Uzbekistan Things to Do

  Peppers for dinner
by TheWanderingCamel
 
  • Peppers for dinner
      Peppers for dinner
    by TheWanderingCamel
  • Children playing
      Children playing
    by TheWanderingCamel
  • How many ways can you dry an apricot?
      How many ways can you dry an apricot?
    by TheWanderingCamel
  • Non for you
      Non for you
    by TheWanderingCamel
  • Very decorative
      Very decorative
    by TheWanderingCamel
 
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Uzbekistan's other rivers

by TheWanderingCamel

Just as the Amu Darya waters the western reaches of Uzbekistan, another great river - the Syr Darya brings water from the eastern Tien Shan mountains to the fertile eastern region of the country (the Fergana Valley), the Zerafshan from the Pamirs to the central oases that surround Samarkand and Bukhara and the Chirchik (a tributary of the Syr Darya) from the western Pamirs to the Tashkent oasis.Known to the Greeks as the Jaxartes, the Syr Darya marked the north-eastern boundaries of Transoxiana and the northern limit of Alexander the Great's push in to Asia. The 18th century saw an extensive network of canals constructed to irrigate the valley - the most fertile region of Central Asia - but it wasn't until the Soviet era's expansion of cotton cultivation's insatiable demand for water that the strain on the river became such that today the waters that once flooded into the Aral Sea far to...

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Transoxiania

by TheWanderingCamel

The Amu-Darya is the modern name of the River Oxus. Transoxiania - the land across the Oxus - was the historical name for the vast region stretching from the edge of the known world of Persia and the Ottoman Empire into the great void of Asia - lands of desert and steppe lying before the mysterious world of China. The wealth of precious materials that came out of these lands via the caravans of Silk Route was enormous, wonderfully exotic and much sought after but few people managed to make their way to the great cities east of the river. Those that did brought back tales of green and fertile oases in the desert filled with wondrous buildings, beautiful gardens, fabulous bazaars - and great cruelties. To cross the Oxus was to enter another world.Even today, whether you call it the Oxus or the Amu-Darya, crossing the great river is a step into that other world. The excesses of the ancient...

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Ruler of Half the World

by TheWanderingCamel

The gigantic figure of Temur (Shakespeare's Tamurlaine) strides across Uzbekistan's history, a reminder of the long-past time when his name rang around half the known world and struck fear inb the hearts of those who heard it. Since Independence there has been a concerted drive to establish him as the nation's great hero, not just a ruthless conqueror but also a wise and just ruler, a patron of architects and craftsmen, a man who honoured his family and his teachers. Museums devoted to his life have opened in Tashkent and Shahrisabz and his statue has replaced those of Lenin and Marx that were raised in Soviet times.Born in the shadow of the Pamir mountains in a village near the town of Shahrisabz in 1336, he made Samarkand his capital and from there, in successive campaigns that saw his armies conquer lands as far away as Moscow and Delhi, Baghdad and Constantinople , his name struck...

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Samarkand, home to stunning architecture

by toonsarah

After Khiva and Bukhara, Samarkand seems big and full of bustle, but unlike Tashkent it retains more of its central Asian character, even in the more modern areas of the city. As an overall destination it didn’t move me in the way that Bukhara had, but some of the individual sights are among the most striking I have seen anywhere. The first impression of the Shah-i-Zinda will remain with me always, and naturally too the stunning Registan Square, though I was more prepared for that by images I’d seen before the trip.Don’t miss either the huge Bibi Khanum Mosque, the rich colours of the Gur Emir and the incredible smells and sights of the bazaar. See my separate page on Samarkand if you’d like to read more about these stunning monuments.

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Bukhara, city of traders

by toonsarah

Bukhara is where Uzbekistan really came to life for me. In its ancient streets history weaves itself effortlessly around the present-day lives of its people. Here you get a real sense of continuity – the world of the Silk Road caravans isn’t preserved in the aspic of Khiva, nor tucked into islands among the modern day bustle of Samarkand, but is an ever-present backdrop to daily life. To walk these streets, duck through the low arches of the caravanserai and trading domes, sit for a while over green tea by the pool of Lyab-i-Huaz; this is what people of this city have done for centuries.This overall atmosphere was one of the main highlights of Bukhara for me, but there are also a number of unmissable individual sights, including the Ismael Samani Mausoleum, the Poi Kalon ensemble (mosque and madrassah), the Chor Minor, the unusually decorated Nadir Divanbegi Madrassah and many others, as...

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Tashkent, the modern capital

by toonsarah

This is a largely modern city, thanks to the devastation caused by a huge earthquake in 1966. It is often overlooked for this reason, and certainly doesn’t have the wealth of attractions of the Silk Road cities, but there are some monuments and other sights worth visiting. As you’re almost bound to arrive in the country through Tashkent’s airport, why not hang around for a day or two to see what the city has to offer.Highlights for me included the Osman Koran, claimed to be oldest in world and now on display in a newly restored library; the beautiful suzanni (traditional embroideries) on display at the Applied Arts Museum; the starkly moving memorial to the earthquake; and what proved to be one of the tastiest meals we had in Uzbekistan at the Caravan Arts Café. See my separate page on Tashkent (under construction) if you’d like to read more about what the capital of Uzbekistan has to...

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Khiva: desert town

by toonsarah

The old town of Khiva, Ichan Kala, is a city frozen in time. The sun-baked clay of its walls encircles a wealth of ancient buildings which, more than any other destination in Uzbekistan, preserve intact the images of the Silk Road. It’s a wonderful place to start your exploration of the Silk Road as it enables you to get a strong sense of history and visualise the past. The downside though is that this very intactness, and the thoroughness of the restoration work, means that it can feel more like a museum or film-set than a living city, lacking the “realness” of Bukhara or Samarkand. Highlights here include the Kalta Minor, Kukhna Ark, Pakhlavan Mahmoud Mausoleum, Juma Mosque and Tash Hauli Palace. See my separate page on Khiva for much more about this incredibly haunting city.

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Bukhara: Tachma Ayub Mausoleum.

by kokoryko

The Tchachma Ayoub (Ayoub’s spring) mausoleum hosts a sort of a water museum and the spring, discovered at Ayoub’s (the prophet Job) time is still flowing and one can drink from that water which of course has some magical properties. This mausoleum is a composite building with old parts from the 12th century and more recent from the 16th. The peaked dome is somehow exotic in Central Asia. In the museum, lots of water carrying utensils (gourds, leather flasks, etc), tools related with water (well digging, canalisation digging, tiles, tubes,. . . . ), maps of watering systems, explanation boards, all you wanted to know about water. . . . It is wonderfully cool inside! Opposite this mausoleum is the Al Bukhari mausoleum, a modern building devoted to the most famous person of Bukhara, a Muslim scholar (8th century) who compiled the Hadiths from the Prophet.

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Tashkent, lots of Russia

by kokoryko

the main avenues and broad street of Tashkent are bordered by huge end 19th beginning 20th century buildings. No pictures to show all of this and no pictures of the Timur megalomaniac (well, not him, he is not anymore here but his “successor”, Islom Kharimov) museum, Navoi Park, the busy street near Amir Timur place. . . . . Applied arts museum, abandoned opera house, concrete dome of the market, modern commercial centre,. . . . not a lot to show here Main picture: The museum of Applied arts is located on Rakhatboshi street, two km south west of the city centre(Amir Timur square); it is a traditional building which, before becoming a museum belonged to a Russian diplomat who built this residence with craftsmen coming from all areas of Uzbekistan. It contains many examples of Uzbek craft industry which is very well displayed in beautiful decorated roomsPicture 2: The Suzannes displayed in...

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Tashkent: lots of Russia still here.

by kokoryko

Tashkent is a big modern city which contrasts a lot with the rest of the country. Is is an old city but it developed mainly after the Russian invaded the Bukhara Khanate in 1868. It was a logistical base for further invasions of central Asia, and very soon communications (roads and railways) were established between Tashkent and Russia. Tashkent, now the biggest city of Central Asia (2.5 millions inhabitants) has a lot to show, from the modern broad avenues, to the museums, the parks, and some old buildings lost here or there in the modern city. Even shopping seems interesting in Tashkent (not telling of the bazaar).As told in the introductory text, few pictures could be brought back from Tashkent! A pity as many places have been visited on the second visit to Tashkent. Main picture: This helicoidal tower (like a small ziggurat) is located not far from the Chorsu Bazaar; it is possible...

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Fun things to do in Uzbekistan

Top 3 Hotels in Uzbekistan

Lyabi-House Hotel  Bukhara

 5 Reviews and 16 Opinions  This is where we thought we were staying on our first visit to Bukhara - a charmingly restored old... 

 Hotels in Bukhara

Best Eastern Orient Star  Samarkand

 4 Opinions

 Hotels in Samarkand

InterContinental Tashkent  Tashkent

 2 Reviews and 68 Opinions  As I know, the InterContinental Hotel is less that Europian standart, but it really good one. There... 

 Hotels in Tashkent

31 Hotels in Uzbekistan
 
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Things to Do: Cities in Uzbekistan
  1. Tashkent Things to Do
  2. Samarkand Things to Do
  3. Bukhara Things to Do
  4. Tashkent Things to Do
  5. Khiva Things to Do
  6. Fergana Things to Do
  7. Samarkand Things to Do
  8. Shahrisabz Things to Do
  9. Nurata Things to Do
  10. Marghilon Things to Do
  11. Qo'qon Things to Do
  12. Farg'ona Things to Do
  13. Qarshi Things to Do
  14. Stantsiya Termez Things to Do
  15. Nukus Things to Do
  16. Andijon Things to Do
  17. Uchkuduk Things to Do
  18. Kashgar Things to Do

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Questions and Answers

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Q:  Myself and my wife are considering combining Uzbekistan and Kyrgystan in a two week plus trip in the summer of 2012. We are well... 

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A: It would help if you had more info, as opposed to none, in your profile, so that we would know your country of residence. However, I hazard a guess that it is Canada? ... 

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