Looking back, I would change a few things about the itinerary. I was contemplating staying at a yurt camp in Uzbekistan between in Bukhara and Samarkand which I ended up skipping. That’s probably something I’d do next time for one night.

The drive from Dushanbe to Khorog was beautiful but not enjoyable in a shared taxi. I should have made an effort to find other backpackers looking to share a car.

In the Pamir Mountains I somewhat regret not spending more time and for example going to the Saturday market in Iskashim where the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border is opened for the market without needing a visa. I also would have loved to do a detour between Khorog and Murghan and drive through the Tajik Wakhan Valley which everyone raved about that I’ve met. But again, since I was by myself it was difficult to fill up a car in order split the cost.

Towards the end I did have some more days in Kyrgyzstan than anticipated which is why I made a two-day trip to Arslanbob. This was mainly because I did not end up getting the Turkmenistan visa in time and hence had an additional four days.

All the accommodation was good. I used AirBnB twice, both of which were good experiences, although not necessarily so to meet other travelers. The first night in Nukus was overpriced for what it was.

Uzbekistan I found to be the most difficult country as single traveler. It was possible, no issue. However, I didn’t think there were as many independent travelers on the road as in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

I can warmly recommend a visit to Uzbekistan as soon as possible. Three reasons why I think you should visit rather sooner than later:

1. It is really cheap right now. The government fixes the exchange rate of the Uzebkistani Som to the US Dollar and it is massively overvalued. Hence a black market exists where you can get almost double the official rate. While hotels are usually priced in US Dollars, just about anything else is in local currency and hence it is really cheap. For one US Dollar you can currently receive 6300 Som. Below are some examples of prices:

• Dinner at a high-end touristic restaurant including appetizer and main dish and beer (for one persion): 25’000 Som
• Taxi across town (shared): 3’000 Som
• International postcard stamps: 1’600 Som
• Large bottle of water: 1’000 Som

You do the math yourself, but it is really cheap for what you get.

USD200 in Uzebkistani Som

2. There are still very few tourists: apart from some European tour groups, there are still very few tourists. In many instances, you’ll have the monuments to yourself and even when not, there are hardly any other tourists.

The Registan – (from left to right): Sher Dor Medressa, Tilla-Kari Medressa, Ulugbek Medressa

Look at the amount of tourists above at Uzbekistan’s best known attraction.

3. It is safe and currently politically stable: dictator elected president Karimov is holding the strings together. Yes, Uzbekistan is a police state and the frequent police checkpoints and border control can be annoying but it is very safe. Apparently there is no clear heir to Karimov so you never know what will happen once the 78-year old is not longer around.

Mir-i-Arab Medressa seen through the doors of the Kalon Mosque

The cities of Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand are definitely worth a visit and all very unique. Go and go sooner rather than later.

While this is very bad news for locals, it is good news for tourists because exchanging on the black market will get you more than twice as much for your dollars.

Keep in mind that exchanging money on the black market is technically illegal and the below experiences are not from me but from Swim (someone who isn’t me).

When Swim arrived at Tashkent airport, he needed a bit of local cash. Swim knew about the black market, so wanted to wait to exchange large amounts of money but instead just exchanged EUR20. And the rate was as bad as expected – around 3’300 Som to the Euro.

The next day in Nukus, Swim went to the local bazaar and asked around for dollar, dollar. Not long until he was directed to the minibus parking lot where a couple of gentlemen with large black plastic bags approached him. 6’300 he was told and had three stacks of money. 100×5000 Som, 100×1000 Som and 60×500 Som bills. The first USD100 bill was exchanged to 260 local bills. Another USD100 soon followed. Nobody cared that Swim took all the time in the world to count each stack of money. And a good thing that he had a bag with him as there is otherwise no way to carry so much cash. Literally plastic bags full of cash. Within a few minutes the transaction was done and what seemed very odd, Swim quickly realized that this is the most normal thing in the world Uzbekistan.

USD200 in Uzebkistani Som

Swim exchanged another USD100 in Bukhara at the Bazaar. He was first a little bit worried about the police presence but there are rumors they are in on the deal and get a cut. In Bukhara they wanted to give him all in 1000 Som bills – yes, that would make 630 bills. Swim asked for 5000 Som bills and gladly accepted a slightly worse exchange rate for less paper.

If you feel uncomfortable exchanging at the bazaar, just ask any hotel or tourist shop. Most people are willing to help – they’ll make a small cut on the exchange rate.

In summary – if you’re going to Uzbekistan at the moment, you’ll be confronted with the black market rate sooner or later. Check this website before you go to get an idea of the current exchange rate (blocked inside Uzebkistan).

While the two countries are neighbors, they don’t have a particularly good relationship. Tajikistan plans to build the world’s largest hydropower dam, the Roghun dam. It would make Tajikistan energy independent but at the same time Uzbekistan is worried about the effects on its country. There are several other factors that have deteriorated relationships between the countries.

The effect on travelers is that the closest border from Samarkand has been closed for some years now, requiring a big detour to the next land border.

The route is not particularly well traveled, so I was a bit worried about finding transport. Again, there are no buses and instead you have to rely on shared taxis. I was mentally prepared to charter an entire car but still made the trip to the shared taxi stand in hopes of finding someone to share the ride with.

Sunrise on the way to the Grebnoy Kanal/Betonka stop

Grebnoy Kanal/Betonka taxi stand

I left the hotel at 5.45am and caught a taxi to the Grebnoy Kanal/Betonka stop. I was the first passenger and was quoted USD35. I was lucky and 10mins later a grandmother and her granddaughter showed up, also traveling to Dushanbe. But then we waited…and waited. Shortly before 7am, the driver told me if I paid USD50, we’d leave. It was still too early for my bargaining skills, so I agreed. I asked him when we would arrive at the Sariosiyo/Tursunzade border and he said 1pm. The guy was an absolute pro as we arrived at 12.55pm. It was a long, uneventful drive with changing scenery.

Samarkand to Sariosiyo

Samarkand to Sariosiyo

Samarkand to Sariosiyo

Topping up on methane

The vast majority of vehicles in Uzbekistan run on propane, some on methane. Only very few on gasoline, which is very hard to find.

Donkeys on the road in the middle of nowhere

Samarkand to Sariosiyo

I’d say about 60-70% of the road was in decent state, the rest not. Nevertheless, we made good progress and arrived right on time as predicted. The driver seemed to know the road in his sleep. He even seemed to be buddies with most of the police guards along the road blocks on the way. He frequently made phone calls, and it almost looked to me as he’d call ahead to the next checkpoint to announce his arrival. I had to show my passport twice and my particulars were handwritten into a big book.

At the border we were dropped off. Vehicles are not allowed to drive to the other country. So we had to haul our luggage to the Uzbekistan checkpoint. First stop was customs. I had read some reports that they’d scrutinize everything – and they sure did. I had to unpack my backpack (at least it reminded me that it is about time to do some laundry). The customs officer went through all my medicine, looking for some prohibited ingredients. But what really annoyed me (even though I had read about it, I couldn’t believe it is actually true), they went through all the photos on my phone and laptop. One officer each. Apparently they search for pictures of military installations, terrorists or even nudie pics (not sure whether the latter would get you in trouble or they’d copy them). They even went through photos from way before Uzbekistan. Now, I am not sure whether they know but there is something called the “internet”. And this internet (or in Bushism, the internets) allows you to upload files to the cloud or send it to other people. So you can delete it on your phone, but guess what – it hasn’t disappeared from the face of the earth. So I honestly don’t understand their logic. At all. The whole process took about 40mins. Luckily I was almost the only person there, so did not have to wait in line. Oh, and nobody ever asked whether I have more than one phone or wanted to see what’s on my camera.

I was then stamped out of the country. A requirement is also to collect registration slips, accounting for your stay every night. Luckily you only need a slip every third night, so it did not matter that I stayed in an unofficial accomodation (AirBnB) for two nights in Bukhara. You also have to declare all your cash upon arrival and fill out the same paperwork again when departing – to make sure you don’t carry more cash when you leave. All in all a very strange system and I was happy to have passed the border.

We (my two fellow taxi passengers and me) then had to haul our luggage through no-mans land to the Tajikistan border. It’s always a strange feeling to walk through no-mans land for several hundred meters with heavily armed guards on both sides. I’ve done it previously between Thailand/Cambodia and several countries in Central and South America but it is still a unique experience.

Luckily the Tajikistan border guards were very friendly and efficient. As of June they have electronic visas. Another country that has realized how much more efficient this is if they are just after the money from tourists. I was stamped in quickly, we passed customs with no questions asked and met the friendly Tursunzade taxi mafia.

Now, I took a year of Russian back in 9th grade but except for reading Cyrillic script, I have forgotten just about everything (I don’t think it helped that classes started at 7.30am). I would have never been able to negotiate with these guys but the grandmother told them off. Wow. To the point I was almost worried that shit would soon hit the fan. I was actually glad I could just stand there like blur sotong. In the end, they drove us to the town of Tursunzade for 21 TJS each (SGD4). There the grandmother again organized us shared transport and we reached Dushanbe at around 3.30pm. Thanks again to her for helping me!

A long and exhausting day of travel but Dushanbe welcomed me.

Welcome to Dushanbe

After asking around for a while, I found myself in a shared taxi to Urgut and from there in a Marushtka to the bazaar. It was indeed huge and everything could be bought there. The majority of goods sold were clothing, none of which really hit the spot of Western taste I would say.

Inside the marushtka to the bazaar

Urgut Bazaar entrance

Urgut bazaar

Urgut Bazaar

Urgut Bazaar

Urgut Bazaar

Schaschlik in the making

And Somsa

Fresh bread

Urgut bazaar parking lot

It was easy to find a ride back to Samarkand and I was back shortly before noon. I wouldn’t deem it a must, but if you have the time, you get a very authentic look at a local bazaar.

After the delay on the train ride, I did not want to waste further time and left for the Registan, Samarkand’s premier landmark.

Samarkand used to be the capital of Timur (or Tamerlane’s) Timurid Empire. At his death in 1405, it stretched as far west as Eastern Turkey, comprised most of Central Asia, Syria and reached as far East as Delhi. But already before Timur the city was of significance and was held by conquerors such as Alexander the Great (329 BC) and almost a thousand years later Genghis Khan (1220). It was also Genghis Khan who leveled the city, so most of what’s left today is from the Timurid period and later.

As mentioned, the Registan, consisting of three medressas, is the key attraction in the city – and for good reason:

The Registan – (from left to right): Ulugbek Medressa, Tilla-Kari Medressa, Sher Dor Medressa

Sher Dor Medressa

Sher Dor Medressa

Sher Dor Medressa

Inside Sher Dor Medressa

Sher Dor Medressa exterior

Tilla-Kari Medressa

Tilla-Kari Medressa

Tilla-Kari Medressa

In front of Tilla-Kari Medressa

Inside Tilla-Kari Medressa

Ulugbek Medressa

Inside Ulugbek Medressa

The Registan

A short walk away are several other monuments:

Bibi-Khanym Mosque

Bibi-Khanym Mosque entrance

Bibi-Khanym Mosque entrance

Bibi-Khanym Mosque entrance

Bibi-Khanym Mosque

Inside Bibi-Khanym Mosque

Bibi-Khanym Mosque

Bibi-Khanym Mosque

Marble Qurand stand in the Bibi-Khanym Mosque courtyard

Opposite the Bibi-Khanym Mosque is the Bibi-Khanym Mausoleum

Bibi-Khanym Mausoleum

And across the road, arguably Samarkand’s best restored mosque – the Hazrat-Hizr Mosque.

Hazrat-Hizr Mosque

With a cemetery around the corner.

Cemetery

Hazrat-Hizr Mosque

Hazrat-Hizr Mosque

Hazrat-Hizr Mosque

Hazrat-Hizr Mosque

Except for maybe the Registan, I was almost by myself at all these places.

Not far from the Hazrat-Hizr Mosque and the Bibi-Khanym Mosque was the Siob Bazaar selling fresh produce. It was late Saturday afternoon and it seemed a lot of families were stocking up on food for Sunday.

It is water melon season in Uzbekistan!

It is water melon season in Uzbekistan!

Siob Bazaar

Typical Samarkand bread at Siob Bazaar

Siob Bazaar

Siob Bazaar

Dried berries at Siob Bazaar

The next day, I paid a visit to Timur’s mausoleum, the Gur-E-Amir Mausoleum.

Gur-E-Amir Mausoleum

Gur-E-Amir Mausoleum

Gur-E-Amir Mausoleum

Gur-E-Amir Mausoleum

Inside the mausoleum not only Timur is buried but also several of his relatives and teachers.

Inside Gur-E-Amir Mausoleum

Inside Gur-E-Amir Mausoleum

Inside Gur-E-Amir Mausoleum

And here’s the main statue of Timur, or Tamerlane.

Timur

I then walked to the newer part of town which was nothing to write home about. There is a grave of the unknown soldier commemorating the many Samarkand casualties of WWII.

WWII monument

WWII monument

WWII monument

I ended the day with Lulya kebab at the Karimbek restaurant. Tasty!

Lulya kebab

Samarkand’s landmarks are truly breathtaking. It is however a more modern city than Bukhara and walking between different monuments, you definitely notice this. Nevertheless, not visit to Uzbekistan is complete without passing through Samarkand!

I tried to buy a ticket a day in advance but was turned away since you need your passport for just about everything in Uzbekistan and I had left mine in the hotel. Oh well, so I just showed up the next morning and bought a ticket there. For 49’000 UZS (~10 SGD) I got a seat in what they call business class, but essentially was equivalent to European second class.

Bukhara train station (a 20mins drive outside the city)

Since Uzbekistan likes police checks, all passengers have to go through airport style security screening before boarding.

Bukhara-Samarkand-Tashkent train No. 9

Bukhara-Samarkand-Tashkent

I was assigned a compartment seating six. The first hour (of what was supposed to be a three hours trip) was enjoyable. My seatmate was from Bukhara but had studied in Munich. He was on his way to Tashkent to apply for a student Schengen visa at the Latvian embassy with no intention of studying there but instead going back to Munich. Not sure whether that’s how the Schengen visa are intended. He was also an expert on Swiss 1. Liga soccer (third highest league) since he frequently bets on the first goal of the game being scored in the first half. Apparently, this happens in four out of five games.

But eventually we stopped for 45mins. And again. And again. Apparently due to the construction of new tracks for Uzbekistan’s Spanish-built high speed train. Whenever we stopped, the air-conditioning turned off, which wasn’t great considering it was 37 degrees outside. On top of that, every compartment had several young children and not before long the crying started.

The only stop between Bukhara and Samarkand: Navoi

Views en-route Bukhara-Samarkand

We eventually made it to Samarkand shortly after 2pm instead of 11am. Soon everything should be fine as the high-speed train is supposed to operate to Bukhara by the end of 2016.

Afrosiyob high-speed train

Samarkand railway station

In Samarkand I was kindly greeted by the local taxi mafia and I kindly declined their generous offers. Half a block down the road, I was able to get a ride for a reasonable fare.

Below are the typical kinds of cars you see on Uzbekistans roads (no photos from Chevrolet’s and Daewoo’s since…well, everybody knows what they look like).

Soviet-era Ladas. Preferably with a fridge, sofa or wardrobe loaded on top.

A Lada (?) in better shape

Soviet-era truck

And last but not least, my favorite: the guys from the Mongol Rallye. In every city you’ll see a bunch of these crappy and beaten up cars (only in July/August).

Mongol Rallye cars

The drive would be a long one and my hostel managed to match me with another single traveler headed in the same direction. With yet another passenger on board and the driver, we hit the road that would take us approx. 460km to Bukhara.

The road would change between a newly paved four lane highway and a pot-hole riddled two lane street. On smooth sections our driver would go an easy and comfortable 80-100km/h. On all other sections, he would drive like crazy with 120km/h. We later found out that the police only does radar speed control on the new sections… Would could also tell whenever a police checkpoint was coming up because the driver would put on his seat belt – and take it off again once we passed the checkpoint.

For lunch we stopped at a “restaurant” in the middle of nowhere. All they had was fish, which I thought was great since we were just along the Amu river. Well, once they showed us the fish in the freezer, I nope’ed out. The traveling companions went ahead and I didn’t regret it as the fish was just chopped and then plop, plop thrown into the deep frier. On a positive note, I saw the other traveler again in Bukhara and he seemed fine.

We made it to Bukhara mid-afternoon and I checked into a great AirBnB with a very nice host. First item on the agenda was getting a haircut and thanks to his translation, it turned our fairly acceptable. For dinner my host suggested Chor Bakhr restaurant, a few kilometers outside of town. Great food at very reasonable prices.

Dinner at Chor Bakhr

The next day, sightseeing would finally start and let me tell you, there is a lot to see in this city. Below are some impressions. I won’t go into the history of any of the attractions but I highly recommend reading the Wikipedia article on the history of Bukhara.

Scenes in the old part of town:

Old town Bukhara

Old town Bukhara

Ulugbek Medressa

And just opposite, the Abdul Aziz Khan Medressa:

Abdul Aziz Khan Medressa

Abdul Aziz Khan Medressa

Abdul Aziz Khan Medressa

Abdul Aziz Khan Medressa

Inside the Abdul Aziz Khan Medressa

Taki-Zargaron Bazaar

What follows, was the highlight for me in Bukhara: the Kalon Mosque and Minaret.

Kalon Mosque and Minaret

Kalon Minaret

Kalon Mosque entrance

Inside the Kalon Mosque

And another one because it is so beautiful

Right opposite is another highlight, the Mir-i-Arab Medressa which is still in use today:

Mir-i-Arab Medressa seen through the doors of the Kalon Mosque

Courtyard of the Mir-i-Arab Medressa

From there, I walked the short distance to the Ark, the former compound or “city-within-a-city” where the ruler lived.

Ark entrance

Ark walls

The Juma Mosque inside the Ark

Across the street is the Bolo-Hauz Mosque, the former emir’s mosque.

Bolo-Hauz Mosque

Inside the Bolo-Hauz Mosque

View back towards Mir-i-Arab Medressa

All of the main attractions are beautifully restored. Once you venture a bit off the main tourist path, you can also encounter some medressas that haven’t been fully restored:

Goziyon Medressa

Back to the tourist path:

Gaukushon Medressa with the minaret of the Xoja Kalon in the background

Xoja Kalon Mosque

Nodir Devon Begi

Some readers might be thinking that they’ve seen buildings of one religion and would appreciate some variety. I hear ‘ya. Bukhara has an Jewish community going back several hundred centuries. The size of the community has declined over the years and now only about 220 Jews are left in Bukhara. Below is a photo of one of the synagogues:

Synagogue in Bukhara

Which has seen some prominent visitors in the past:

Synagogue in Bukhara

Nadir Devon Begi Khanaka

Another highlight: the Char Minar.

Char Minar

I then used the rest of the afternoon the explore the farmer’s market (Kryty Rynok).

Fresh bread

Fresh bread

Fruit stall at Kryty Rynok

The ubiquitous Uzbekistani snack: Somsa (baked meat buns)

With that a long and exhausting day (it was around 36°) ended but I have to say, Bukhara is well worth a visit. The sights are nothing short of breathtaking and the number of tourists was very low. In many medressas you were all by yourself (save for some souvenir stalls which seem to be everywhere). Compared to Khiva, Bukhara felt more lively and of course is much bigger. I really liked both places.

I was lucky and when I arrived I was number four in the car. What followed was an uneventful two hour drive for less than EUR2 to Urgench where I had to transfer to another taxi that would take me in 30mins to Khiva. I was lucky again and was number four.

I did not have a reservation in Khiva but just tried my luck and checked into Meros B&B who had a lovely room left for me at USD25. In the below photo my room is just above the signboard including the balcony to the left.

Meros B&B, Khiva

Khiva is located between the Kyzylkum and Karakum deserts and was formerly known as a slave trading post. The old city is located within city walls and is known as Ichon-Qala (meaning “within the wall”).

Northern gate

The first local I met was an elderly man who said something to me in a language I did not understand and motioned me to take a picture of him. He sang a song and made some hand movements. After the photo was taken he said something which I did not understand but I figured it involved getting a tip. His five seconds performance was not quite worthy of a tip.

Old man in Khiva

Russian car behind city gate

City walls

Another city gate

Outside the main gate

I then set out to explore the Ichon-Qala, starting out with the fascinating Kalta Minor Minaret outside the beautiful looking Hotel Orient Star.

Kalta Minor Minaret

Kalta Minor Minaret – close-up

Right next to it is the Kuhna Ark, a mini fortress where Khiva’s rulers used to reside. There is watch-tower which offers great views of the Ichon-Qala.

View from the watch-tower towards the Arabkhan Medressa (medressa = religious school)

Islom-Hoja Minaret

Inside the Kuhna Ark

Khiva feels like an outdoor museum, every building is in great shape and well preserved. There isn’t much local life inside the walls anymore, so it does feel a bit geared towards tourists. However when I was there there weren’t too many tourists around, so every now and then you had a medressa to yourself.

Outside the Arabkhan Medressa

Carvings on wodden pillars inside the Juma Mosque

Islom-Hoja Medressa and Minaret

Juma and Islom-Hoja Minaret

I had dinner in a courtyard and enjoyed a very tasty meal in a beautiful setting:

Dinner at Khozerem Art Restaurant

Sunset and moonrise while eating dinner

I decided to only stay one night. I could not visit every medressa or museum but what I saw was beautiful. Apparently many tourists skip Khiva since it is further away from Tashkent than Bhukara or Samarkand but I think it is absolutely worth it going.