Discover Uzbekistan’s Hidden Treasures
Uzbekistan’s gems of Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva never fail to impress visitors with their fabulous mosques, medressas, and mausoleums. However, beyond the UNESCO-listed Silk Road cities and atmospheric bazaars lies a wealth of authentic, historical, and natural experiences just waiting to be explored. Take a bit of extra time to explore beyond the big sights, and you’ll discover mountain homestays, desert forts, ruined cities, and a deeply hospitable culture hidden in some of the country’s most interesting, and least-visited, corners.
Uzbekistan’s wide variety of sights and landscapes often comes as a surprise. From the baking plains of the Amu-Darya (historically known as the Oxus River) in the far south to the stony deserts of Karakalpakstan, and from the oasis towns of the Ferghana Valley to the alpine mountains just an hour outside the capital Tashkent, Uzbekistan is a diverse country just waiting to be revealed.
Journey to Bactria
Few visitors veer into Surkhandarya province in Uzbekistan’s deep south, but it’s one of the most intriguing corners of the country, once home to thriving Buddhist monasteries, world-conquering Kushan kingdoms, and Silk Road ports a thousand miles from the nearest sea.
An overnight train (a fabulous experience in itself) or short flight will drop you in Termiz, where you can make a day trip to the ancient 2000-year-old Buddhist stupa of Fayoz-Tepe and the nearby ruins of Kampyr Tepe, where Alexander the Great and his army likely crossed the Oxus River (Amu-Darya) in 329 BC, before advancing into Central Asia.
Spend an hour exploring the remains of city walls and mud-brick complexes dating back to the 4th century BC, and then finish the trip with a visit to Termiz’s eye-opening archaeological museum. It’s a glimpse into a long-lost Central Asian past shaped by classical Greek, Buddhist, and inner Asian cultures.
Community-based Homestays in Nuratau
The storied cities of Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva may boast some of the Islamic world’s most magnificent architecture, but after a few days of staring at mosques, medressas, and minarets, you might well be itching for a different kind of experience. Refresh your travel senses by driving north from Samarkand into the remote mountains of the Nuratau-Kyzylkum Biosphere Reserve.
Here you can spend a fabulous couple of days hiking from village to village on mountain trails, past remote petroglyphs and traditional water mills, to overnight in a homestay, where you can relax on a traditional tapchan (tea bed) before learning how to bake non bread in a traditional tandyr oven. It’s the classic Central Asian cultural experience and the perfect antidote to medressa overload.
Add on an overnight in a Kazakh-style yurt at nearby Aidarkul Reservoir to fully experience the stillness of the Central Asian desert.
History & Handicrafts in the Fergana Valley
The Fergana Valley is in many ways the agricultural heartland and center of craft production in Uzbekistan, and it’s an easy place to visit thanks to a comfortable daily train service from the capital Tashkent. The first stop is the palace of Khudayar Khan in Kokand, the power center of the 19th-century khanate, whose territory ranged from modern-day Tajikistan to Kazakhstan.
A couple of hours away in Margilon is the Yodgorlik Silk Factory, where you can watch women boiling silk cocoons and spinning threads in much the same way as their ancestors did 2000 years ago. The thunderous Kumtepa Bazaar, just outside the city, is probably the best place in the country to buy Uzbekistan’s famous ikat-style silks, available in a head-spinning array of iridescent rainbow designs.
Beyond the Silk Road Cities
It’s not just Uzbekistan’s cities that are steeped in Silk Road history; the traditional roads between them are also lined with a string of ancient forts, ruined cities, and caravanserais. The modern highway between Samarkand and Bukhara, for example, passes right by the atmospheric gateway of the 11th-century Rabat-i-Malik Caravanserai in Karmana, built as an overnight halt on the camel caravan route.
Take the road from Bukhara southeast to Karshi, and you’ll drive straight through the city walls of ancient Erkurgan, a 1600-year-old Hepthalite settlement. Travel southwest instead towards Turkmenistan, and you can seek out the almost-forgotten ruins of Paikend, once the greatest trading city on this side of the Amu-Darya. There’s a genuine thrill in knowing you are one of the few foreigners to have explored these sites in the last 1000 years.
Karakalpakstan – the ‘Stan Within a ‘Stan’
A Russian-doll style ‘stan within a stan’, this autonomous republic inside Uzbekistan is home to the Karakalpak (Black Hat) ethnic group and is a superb place to get off the beaten track. The big draw is the collection of more than 50 ruined forts that pepper the terrain and dunes north of Urgench.
For a memorable day, explore half a dozen of the forts, clamber up the remarkable Zoroastrian platform at Chilpak, and then spend the night in a yurt camp at the dramatic cliff-top fort of Ayaz Qala.
From here you can head north to the regional capital Nukus to soak up the famous Savitsky Museum, home to one of the world’s premier collections of avant-garde Soviet art.
Sufi Shrines – the Soul of Uzbekistan
The best place to get a glimpse of Uzbekistan’s soul is at one of the country’s popular Sufi shrines; preferably on a feast day when extended families come to cook up enormous vats of plov (pilau rice).
Some of the bigger ensembles such as the Bakhauddin Naqshbandi shrine outside Bukhara rank as some of Uzbekistan’s most grandiose architectural ensembles. More intimate rural pilgrimage sites include the Mausoleum of Al-Hakim al-Termezi outside Termiz, where devotees come to recite prayers, tie wish-fulfilling scraps of cloth onto sacred trees, and touch the tombs of the famous 9th-century saint.
Other fascinating shrines to visit include the tomb of the prophet Daniyar in Samarkand, Zangi-Ata in Tashkent, or the cemetery of Mizdakhan outside Nukus in remote Karakalpakstan.
Mountain Escapes
If Tashkent’s summer heat becomes overwhelming, drive an hour northwest into the Ugam-Chatkal National Park, where a range of outdoorsy activities beckons in the foothills of the Western Tien-Shan mountains.
Hiking trails wind up to the summit of Big Chimgan peak (3309m), offering stunning views over Charvak Reservoir. Additionally, rafting trips brave the white water of the Ugam and Pskem rivers. Visit in winter and you can even glide down the powdery slopes of Uzbekistan’s premier ski resort or embark on some once-in-a-lifetime Central Asian heli-skiing.
Whether it’s snow or stone, city or caravanserai, Uzbekistan’s variety of sights and landscapes presents something for every traveler.
