Travels

We woke up to a rainy morning in Samarkand. I had my Uzbek breakfast early in the morning and watched the rain as I ate. The weather was cool, perhaps in the low 20’s. We were going to see the Sha-I-Zinda that day, as the …

In our first night at the Bahodir B&B, we were quite disturbed by the group singing that went well into the depths of the night. The songs sounded like Christian songs to me, and I thought there were some evangelicals also staying at the hotel. …

Amir Timur ruled via the puppet khans in the khanate kingdoms in which he managed to consolidate his power. This was because Amir Timur himself was not a descendant of the Genghis Khan. Without this lineage he could not become the Khan. He became qurkan …

The Registan of Samarkand is the very soul of the ancient city’s heritage. Standing majestic in the heart of Samarkand, the Registan has witnessed the turns of history that shaped the ancient city as well as Uzbekistan. Its historic presence represents Samarkand’s legacy as an …

There is speed rail in Uzbekistan. We made it to our 7am train to Samarkand. About two hours later, we arrived in Samarkand. From the train station we took a taxi to Bahodir B&B, where we would stay for two nights until we headed out …

After visiting metro art, we exited the Amir Timur station and arrived at the vicinity of the Amir Timur Square. When we saw Hotel Uzbekistan, we decided that we could take a break and have coffee there. Our coffee session turned out to be an …

Time stopped at 5:23am, April 26th 1966 in Uzbekistan. An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale and a depth of 3-8 kilometers shook the nation and shattered the infrastructures of Tashkent. The damage was so extensive that it rendered 300,000 homeless. …

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 bazaars are as much for the locals as they are for the tourists. The Chorsu Bazaar features a few distinct areas of a marketplace. There are stalls for dried goods and clothes, there are open-area stalls for knick-knacks and fresh fruits. And then there …

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. …