Trip to Pearl of Central Asia

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Hello Everyone! I would like to share the details of my recent trip to Uzbekistan. Being from neighboring country, it was always in my mind to visit this beautiful and historical place. We have so much in common. Our traditions, our history, our origins have same root. By the way, I am from Kazakhstan.

So let me inform you first of all, that my trip wasn't planned well in advance. It just happened that one snowy day I wanted to go somewhere sunny and warm. I started looking into many countries, but most affordable one appeared to be Uzbekistan. Number one, there was very good airfare offer, number two I was always in touch with my goof friends from Tashkent and finally, number three, I am big fan of historical places. I took my laptop and started looking at the airfares and was quite surprised to see 200$ fee for round-trip tickets. Well, considering that it only takes 1,5 hrs to reach Tashkent from Almaty, probably there was nothing surprising but I was still happy.

Once I checked the rate, I wrote to my friend and asked about weather. He said that it is not as cold as in Kazakhstan for sure. That was enough for me to decide to book the ticket. I wasn't expecting +28 degrees, because Uzbekistan is near us and has similar weather with South Kazakhstan.

The air tickets were booked, friends were getting ready to meet. Luckily they work in tourism, so they even prepared train tickets for me.

Now let me tell you some of the things I came across when browsed about Uzbekistan. Many travelers shared that it is very hard to pass through airport check point, they wrote that airport staff keep checking each and every thing in your luggage. They said that it is a must to mention in declaration paper everything which costs more than 10$ in your bag, otherwise they might take it on your way back. I'll be honest, I was kind of paranoid by all the cautions. I tried to mention everything however be informed that there's no such part in declaration where you are required to mention your cell phone, laptop etc. What required to be mentioned is amount of currency which is being brought in, jewelry and goods (new ones if any). Regarding the checking, I can say that it was normal one as in any other worldwide airports. The only thing I would like to mention is, on the way back they check every passenger in separate room. That might take time, so better to leave to airport well in advance on your departure day.

Day one we spent in Tashkent city. My friends made a city tour for me. It was a drive around the city which was followed by a nice walk in the main square where the Senate and Ministries were located. There was a beautiful water channel which was passing near that place.

City is full of trees. I could imagine how green the city must be during spring and summer seasons. My friends told me that not only trees are beautiful during summer, but flowers and fountains make the city look very special.

While the city tour I noticed that there are many museums, concert halls, cinemas and libraries located in the city. I am sure no one will be bored in Tashkent.

We had lunch in restaurant called Soy. I must say that food in Uzbekistan is the best. People who love meat will find their paradise in here.

On the day two we left to Samarkand city very early in the morning by car. The weather was snowy and cold. Close to afternoon things changed and it started becoming warm. Samarkand is well-known city to most people who ever came across history of Central Asia. It has also significant role in Islam since this part of Uzbekistan used to be heart of Islamic learning in entire Central Asia. Therefore mausoleums of many scholars can be found in Samarkand and Bukhara cities and many Madrasas are located there too.

First in our plan was to visit Mausoleum of Amir Timur, the great commander of Moghul dynasty. I won't write the full story or the facts about him, because anyway I would copy everything from wikipedia, so I believe person who wants to know more about Amir Timur, will find a lot of information by his own. Here in my article I would like to share moments of my trip in a simplest way possible.

The mausoleum is huge and beautiful. Built and decorated in Persian architectural style, just like almost all the historical buildings in Uzbekistan. When I entered the main place under which the great ruler was buried together with his family members, I was stunned by the ornaments on the wall and the ceiling! They were golden colored, all glittering and the walls were decorated with precious stones.

After that we moved to Registan. It is a huge complex which consist of three Madrasas. Turquoise color is used widely in exterior of the buildings. Many of the buildings in Uzbekistan are included in UNESCO World Heritage site and Registan is one of them.

We decided to move to Hazrat Hizir mosque after seeing Registan. My friends wanted to pray for soul of the first president of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov who passed away in September 2016. As Uzbeks say he died on the day when he got the Independence for his nation back in September of 1991.

I couldn't miss visiting the mausoleum of Imam Al Bukhari. It is located outside the main city. However that didn't stop us from visiting it. Imam Al Bukhari was great Islamic scholar who collected stories about our Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s). Apart from Hadith book he had written many other books.

The place was very peaceful. People say that holy places will always give a feeling of peace. I simply couldn't drop a word when I was near the grave. I wanted to enjoy the moment of silence and peace.

We couldn't stay longer in Samarkand since needed to leave the city before the dark. Considering the weather conditions, once we finished with mausoleum of Imam Al Bukhari, we rushed to the car.

We safely arrived to Tashkent at night. Usually it takes 3 hrs by car to reach Samarkand from Tashkent, however in our case it took 6 long hrs! Anyway, we were happy to reach the capital and the early morning trip to Bukhara was waiting for us next day.

My friends booked a very comfortable and fast train called Afrosiyob. It reached Bukhara within 4 hrs. In Bukhara we had plenty of free time since our train back to Tashkent was scheduled to 11pm.

Good thing in Bukhara is that all the attractions are located at same area. It starts with arriving to the square near the famous restaurant called Lyabi Havuz. There is a madrasa, mosque and a statue of Hoja Nasreddin. He is a funny character from old stories. We saw few foreign tourists and locals who came to visit Bukhara. They were taking pictures and enjoying beautiful surroundings just like us.

After having lunch at Lyabi Havuz, we moved further where as per local people were more attractions. And that was absolutely right, more we went inside the city, Mardrasas, mosques and streets with souvenirs appeared on our way. Also in same side there are many quest houses in traditional Bukhara style. The streets are narrow, the walls of houses are tall and the front yards are usually beautiful. Somehow reminded me Moroccan houses I saw in internet when looked at pictures of Marrakesh.

We were roaming around for some time and decided to move to mausoleum of Naqshbandi which was outside the city. We took a taxi. I personally never heard about this scholar but according to my friends he had quite important role in spreading knowledge about our religion.

The mausoleum was 20-25 min away from main part of city. It was beautifully built complex. Wooden columns with ornaments were all around. My friends told me that the city called Kokand is famous for its talented woodcrafters and most of the significant places were decorated by them.

It was time to go back to the city and we took local bus. It was nice experience to travel with local people. In a while we reached Lyabi Havuz and had dinner there. After Lyabi Havuz I wanted to have a desert with cup of coffee, however it is a bit problematic to find a good coffee house with nice deserts in Bukhara. We tried restaurant called Old Bukhara but it wasn't good at all. Soon after we finished tea, we decided to leave to train station.

The fourth day was dedicated to shopping and concert. This is how I spent my short four days stay in Uzbekistan.

Now I would like to share my feedback n main points which might help to travelers:

Food- as I mentioned already, food in Uzbekistan is very tasty and well cooked. The only thing I need to tel is that it is not goof for people who can't eat too salty or oily food. Be aware that Uzbek people use a lot of salt and oil.

People there make their own bread of all types. Bread and samsa is cooked in oven called Tandir and that's why they are super tasty! Must try!

Transportation: country has good fast trains which I recommend to the visitors. The price varies from 15$ to 30$ per way. In the cities people use cars and mostly Chevrolet brand because country produces those cars. Government encourages to use own cars and therefore the taxes for the imported cars are very high. I was surprised to see only one brand of car around me, but I liked the idea since it is affordable and supports local economy at same time.

Currency: be ready to handle big amounts of money because 1$=3 360 Uzbekistani soms!

Best time to visit: end of March to end of May, after which better to visit in September.

People: kind, friendly and very hospitable!

I hope information I had shared, will help to the travelers. It was truly amazing trip. There are many more places to visit. For example I really want to see the cities Urgench and Hiva. Hopefully one day I will return and spend more time in this Pearl of Central Asia.

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Comments

[Emad Hashim]

Great information....
First I would like to thank you,,, Nurgul... for this wonderful information about one the best historical cities.... second,,, you covered many aspects of trip to Uzbekistan... that's really will be guidelines for travelling to Tashkent.... keep going with reviews... !!