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Trip Report

My Uzbekistan vacation

An itinerary from my Uzbekistan vacation where I went to discover important cities of the Silk Road: Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva.

guitxu07765
by guitxu07765About Me:I am born in a small french village in Brittany, I studied political sciences and international relations in Bordeaux and then lived in Russia for almost 7 years, working in the space sector. My taste for travel and adventure finally got t... read more

AsiaUzbekistan12 days / May 2017

Highs & Lows

Walk the streets of Bukhara like in a One Thousand and One Nights tale

It is complicated to change your money into local currency

Itinerary Overview

In spring of 2017 I went to Uzbekistan on vacation to discover three important cities of the Silk Road: Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. I chose May to visit Uzbekistan because I took into consideration the weather conditions. Uzbekistan’s summer heat would be suffocating. We still had some high temperatures of around 40 degrees, so the visits took place mainly in the morning and evening. Coming from Moscow we passed through Almaty, which was also a stopover on the Silk Roads, then we took the plane to Tashkent, the Uzbek capital. We changed our rubles and tenges there for soums, the Uzbek currency, before taking the land for our first stop, Samarkand ...

  • 4 Nights: Samarkand
    Samarkand by Amin Maalouf
  • 4 Nights: Bukhara
    Muslim architecture of the Middle Ages
  • 4 Nights: Khiva
    Silk Road town

Q & A

  • What would you have changed?

    I would spend time in villages outside of cities because I think life is very different there and the experience definitely worth it. I would have tried to attend a traditional Uzbek wedding there.

  • How was the food?

    Uzbekistan food successfully combines sweet and savory. It is mainly based on meat : samosas, plov, shashlik… it’s fairly fatty food but I found it very tasty.

  • What tips would you give a friend?

    Don’t spend too much time in Tashkent, it’s a huge and soviet-style city with few old historical monuments. I also recommend changing your money on the black market in order to get an exchange rate much better than the legal exchange rate. It is in principle prohibited but everyone does it.

  • Packing tips?

    If you visit Uzbekistan between April and November, you have to plan what is necessary to face the heat. Light bag, hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, etc...

  • Transportation Tips?

    If you plan to go to Uzbekistan on vacation you should know that there are two types of trains. A modern, fast and comfortable train, and an older, cheaper and more popular train. Personally, I loved taking the popular train, it is very lively and very colorful.

Lodging