As we walked from the Chorsu Bazaar to the Hazrati Imam Complex, we were going through the Old City area in Tashkent. However, I did not seem to get the impression that the sights on the way were particularly “old” in any ordinary sense of the word. We went through quite a few construction sites, but the feeling is that it was a modern city, with wide roadways lined with trees. It was a pleasant walk and soon we came to the Hazrati Imam Complex.

The Hazrati Imam Complex

The Hazrati Imam Complex, also known as the architectural complex of Khazrati Imam, is a group of structures that pay tribute to the Uzbek scholar Abu Bekr Al-Kaffal Al-Kabir Ash-Shashi. Abu Bekr Al-Kaffal Al-Kabir Ash-Shashi was the first known Uzbek Imam. His now-revered status would be somewhat similar to the idea of a patron saint for Tashkent. Imam, in Islamic culture, refers to a Muslim leader. He usually serves the role of the prayer leader in the mosque.

Abu Bekr Al-Kaffal Al-Kabir Ash-Shashi (903-976 AD), played a significant role as a religious leader, diplomat and scholar. He has written significantly on Islam and was well versed in the Koran, Hadith and Islamic law. He spent his earlier years in Tashkent, but decided to move to Baghdad. For most of his adult life, he was in Baghdad.

In his life he had dedicated his efforts to first the diplomacy and strategic dialogues between the Arab Caliphate in Baghdad and the Byzantine Emperor. Then when he had returned to Tashkent in his later years, he also served as the intermediary between the Arab Caliphate and the Karakhnid Turks. The Karakhnid Turks eventually turned to Islam due to his persuasion. Besides religious writing, he had also written in poetry and philosophy, notably The Beauty of Dialectics and Mahasinu Sharia.

As it currently stands, Hazrat Imam Complex is a work of restoration and reconstruction that completed in 2007. It consists of a mausoleum of Hazrati Imam, the original of which was built in 16^th century, madrasas (an Islamic school), two other mausoleums, a library and mosques.

Our Tour at Hazrat Imam Complex

We noticed the minaret on our way there.  A minaret is the tower that is very often featured in Islamic religious sites. They are mostly used to call for prayers.  These two minarets at Hazrati Imam Complex are 50 meter tall. We became very excited about the first Islamic structure that we would visit in Uzbekistan.

I was amazed by the beautiful arches that greet visitors at the entrance of the buildings. As it turns out, this architectural feature, known professionally as “iwan,” would reappear in every single ancient Islamic structure that we would see during this trip. The decorative mosaic really breathes life into the earthy tone of the buildings. “In Islamic tradition blue (al-azraq) often signifies the depths of the universe & turquoise is thought to have mystical qualities.”[1]

Set in the gentle post-shower sunshine of the day, the earthiness of the structures was very much a reminder that we were in desert land. Finally, the Arabic inscriptions on the buildings are meant to convey some critical clues about these structures. For the Khazrati Imam Mausoleum, the Arabic says something about the Imam. It also mensions the architects of the 16^th century original mausoleum.

That would be my meet-and-greet with Uzbek architecture. As I went on to other cities, I would come to understand how to tell the differences between a mosque, a madrasa and a mausoleum by looking at the structure.

Sources

The Wikipedia on Minaret.

Hazrati Imam Complex, Central Asia Guide.

Khazrati Imam Architectural Complex, Central Asia Travel.

The Blue Tiles of Uzbekistan, Bayt Al Fann.

Calum Macleod, Uzbekistan: the Golden Road to Samarkand (2014).

[1] The Blue Tiles of Uzbekistan, Bayt Al Fann

VISA

Do take note of VISA issues when you plan on travelling to Uzbekistan. For U.S. passport holders, you must apply for a VISA for a fee, and it is likely to be US$160. You may apply online on the official government portal of Uzbekistan. For Hong Kong passport holders, there is a free VISA but it only covers ten days. If you will be spending time there beyond ten days, then you must apply for an e VISA online at the same government portal. The fee for processing is about US$21. The processing time is about two to three days.

Do allow for time applying for a VISA. When I first accessed the site, it was down and unworkable, and I had to email the Uzbekistan Embassy in Beijing to inquire (since I am in Hong Kong). The site came back up soon (the Uzbek people did impress us to be very efficient), but you want to factor in these contingencies when you plan your trip.

If you do not receive an email informing you that the VISA is ready, you should approach the same site and press “check status,” most likely it is ready after a couple days.

Airport Transfers

There are a number of transfer points to fly into Tashkent International Airport. From Hong Kong we can fly via Seoul or New Delhi, India. The suggestion is to fly via Seoul if you can get that arrangement. If you transfer in New Delhi, India, be very sure that you may need a transit VISA in India. Because Cathay Pacific does not have agreements with Uzbek Airways, even if you book both trips in one go, the airline will treat it as two trips. That means you must exist immigration in New Delhi (and if you have check-in baggage, you certainly will need to exit immigration to get it), and that would entail an Indian transit VISA. We inquired beforehand with Cathay Pacific staff about the need for a transit VISA if we do not have any check-in baggage, and we were told that we would not need to get a transit VISA, and that someone would take us through to transfer without having to exit immigration. Yet when we were getting our boarding pass at the airport, we were not allowed to get on board initially, until the logistics were actually sorted out at the airport.

Other transfer points that Uzbek Airways run their routes to Tashkent are Dubai or Abu Dhabi. In fact, we were told by our Uzbek mountain guide that they were offering jaw-dropping deals with US$45 one way to fly from Abu Dhabi to Tashkent.

In any event, if you plan on traveling in Uzbekistan, allow a lead time of three weeks to one month to sort out all the arrangements. For example, during traveling season, the train tickets can run out quickly. For sleeper trains, it may be worthwhile to pay a little more to get the business class tickets. The business class sleepers are a notch more comfortable than their economy counterparts.

If you are not able to get on the trains, the other option would be to fly domestically. Flying, of course, will incur more costs and hassles. You may also have to arrange for private car transportation for inter-city transportation, which would not have been efficient given the vast distances between each main tourist city.

A Brief Itinerary for 13 Days

We spent the first day in Tashkent, and on the second day we took a speed train to Samarkand. We spent two days in Samarkand. From Samarkand we arranged for a tour pick-up to the Syyod Camp (the Nuratau Mountains). We spent two days at the camp there. Then we spent a day on transit between Syyod Camp and Bukhara, and saw Lake Aydarkul and Nurota in between.

In Bukhara, we spent three full days touring. Then we took an overnight train to Khiva. We met with our driver at Khiva station and toured Muynak for the whole day. Then we spent one-and-a-half day in Khiva. The train back in Tashkent took a whole afternoon plus overnight. We arrived back in Tashkent in the very early morning. We spent the final day in Tashkent seeing museums and mosques, until our flight at 7:30pm.

Upon Arrival

At the airport, there is a money changer and if the money changer is closed, you should approach the ATM right away. You may exchange your foreign currency into Uzbek SOM at the ATM. I brought USD, but EURO is also exchangeable.

By the time we made it to Buhkara, the exchange rate was better. Please do not count on finding an ATM for cash withdrawal. The Uzbek economy is heavily cash-based and we did not use our credit cards at all. We did manage to withdraw Uzbek SOM at a workable ATM in Khiva, but it is better just to exchange cash. Do note that you should be prepared to pay for your accommodation in hotels with cash as well. Unless you stay in large hotels, likely they will require you to pay in cash. Most would accept USD or EURO, however.

Once you have your Uzbek SOM, approach the Ucell counter and get a SIM card. The carrier has national coverage (except where we were at remote areas), and it was workable throughout. We selected the 35,000 SOM plan (about $3.5 USD). It came with perhaps 10 GB data and it was plenty for our two-week stay. This plan comes with unlimited data for Facebook and Instagram.

Do download the taxi app Yandex, as you will need that for calling taxi’s in the cities. If you just haul a cab on the street, the fees would be much higher than if you had a determined price when you book via Yandex.

The map app to use in Uzbekistan in Maps.Me. It is much more detailed and accurate than Google Map in Uzbekistan.

What to Pack

Please visit this website for what to pack for a trip in Uzbekistan. Depending on your preference for souvenirs, you may consider bringing a regular suitcase. We went light with no check-in baggage. Reason being that, if you would like to get their crafts as souvenirs, it is a good idea to bring a proper suitcase. Their pottery are very beautiful, and you can get a tea pot set for something like US $20. For me, the only souvenir I bought was spices, which fit well within my hand carry luggage.

In terms of grooming items, if you do not mind using hostel towels, they do provide them even at the cheaper end of the hostels that we stayed in. There is no need to bring a blow dryer. We had blow dryer even in the yurt camp. Finally, both ladies and gentlemen must specifically provide for sunscreen and moisturizer both for face and hands. The climate is very dry even with the rainy season there. The sun can be scorching as well.

Do check the weather forecast and bring warm clothing accordingly. I did not check for the weather in Khiva and we went from 38 degrees in Bukhara to 9 degrees in Khiva in a couple days. If you will be visiting places that are below 10 degrees, do layers and also bring a light fleece or down jacket.

Etiquette

Be very mindful of etiquette when you are in Uzbekistan. It is, culturally, an Islamic country. Although they do not require all women to wear a headscarf, you must dress appropriately even for touristy sites because chances are you will be visiting a lot of mosques. For ladies, it is better to cover your hair and not show bare shoulders when you visit the mosques, especially where there will be locals praying. Be it an Islamic country or not, respect of one’s culture is the basic for any traveler. Again, there is no need to wear a headscarf there, but I did to the extent that I could.