm quite impressed by the density of madrassas in Bukara as it clearly signifies the strenght and influence it must have had over islamic scholarship across the wider Muslim world. I met a delightful Uzbek family who took me out to Bakhautdin Naqshband Mausoleum who was the famous 14th century founder of an influenti [View Full Entry]

Links: Uzbekistan Travel Blogs (all) | Uzbekistan Travel Photos | Uzbekistan Travel Forum | Uzbekistan Facts | Map of Uzbekistan

Travel Blog » Asia » Uzbekistan