58. UZBEKISTAN

Uzbekistan, the last country of my nearly 3-months Central Asia trip. While Tajikistan & Kyrgyzstan are all about nature & mountains, Uzbekistan is more about silk-road history, ancient cities and culture. I spent 30 days in the country and visited 7 different cities & towns.

I honestly would not recommend traveling around the country in July, I had temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius or even more every day and it limited me to sightseeing & activities in the early morning & late evening. I became pretty much a night owl there and my sleeping schedule was from around 3 am to 11 am, which was the best way to still enjoy the country. I worked and read plenty of books and went out in the evening.

First of all: The historical cities & silk road architecture of Uzbekistan are stunning, extremely photogenic and interesting to learn about. On the other side, I did not enjoy traveling around the country as much as in its neighbors for a few reasons. Uzbekistan has a relatively small share of tourism but the thing is that all the tourists just go to the same 3 places. The consequence is that Bukhara, Khiva and Samarkand somehow lose their silk road magic and feel like an overcrowded tourist world full of souvenir sellers, taxi drivers and tourists from all around the world. I did not meet a single foreigner outside those 3 places & Tashkent. Another reason is the terrible job the Uzbek government does with tourism. In fact, you need to register in certificated hotels as a foreigner traveling around the country for every single night. That's such a nonsense rule and does not fit to my traveling style at all. I did not do that registration even once and obviously had a big discussion when I left the country but eventually they let me go without paying any penalty.

Uzbek people are known for their hospitality, and I also felt that. They were super warm & kind, often sharing food & always ready to teach you about their culture & history. On the other side, I found them very closely minded and it was impossible to have deeper conversations with most of them since they persisted a lot in their viewpoint. The fact that I am nearly 30, not married and travel around the world for nearly 6 years now was something that caused a lot of confusion (to say it politely :D). Some even got mad about that and I just stopped discussing topics with people that go beyond football, food or the weather :D

Due to the weird border structure in Central Asia, I entered Uzbekistan twice. The first time I visited Andijan & Kokand in the very East of the Fergana Valley and I think that has been my favorite region of the country.

At this time I still enjoyed Uzbek food a lot and was able to eat Plov, Manti and Shashlik with pleasure. After 2 weeks I became so crazily bored of Plov that I could not even see it anymore. I still can't believe that most people there eat the same dish EVERY single day, I would say that might be close to a lunatic condition already :D I rarely struggled so much with food in any other country in the world as here. The supermarkets are full of unhealthy ultra-processed food and most restaurants serve the same 3 or 4 dishes all the time.

I stayed a week in Samarkand then where I met with my good friend Harry from Dubai, who hosted me in his place in Dubai 2 years ago. It was so cool to see him again, explore Samarkand & surroundings and go for a huge lamb feast. The turquoise domes and soaring minarets are so beautiful and especially at night they look even better. Samarkand is called the jewel of Central Asia's architecture crown and I think that name fits very well.

From there on I traveled around the country by train, which is very cheap & comfortable. Most former Soviet countries have great railway networks with comfortable trains and impressive railway stations. Bukhara was probably the most interesting place in Uzbekistan for me since its old town is very big and not just a place for tourists. Local people live there and the dozens of narrow streets feel like an ancient maze with many cool things to explore. I met Richard from the UK there who is on a hitchhiking trip from the UK to East Asia to collect donations for several charities. That's his blog! Donate some money if you want to :)

Khiva in the very West of the country close to the Turkmen border probably had the most beautiful old town but also the worst atmosphere. It's a tiny walled area with busloads of daytrippers, mass tourism at its worst. The only connection local people wanna have there with you is to sell stuff. Even though I really like my photos of Khiva a lot, I don't like my memories & experience there much. A cool thing: I stayed in a 4-star hotel for 10 USD a night there! With a swimming pool, shuttle to the center and great breakfast buffet included - I think the best value for money accommodation I ever had.

The capital Tashkent has been my last stop in Uzbekistan and Central Asia. I enjoyed the city, it was rebuilt in Soviet style after a devastating earthquake and does not have any of the historical architecture. The Uzbek government started a lot of new construction projects in the center of the city and some of the new buildings & parks look pretty impressive. There are plenty of nice cafés and most importantly: Foreign food! I enjoyed the hell out of Turkish, Korean & Thai cuisine! I hope I never have to eat plov in my entire life again. Even now, writing that a month after leaving Uzbekistan, I am still fed up with that :D

To give a final recommendation for Uzbekistan. I think my time there would have been better if I had visited in spring or autumn and spent less time there in general. A week of Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkent could be a cool trip if you ask me.

3 Highlights:

- Bukhara, one of the great trading cities along the Silk Road

- Samarkand, exploring its beautiful architecture, especially at night

- Andijan in Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan without tourism and great markets