TRAVEL TO UZBEKISTAN, THE SILK ROAD AND ARAL SEA Day 01 – Departure from Europe (or anywhere else in the world) It might require a stopover, but from most European airports you can fly to Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, in ten hours or so.
Day 02 – Arrival in the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent Mister Moscow will meet you at the airport in Tashkent. From here you will be transferred to the hotel. After a refreshing shower and, perhaps, a little nap, your guide will lead you through the old part of Tashkent. You will visit Hast Imam Square, where the holy Koran of Khalif Osman is exhibited,
Kukeldash Madrassah, Dzhuma Mosque, the fabulous State museum of Applied Arts, Chorsu bazaar and, on special request, some souvenir shops. Day 03 – Tashkent to Samarkand After breakfast the bus will is waiting for you in front of the hotel. In approximately four hours you will reach Samarkand, the pearl of the Silk Road, and according to many Uzbeks the most beautiful city on earth. Who knows, they might be right. After check-in you will visit several beautiful monuments in the city: Ulugbek observatory, Shakhi-Zinda mausoleums and Hodja Daniyar mausoleum. As beautiful as they might be, they are nothing more than a prelude to the beauty of tomorrow. Day 04 – Samarkand A full day of sightseeing in Samarkand, the capital of Timur's empire and blessed with the most fantastic monuments. Naturally, you will have exhaustive time to visit the Registan Complex, the absolute highlight of this city. But there is more. Much more. Guri-Emir Mausoleum, the Medresses of Ulugbek, Tillyakari, Sherdor, Bibi-Khanum cathedral mosque, Ulugbek observatory, Shakhi-Zinda mausoleums and Hodja Daniyar Mausoleum. Not to mention the Complex of Imam Al Bukhariy, another highlight here in Samarkand. If you wish, you can continue to explore this splendid city on your own, or alternatively, enjoy a tasteful dinner in one of the many restaurants while enjoying live Uzbek music.
Day 05 – Samarkand to Bukhara via Gijduvan After breakfast you will leave Samarkand, head for Gijduvan and from there you will continue to Bukhara. In total the drive will take approximately 5 hours. In Gijduvan you will learn more about the world famous (at least world famous in Uzbekistan) local ceramics. Whether you know it, or not, it is a fact that it is a clear example of superb craftsmanship with identical results. Afterwards, you will be offered Uzbek tea with oriental sweets, before you continue your trip. On your way to Bukhara you will visit a caravanserai dating from the twelfth century. In spite of the fact that it is ruined, except for the entrance gate, it will only take a bit of fantasy and explanation of the guide to make you travel back in time for a thousand years. Once in Bukhara, you will be welcomed by the staff of your beautifully authentic hotel. The rest of the day you will have the possibility to discover this ancient town on your own.
Day 06 – Bukhara Today you will have the chance to enjoy this very old city through a private guided tour. The ambiance and atmosphere is so medieval that you might be surprised that you, from time to time, encounter a car here. You will visit Samanid’s Mausoleum, Chashma Ayub Mazar (a graveyard), Masjidi Boloy iHauz, the Ark (an ancient fortress from the sixth century) and the Lyabi-Khauz ensemble. After lunch, which you will enjoy in a national restaurant, you will continue with the PoiKalan complex, Ulugbek Madrassah, which was built by the grandson of Tamerlan, a distinguished mathematician and astronomer, Abdulaziz Khan Medresse, Kosh-Madrassah ensemble and ChorMinor (four minarets). If you have energy left it is highly advisable to visit the Bukhara Dome Bazaars, Taqi Zargaron (Jewelers Bazaar), Taqi Telpak Furushon (Cap Makers Bazaar), Taqi Sarrafon (Money changers Bazaar and Tim Abdullakhan (the Center of silk). In the evening you will encounter the Uzbek kitchen in a somewhat different way, when you will be invited for a 'Master Class Plov Cooking'. Plov is one of the most popular dishes in the Uzbek kitchen and comes in a wide variety. The ingredients differ per region, city and even per family. It goes without saying that you will get acquainted with the Bukhara version. Day 07 – Bukhara to Khiva Today you will travel through the Uzbek countryside between Bukhara and Khiva. And this is quite a countryside! Nothing even remotely comparable with what is called countryside in Europe. Actually, the whole trip can be summarized in four words: sand, sand and sand. Hours and hours you will drive through barren, empty and rough terrain. Only once in a while interrupted by something that resembles an oasis. These are places where some adventurous Uzbeks decided to start a petrol station, a shop or a simple restaurant. Exactly, those things that you are looking for of course. Monotonous? Perhaps it is. Boring? Clearly not, after all how often did you cross a desert in your life? Day 08 – Khiva Khiva is the second city in Uzbekistan, after Bukhara, where the ambiance is somehow medieval. Comparing the two it is clear that the former is even more adventurous and less discovered. Perhaps because it is further from Tashkent and Samarkand, as you will easily agree with after yesterday's drive. Perhaps it is because Khiva gives you the feeling to be in the absolute middle of nowhere. Although this feeling might get stronger in the days to come. In any case, the whole day you can wander around among monuments from ancient times. To give you an idea: Muhammad Amin Khan Medressa, Kalta Minor, Djuma Moskee, Kunya Ark and the Islam Khodja minaret.
Day 09 – Khiva to Nukus Just after lunch you will depart for Nukus, the capital of the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan and a good place to experience the spirit of Karakalpak culture. Today, as promised, your feeling to travel to the ends of the world will become even stronger. After approximately 30 kilometres you will reach Ayaz-Kala fort (which can be translated as the frozen fort). This is one of the best examples of the architectural style of this part of Uzbekistan. Afterwards, you can enjoy a nomadic lunch in a yurt. For another three hours you will travel through absolute no man's land, before arriving in Nukus. And do not think that Nukus is a capital with an abundance of bars, clubs, restaurants and so on. Absolutely not. It is quiet here. Very quiet. The streets seem to be constructed to emphasize the silence. Yes, it is special, different and clearly not among the ordinary. But, if you wish to travel to places that have not been discovered by too many Westerners, you are clearly on the right track. Day 10 – Nukus Rather awkward, travelling to the end of the world and to discover that you can find here a very famous museum: The Central Asia Art Museum', named after its founder and owner Igor Savitskiy. The collection Russian art, in total the museum owns approximately 90,000 pieces, was brought here during Soviet times. Many of the paintings, which did not conform to Soviet realism and were banned by Moscow, found a place in these isolated backwaters. The museum rotates its huge collection every few months, which means that it is hard to say what will exactly be displayed. But the chance that you will leave this place disappointed, is extremely low. Except for the museum you will visit the Mizdakhan Complex, an architectural and historic highlight in this part of the world. Perhaps this is even a modest way to put it. It is a fact that there are very few places on our planet where you can find saints of different religions literally buried next to each
other. And to make it even more special and interesting, it might very well be that the tomb of Adam can be found here as well!
Day 11 – Nukus to the Aral Sea You might be familiar with the tragedy of the Aral Sea. It might even be that this is one of the reasons that you are actually here. Once upon a time the Aral Sea was huge; the fact that the ‘Aral Lake’ lake is called a sea is probably enough explanation. But nowadays it is nothing more than a miserable puddle, as it has lost the unfair battle against the Soviet authorities and the cotton cultivation. The Aral Sea is, according to many, one of the best examples of the careless attitude of mankind towards nature. Today and tomorrow you will see the devastating consequences of this destructive ecological policy for the local inhabitants and nature. It is quite obvious, it will be hard to consider it beautiful here. But it will be as obvious that this area can be called fascinating. Let’s be fair, how special it is that, tonight, you will sleep on the bottom of what used to be the Aral Sea? Like a modern Moses, you will spend the night in a rather luxurious tent. After a drive of approximately nine hours (Nukus – Kungrad – Plato Ustyurt – Sudochye Lake) you will arrive at the Aral Sea, just before dusk. The driver will make a camp, pitch the tents and prepare a dinner which you can enjoy in the open air. Naturally, it will be appreciated when you will give him a hand.
Day 12 – Aral Sea to Muynak and Nukus You can shoot some great pictures in the early morning at dawn. On the way to Muynak, the road follows the dried bottom of the sea, you will visit the canyons of Ustyurt. Muynak is the ultimate symbol of everything evil that has been done to the Aral Sea. Not that long ago Muynak was a rather prosperous little town with a vivid harbour, a fishing fleet, some beaches left and right and with a truly maritime ambiance. But nowadays, all this has gone and disappeared. As silent witnesses you will find the rusty boats, in the middle of the desert. Indeed, the place where the harbour and the sea used to be. But the sea has disappeared from here, and will never come back. Unless a new biblical flood will come. Day 13 – Nukus to Tashkent By car, train, bus and so on it took quite some hours to travel from Tashkent to Nukus. You are very well aware of this of course. But the way back, as you will experience today, will be a 'quicky'. You will fly, in approximately two hours, from Nukus back to Tashkent. This way it will be possible, a bit depending on the time you will arrive in Tashkent, to discover the modern part of the Uzbek capital: The Alisher Navoi Theatre Square, The TV Tower, The Memorial Complex, The People’s Courage Monument, Amir Timur Square and ‘Broadway in Tashkent’; a street where local artists show their masterpieces (mainly paintings) and, naturally, try to sell these.
Day 14 – Back Home Depending on the time your plane is departing you will have time to discover Tashkent on your own. In any case, well before the time of departure you will be transferred to the airport.
