What NOT to Do in Uzbekistan (Widespread Errors to Keep away from!)

Uzbekistan is an interesting nation, stuffed with Silk Street historical past, gorgeous turquoise mosaics, and among the greatest memento procuring I’ve ever skilled.

I loved my solo journey to Uzbekistan, which I paired with time in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. This was my first journey to Central Asia, and it couldn’t have gone any higher!

My journey throughout Uzbekistan took me to 4 of the preferred cities — Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva. I discovered Persian miniature portray and suzani embroidery. I gawked on the metro stations in Tashkent and even took a day journey into Tajikistan.

And alongside the best way, I fell in love with this unbelievable nation. And so did a lot of you, my expensive readers. I’ve by no means seen such a robust reader response to a visit I’ve taken earlier than! I do know a lot of you’ll be planning your personal journeys to Uzbekistan quickly.

I like writing my What NOT to Do posts, educating vacationers what they need to NOT do in several locations. As a result of typically you want to know what to not do earlier than you determine what to do!

I hope this submit helps you intend your personal dream journey to Uzbekistan. Let’s have a look!

This submit was printed in Might 2026.

Don’t assume Uzbekistan is an intimidating or troublesome vacation spot.

Let’s be sincere — not lots of people go to Uzbekistan earlier than they’ve visited, say, Italy or Thailand or Mexico. It tends to be the thirtieth nation folks have visited, quite than the third, except they’re from Central Asia themselves.

Due to that — together with the faulty perception that wherever with “Stan” in its identify is inherently harmful — many individuals assume that Uzbekistan is greatest fitted to knowledgeable vacationers.

Right here’s the reality: I used to be shocked at how straightforward Uzbekistan was to journey. And I’m not simply saying that as a result of I’m a really skilled traveler.

To begin, Uzbekistan is a really secure vacation spot the place there’s little violent crime and virtually no road harassment. Moreover, Uzbekistan is a well-liked vacation spot and has fairly good infrastructure at quite a lot of worth factors.

On high of that, costs are reasonably priced right here. I spent on common $50 per evening for a resort, $2-3 for a Yandex taxi journey, and $6-8 for dinner. That makes it simpler to justify staying in a nicer place or reserving the next class on a practice.

Crucial issues for touring Uzbekistan are researching the cities you’ll be visiting prematurely, reserving practice tickets nicely forward of time, getting an Uzbekistan eSIM, and downloading Yandex Go.

One thing else I discovered fascinating was that there have been SO many giant senior tour teams in Uzbekistan. And from quite a lot of nations, too — British, American, French, and I used to be stunned by what number of Italian voices I heard.

Who knew the large, scary Stans can be so widespread with older people?

General, I’ve had near-breakdowns in widespread journey locations like Japan and Italy. I didn’t get wherever near a breakdown in Uzbekistan. My journey was simply easy, begin to end.

Don’t wait till the final minute to e book practice tickets.

I’m placing this close to the highest as a result of it’s crucial tip on this record. Touring by practice is one of the best ways to get round Uzbekistan — I took three totally different sorts of trains and located them quick, environment friendly, reasonably priced, and really nice.

However practice tickets are likely to promote out extraordinarily quick — particularly the high-speed Afrosiyab trains working from Tashkent to Samarkand and Bukhara.

They usually promote out the day they go on sale (!), which is 45-60 days earlier than the journey.

Are you able to simply take the bus as a substitute? After all you may — however it takes for much longer. My high-speed practice from Tashkent to Samarkand took two hours, whereas the bus takes about 5 hours. Certainly one of my guides informed me his bus took seven hours resulting from site visitors.

You’ll be able to e book practice tickets by yourself at railway.uz, or you may have an Uzbek journey company e book them for you at a markup.

I used the company Orex CA to purchase considered one of my tickets, simply to see what the expertise was like, and it was wonderful, however I may have achieved it myself with no points. They charged me 40 USD for a ticket that will have price about 17 USD, so anticipate a good markup.

And in case your practice is bought out, contact an Uzbek journey company. I heard that many companies maintain onto tickets on the favored routes, and launch them near the date if no person buys them. So hold wanting, simply in case.

In the event you’re a bit nervous about shopping for the correct tickets, I like to recommend reaching out to an company a minimum of 60 days prematurely and having them organize them as quickly as they go on sale. The additional price is perhaps definitely worth the peace of thoughts to you.

Don’t put on revealing clothes.

Each time I go to a predominantly Muslim nation, I get ladies asking me if it’s essential to put on a headband in public. In most Muslim nations, a headband is barely needed when visiting an energetic mosque.

However I do like to decorate equally to native ladies once I journey solo. Generally which means carrying an extended tunic that buttons to my neck (Southern Lebanon), typically it means carrying denims although it’s roasting out (Cartagena, Colombia).

So how do ladies costume in Uzbekistan? Some ladies put on the hijab and costume historically in lengthy, free clothes. Some ladies put on the hijab and costume in additional fashionable methods, like blazers, wide-leg denims, and bomber jackets. Some ladies don’t cowl their hair and costume western-style.

However I’ll let you know this: you don’t see Uzbek ladies carrying quick skirts, overly tight clothes, or exhibiting their cleavage. Many ladies costume stylishly, however they don’t present pores and skin.

And that made me glad that I packed a wardrobe that lined my knees, shoulders, and cleavage.

For my April journey, I primarily wore two sorts of outfits: 1) a knee-length costume over cropped or full-length leggings with a denim jacket on high, or 2) a t-shirt and denims. I might add on a couple of extra layers (a long-sleeved wrap high, a cardigan) if it was chilly.

For a couple of hours on my final day in Tashkent, I did take off the denim jacket and simply wore the sleeveless costume over cropped leggings. Tashkent felt fashionable sufficient that exhibiting my shoulders didn’t really feel disrespectful.

For males and mascs, in the event you’d like to decorate equally to Uzbek males, I’d stick with carrying lengthy pants and keep away from shorts and tank tops. And PLEASE don’t go for a jog shirtless.

I did see some ladies vacationers who had been dressed revealingly. In Khiva, I noticed a western girl in her sixties carrying leggings as pants with a t-shirt that didn’t cowl her butt. And in Samarkand, I noticed two twenty-something Russian ladies in brief shorts and tank tops.

They stood out in a foul manner. Don’t be that particular person.

Don’t overlook to obtain the Yandex Go app.

In the event you attempt to summon an Uber in Uzbekistan, you’ll be out of luck — right here, the app of selection is Yandex Go, a preferred app in former Soviet republics. Make sure to obtain it earlier than your journey, since you want a telephone quantity to substantiate it.

Yandex is important in Uzbekistan. You should use it as a taxi app, as a meals supply app, and you’ll even ship gadgets to be delivered elsewhere.

And Yandex rides are shockingly low-cost. More often than not, my rides had been underneath 5 USD for a journey throughout town, normally 2-3 USD.

I had plenty of early morning departures in Uzbekistan, the earliest at 3:30 AM (yuck!), and I by no means needed to wait longer than 5 minutes for a Yandex driver. That impressed me.

(There was one exception although: at practice stations shortly after trains arrived. When trains arrived, there was normally round a 15-minute await a Yandex. And I couldn’t organize them early as a result of there normally wasn’t any telephone sign till we bought to the station.)

Don’t go to Uzbekistan with out an eSIM.

As a journey security educator, I by no means go to wherever with out an eSIM — and that’s particularly vital for Uzbekistan.

I used an eSIM from Holafly for my journey, and it labored very nicely. I ordered it earlier than my journey, selected the particular dates for it to be energetic, and it began working as quickly as I landed in Tashkent.

In Uzbekistan, the one most vital cause to get an eSIM is with the ability to order Yandex taxis from wherever. I discovered this useful when it was too darkish to stroll again to my resort. I additionally discovered having an eSIM very useful for navigating my manner with Google Maps, translating menus, and speaking with my guides through WhatsApp.

Free wifi will not be as widespread in Uzbekistan as it’s in different nations, and sometimes wifi networks require an Uzbek telephone quantity in an effort to join. I used to be so glad I had limitless information and didn’t must take care of that.

I discovered that my Holafly eSIM had glorious sign within the cities of Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva, although you shouldn’t anticipate sign on trains in the midst of nowhere.

I additionally love Holafly’s profit referred to as All the time On. Each Holafly eSIM mechanically gives 1GB of emergency information per thirty days in additional than 70 locations. If in case you have a delayed flight or sudden layover, you’re lined.

You will get 5% off your Holafly Uzbekistan eSIM with the code HOLAKATE, and 10% off month-to-month plans.

Don’t freak out if there isn’t a working seatbelt in your automobile.

This is among the stranger issues I observed in Uzbekistan — seat belts are not often accessible. In a typical Yandex taxi, both the seat belts will probably be pushed deep beneath the seat cushions, or there will probably be a canopy on high of the backseat with no holes for seat belts.

In reality, I counted up the Yandex and taxi rides I took in Uzbekistan. I took 19 rides and there was a usable backseat seatbelt FOUR TIMES. That’s it.

The craziest incident was with my driver who picked me up from Khiva’s practice station. I observed there have been no seatbelts within the backseat, as typical, and he beckoned me to sit down within the entrance seat, which had a working seatbelt.

I went to place my belt on and he bought offended — gesturing to me, “No, don’t try this, you don’t have to do this.” I nodded and smiled and put it on and he bought angrier, shaking his head.

“No. You’re good. They are unhealthy,” I informed him, giving him a thumbs up whereas giving a thumbs right down to the opposite drivers. He ultimately gave up and drove me to my resort.

From speaking to locals, I discovered that many Uzbek drivers suppose it’s an insult to their driving abilities if a passenger makes use of a seatbelt.

So how do you take care of this? In the event you’re touring solo like me, sit within the entrance seat. The entrance seat normally has a working seatbelt.

If it’s vital to you to have working seatbelts within the backseat on each journey, you may rent a automobile service. These drivers are typically extra skilled than Yandex drivers, and you’ll affirm for sure whether or not they have working seatbelts.

It is going to price much more than 2-3 USD per journey, however it’ll price lower than hiring a driver for the day in France or Japan or Australia.

Don’t take a “5 Stans” tour.

Many individuals visiting Central Asia for the primary time determine to see the area by a “5 Stans” tour taking in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Why not knock all of them out without delay?

Truthfully, I perceive the urge. However these three-week excursions are fairly rushed and solely take you to the busiest locations, when the magic usually occurs within the quieter stops.

As an alternative, in the event you’d like to go to a couple of totally different nations, I like to recommend you pair Uzbekistan with one or two different nations. A Two Stan or Three Stan tour is way more cheap.

My 17-day journey to Central Asia started with 5 days in Kazakhstan, which was a superb period of time for Almaty and an overnight trip to Lake Kolsay, Lake Kaindy, and Charyn Canyon.

(My authentic plan was to do 5 days in Turkmenistan beforehand, however they rejected my Letter of Invitation, probably as a result of I’m politically outspoken with a big following and They Do Not Like That. Oh nicely, it was their loss and guess what — I cherished Kazakhstan!)

I then did a day trip to Tajikistan from Samarkand, visiting Panjakent, the Seven Lakes, and the UNESCO World Heritage-listed ruins of Sarazm.

Today journey is simple so as to add into any Uzbekistan journey, and Tajikistan is visa-free for a lot of nationalities.

Resist the urge to knock out all of Central Asia without delay. That’s actually a two-trip endeavor.

Don’t depart your wide-angle lens at house.

Now, this one is extra for the intense photographers. Uzbekistan is a implausible vacation spot for images — particularly, architectural images.

The interiors of the buildings are stuffed with unbelievable geometric particulars — it’s the type of artwork you may have a look at for hours and nonetheless uncover new issues.

Nevertheless, it’s very troublesome to {photograph} these interiors correctly except you could have a wide-angle lens. Ideally, a really vast lens.

In the event you’re extra of an informal photographer like me and also you’d quite not cart round a ton of lenses, the iPhone has a reasonably nice wide-angle lens as of late. Whereas the standard will not be what you’d get with most huge lenses, I really feel prefer it will get the job achieved.

Let’s examine two photographs of the ceiling of the Aksaray Mausoleum in Samarkand:

You’ll be able to see what a distinction it makes!

So in the event you’re a photographer, carry your wiiiiiiidest lens.

Don’t purchase a particular lens if it’s not in your price range, however maybe contemplate renting or borrowing one in the event you’re eager on photographing the interiors of those buildings.

Or possibly simply use your iPhone, like me.

Don’t simply sightsee in Uzbekistan — study a craft, too.

I discovered two conventional crafts whereas in Uzbekistan — Persian miniature portray and suzani embroidery — and actually, these had been the BEST issues I did on my journey.

Earlier than my journey, an organization referred to as CraftnCulture Uzbekistan reached out to me, asking if I might be focused on any of their workshops. WOULD I EVER! Making issues is true up my alley, and I knew it might permit me to get to know Uzbekistan even higher.

Craftnculture provides workshops in Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara in every thing from plov-cooking and bread-making to pottery-painting and mosaic-making to knife-crafting and wood-carving.

In Bukhara, I took a Persian mini painting workshop from acclaimed artist Rafael Toshev, who guided me by way of portray a pomegranate tree with watercolors on silk paper. (The silk paper is much more finicky than it seems!)

This was SO MUCH FUN. I had forgotten how good it’s to only draw and paint and make artwork.

I had the most effective time portray my piece and attending to know Rafael. Whereas we had a translator, Rafael and I quickly realized we each spoke French, and we gabbed away the entire time. By the top of the night, I promised I might ship my father-in-law to his upcoming present in London this summer time.

In Samarkand, I took a suzani embroidery workshop and discovered the artwork of Uzbek embroidery. Artist Feruza guided me, educating me three totally different strategies of conventional stitching earlier than we settled on the best sew collectively.

I like to stitch and embroider, so I wasn’t an entire newbie — however a newbie can completely do that. It takes a while to get the grasp of the stitching, however quickly you’ll go on autopilot and fall right into a trance.

Feruza and I bought to know each other, and she or he informed me she teaches suzani embroidery to everybody in her household — together with the boys. She even confirmed me photos stitching on the desk along with her toddler grandkids.

Better of all, Feruza gave me sufficient thread that I can proceed stitching my piece at house.

Lastly, whereas in Tashkent, I met up with Craftnculture firm proprietor Yusuf, who himself guided me on a food and metro tour, which was the proper introduction to the nation.

I bought to know him and study extra in regards to the firm, and actually, I’d like to ship SO many extra folks his manner. Craftnculture is doing issues proper.

(I paid for the Persian mini painting workshop myself and Craftnculture comped me my suzani embroidery workshop in Samarkand and a Chorsu Bazaar and metro station tour in Tashkent.)

Don’t anticipate locals to talk English.

In lots of components of the world, English is the go-to second language. In Central Asia, nonetheless, locals are likelier to talk Russian as their second language, particularly in the event that they’re over 40 or from a rural space.

In reality, folks in Uzbekistan usually defaulted to Russian with me, saying spasibo for thanks quite than the Uzbek rahmat.

And some instances, younger ladies spoke to me in English on behalf of their households, their moms and aunts smiling behind them.

Figuring out a little bit of Russian might be very helpful right here, and I like to recommend that you simply study a couple of Russian phrases. Sure, no, whats up, thanks, and numbers 1-5 could make speaking in Uzbekistan a bit simpler.

However you by no means know what is perhaps helpful. On my Tajikistan day trip, considered one of my fellow vacationers spoke Farsi and our information spoke Tajik again — these two languages are mutually intelligible, in order that they had been in a position to perceive one another!

Don’t anticipate to e book Uzbekistan Airways together with your bank card.

In the event you’re flying domestically inside Uzbekistan, you’ll be flying with Uzbekistan Airways. You may even be flying them internationally.

However Uzbekistan Airways doesn’t take most worldwide playing cards, together with my American and Czech playing cards. I discovered this when it was time to make the acquisition and nothing would undergo.

So what do you do if an airline doesn’t take your bank cards? I booked the flight by way of Expedia.

I by no means e book with Expedia or some other OTA (on-line journey company) — it’s a lot smarter to e book straight with the airline, in case your flight will get canceled and must be rescheduled. I figured a fast flight from Urgench to Tashkent can be unlikely to have any points.

And, in truth, it was wonderful. So in the event you’re reserving on Uzbekistan Airways, e book through an OTA.

Don’t go wherever with out money.

Wherever I journey, I exploit bank cards more often than not — it’s higher for factors and higher for monitoring bills in my YNAB budget.

However Uzbekistan could be very cash-oriented. I even needed to pay a couple of resort payments with money, which is one thing I hadn’t achieved in awhile.

I wouldn’t go wherever in Uzbekistan with no respectable amount of money, since you’ll in all probability have to hit up an ATM eventually. In reality, once I was procuring up a storm in Bukhara, I needed to go to the ATM 3 times in sooner or later!

Some ATMs look regular however are just for with Uzbek financial institution accounts. One financial institution that I perused usually was Kapitalbank, with shiny yellow ATMs which are straightforward to identify.

One thing else to bear in mind is that you could have a ton of payments on you. At one level I had principally the equal of $500 in $5 payments. Simply one thing to bear in mind!

Don’t skip Tashkent.

Tashkent, Uzbekistan’s capital, doesn’t get fairly as a lot consideration as its different cities, and folks usually cite it as boring. However that doesn’t imply it is best to skip it — I feel it makes the proper touchdown pad for attending to know Uzbek tradition.

On my first full day in Tashkent, I did a Food Tour and Metro Journey in Tashkent. This was the best possible introduction to town and the nation.

Yusuf and I began at Chorsu Bazaar, an immense spherical market, the place he informed me in regards to the meals and produce and had me attempt a number of totally different gadgets. (I usually get overwhelmed when solo in markets, so I actually appreciated having a information to indicate me what was good.)

Subsequent he took me on a tour of a number of metro stations — and they’re SUPERB. Tashkent has so many cool metro stations, every of them embellished from high to backside in several types. It’s actually a pleasure taking the metro there, simply attending to benefit from the artwork.

We completed up at a giant restaurant specializing in plov, the place we shared three totally different sorts of plov.

(Yusuf laughed at one level as a result of the employees didn’t know who to present the pot of tea as a result of they didn’t know which of us was older. The youthful particular person serves the tea in Uzbekistan! Yusuf is youthful, so he served me tea. You get lower than half of a cup at a time, and it’s handed to you together with your proper hand as you maintain your left hand over your coronary heart.)

Past that, I bought to take pleasure in some cool espresso outlets and parks in Tashkent. I’m glad I bought to spend time there.

Don’t go all in on Samarkand.

Samarkand is called the fantastic thing about Uzbekistan, because of its wonderful structure. The Registan and Shah-i-Zinda Mausoleum are two of essentially the most spectacular works of structure within the nation. Each stopped me in my tracks a number of instances.

And visiting Samarkand is totally a MUST; I couldn’t think about an Uzbekistan journey with out it.

That mentioned — simply because a metropolis has great issues, it doesn’t imply it has an equally great vibe. I personally didn’t love the vibe of Samarkand as a metropolis, and lots of vacationers I spoke to (although, to be honest — not all of them!) felt equally.

Samarkand is EXTREMELY touristy — it’s principally the Florence of Central Asia. And it welcomes loads of Uzbeks, Central Asians, and folks from everywhere in the world. Due to the crowds, it feels greater than a bit theme park-y.

There was additionally fixed site visitors in Samarkand, and the vitality of town felt a bit hectic to me. At instances, it felt robust even discovering a restaurant. A stunning variety of eating places open for lunch had been closed for dinner. This did lead me to discovering a couple of holes within the wall, although!

I’m saying this as a result of I usually see folks go Samarkand-heavy of their itineraries. You don’t have to do this.

So how a lot time is nice for Samarkand? I spent three full days there, with sooner or later being my Tajikistan day trip, and that was the proper period of time. I may have added an additional day if I had needed to day journey to Shahrisabz, one other cool metropolis close by.

Don’t purchase souvenirs till you get to Bukhara.

Uzbekistan has among the greatest memento procuring I’ve ever skilled. Among the most well-known merchandise listed below are silks dyed in colourful ikat patterns, conventional suzani embroidery items, and beautiful patterned pottery.

And that’s not all. There are Persian miniature work, bread stamps in quite a lot of patterns, and tiny pairs of scissors formed like birds.

Want to purchase one thing for males (which I at all times discover a problem)? They’ve bought knives, too! You guess I purchased my husband a cool knife.

However the best possible procuring in Uzbekistan is in Bukhara. I discovered the standard of merchandise right here to be usually higher than what I noticed in Samarkand and Khiva, and Bukhara occurs to be the house of native arts like rug-weaving and gold zarduzlik embroidery.

Bukhara can be house to a few conventional buying and selling domes by way of which Silk Street vacationers handed by way of on their journey (not in contrast to a duty-free store on the airport as we speak). These domes are nonetheless energetic as we speak.

That doesn’t imply you shouldn’t purchase one thing in one other metropolis. In the event you discover one thing you like, purchase it! I purchased a bit of suzani embroidery from Feruza, my embroidery instructor in Samarkand, and her work is beautiful.

However I like to recommend you save the hardcore looking for when you hit Bukhara. Oh, and price range a LOT greater than you had been planning. It took all my willpower to not purchase an $819 lengthy purple ikat silk jacket.

Don’t assume Khiva is just too far-off.

Khiva felt a lot totally different than in every single place else. This can be a gorgeous walled metropolis within the coronary heart of the desert and it genuinely looks like an oasis on the Silk Street.

But it surely’s removed from every thing, which is why some folks skip it. It’s both a six-hour practice journey from Bukhara or an 80-minute flight from Tashkent.

But it surely’s very a lot definitely worth the journey. I took a sleeper practice from Bukhara that departed at 5:42 AM and arrived round 11:37 AM, and it couldn’t have been extra nice. My three compartment-mates and I slept a bit, then I learn and relaxed with my ft up as we chugged throughout the desert.

After all, you want to settle for Khiva for what it’s. The Ichan Kala, the world throughout the partitions, is 100% geared towards tourism, not in contrast to Kotor, Montenegro, or San Gimignano, Italy. If you wish to expertise native life, you’re going to must transcend the partitions.

However it’s so lovely, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Web site, and it’s so visually totally different to the opposite widespread cities of Uzbekistan.

And if you wish to go additional west, you may head to town of Nukus, and even camp in a single day at what was the Aral Sea, full with shipwrecks suspended in sand.

Don’t solely eat plov.

It’s straightforward to get sucked into solely consuming plov whereas in Uzbekistan. It’s ubiquitous, it’s low-cost, there are tons of regional variations, and better of all, it’s completely scrumptious!

Plov is a rice dish made with meat, onions, carrots (usually a mixture of orange and yellow carrots), and different accoutrements like raisins, chickpeas, or apricots. Plov is the place the phrase “pilaf” comes from!

And actually, it’s straightforward to finish up consuming it for each meal in Uzbekistan. However I like to recommend you get out of the plov zone every so often.

So, what do you have to eat apart from plov?

Shashlik — meat kabobs grilled on a skewer — are a very talked-about possibility in Uzbekistan, in all probability second solely to plov, and so they additionally really feel like a wholesome possibility after days of heavier delicacies. I might normally get two meats and a vegetable skewer.

Laghman is a well-liked dish in Central Asia, because of the affect of the Uyghurs of western China. These hand-pulled noodles are thick and chewy, and are normally served in a soup with meat of some variety.

Shivit Oshi is a well-liked dish in Khiva: dill noodles topped with beef and potatoes. Scrumptious!

I discovered that eating places in Khiva had been good about speaking native dishes from Khiva and the encompassing Khorazm area.

And in the event you simply really feel like a snack, seize a samsa — a stuffed pastry. They normally come stuffed with meat, or typically pumpkin or different greens, however my favorites had been filled with a mixture of sautéed potatoes and onions.

Don’t are available summer time (except it’s a must to).

I visited Uzbekistan in April, and that was by design. From what I learn, spring and fall are the most effective instances of yr to go to, as a result of the summers might be highly regarded and the winters might be chilly and bleak.

April turned out to be an ideal month for Uzbekistan and the Almaty area of Kazakhstan. I had some chilly moments (within the mountains of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan), however the days had been beautiful for essentially the most half.

However Khiva was HOT. Some days, the noon temperatures had been as excessive as 90 F (32 C). In APRIL. I spent the afternoons in Khiva holed up in my resort room — there was no cause to be out when it was that sizzling.

Khiva could also be hotter than the opposite cities, due partly to its location within the desert, however it bought fairly sizzling in Tashkent round that point as nicely. I can’t think about how sizzling it will get in the summertime months.

For that cause, I like to recommend you keep away from visiting Uzbekistan in summer time if potential.

(With my everlasting caveat for academics and different individuals who should journey in the summertime — if summer time is your solely possibility, you may make it work. Simply ensure you tempo your self and keep inside within the afternoons.)

On the identical time, know that this isn’t essentially the case for different components of Central Asia. In the event you’re visiting excessive altitude locations, particularly in Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan or alongside the Pamir Freeway, summer time is THE time to go. Some locations is perhaps inaccessible exterior in summer time.

Don’t backtrack to Tashkent…except you need to.

Once I first booked my flights to Central Asia, I made a decision to fly into Almaty, Kazakhstan, and out of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. I might fly from Almaty to Tashkent in between. That’s what made sense on the time.

And so the Uzbekistan portion of my itinerary had me journey by practice from Tashkent to Samarkand to Bukhara to Khiva, then I flew from Urgench Airport (close to Khiva) again to Tashkent.

However once I was at Urgench Airport, I noticed that individuals had been boarding a Turkish Airways flight to Istanbul. WHAT? Who knew that was even an possibility?!

Turkish Airways could be very well-connected in Central Asia, and so they run flights from Istanbul to Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Urgench.

Had I identified that, I might have flown house from Urgench (assuming the worth was respectable). I didn’t actually have a cause to return to Tashkent, and since I at all times give myself a beneficiant buffer with flights, I principally added on two further days that I didn’t want.

Nevertheless…I loved these final two days in Tashkent.

I stayed at Lotte City Hotels Tashkent Palace, a four-star resort in a pleasant neighborhood for simply $117 per evening. I went to the Museum of Utilized Arts. I took lengthy walks. I visited a number of coffeeshops. I frolicked with my pal Megan.

And you already know what? After 9 days of family-run guesthouses, Uzbek meals, and early mornings, it was good to relax in a luxurious, nameless resort, order room service lasagna, and decompress a bit earlier than flying house.

It might need added two further days, however that was an effective way to finish my journey to Uzbekistan.

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