Late Summer Trip to my Uzbekistan: Cities from 1001 Nights 🪔🧞🌞

We'll start our trip in Nukus, taking the direct flights from Istanbul(or via). This way we can make our way from the west to the east and witness the vast contrast from Kipchak(Karakalpakstan), Oghuz(Khiva), Karluk Persianate(Bukhara and Samarkand) and international(Tashkent) Uzbekistan. Nukus is the capital of the Karakalpak Republic, famous for their highly nomadic and super friendly (even by Uzbek standards) people. The capital is very westernized, home to the famous Savitsky museum and emerging market of Karakalpak restaurant culture. We'll have to leave the city a bit to see a very local way of life. Karakalpaks are highly nomadic(to this day), but at the same time, their meals are mainly fish-based. We'll visit a local family for some Karakalpak lunch and get to see some Yurt life, if we are lucky, from very native perspective. By taking a day trip from Moynak, we'll go through some ecological disaster, nowadays called "The Moynaq Ship Graveyard". People say it's beautiful on its own, but realistically speaking it's what it is, although there are ecological activites ongoing in an effort to reverse this disaster.

Moynak is a reminder of what science might lead to, if applied wrongly. Once a beautiful bustling town famous for its lakes and fishing industry, the cultural capital of Karakalpaks now suffers from a series of environmental challenges: dust and sand storms. We will not stay here long, just a day to see the Aral catastrophy and dead navy ships of Bukharan Emirate (the remnants of which we'd explore in Bukhara) while driving through some otherworldy landscapes. Will be a bizarre view! We'll come back to Nukus, and stay one more night here.

As the next destination, we will go to Khiva, the "museum" city as it has been authentically preserved. Khiva and the region's musical culture is considered Unesco Heritage in addition to the city itself. But I love their thousands of old musical culture with its own ballet academy. The town is built from adobe(mud) and the architectural style is quite impressive.

From Khiva we'll take the Soviet train or fly to visit Bukhara. *Means of transport might differ (after we discuss this as a group) from a train to a plane as it's a very hard and long journey(1000km through the Kyzylkum desert) in an old Soviet train. Bukhara is a highly persianate city of Uzbekistan. And the former empire capital of the former Persian empire. Prior to Russian Empire's invasion, the city was similar to the canal cities of Europe: Amsterdam, Venice, Brugge.. Some, but very few have preserved to this day and there are two big lakes near Bukhara. We'll explore those lakes, the old town with the Grand Bazaar and some of the remnants of the last empire: The Uzbek Bukhara Emirate. I have to be honest, even as a Samarkandi, I must say Bukhara offers more historic vibes: Here are some places we will visit: - Preislamic Bukhara: the Ark, Labi Khovuz and Bukhari Hammam(optional). - Islamic Bukhara: Minora-i Kalon, some mosques and medreses, the bazaar. - Uzbek(15th century ruling tribes) legacy: palaces(Sitora-i Mokhikhosa) and medreses. - Jewish Bukhara (synogogues) and jewish craftsmanship. While staying in Bukhara, we'll a day trip to Tudakul! I don't have pictures of it, but imagine a sweet water lake in the middle of the desert. To be honest, I also don't know what to expect here, it would be my first trip too. But many have said they like the lake and the new resort-style facilities. There are still wilder parts of it as well as ones with more local flair. We can discuss which side to pick to hang out at once the group has formed.

Next, I'll be happy to welcome you in my hometown, Samarkand! Which I believe, I know inside out. But everytime is like a first time for me, so I would be happy to show you around and talk you through the 2000 plus years of its history and culture and why we all look like Persians - but not so quite, Turks - still not much, Slavic - tiny bit, and a bit Chinese! And accordingly, you will witness the harmoniuous existence of some elements from all of these cultures. We'll stay three and a half days here and get to see the following: - historical sites: Rehistan, Shakhizinda, Bibikhanum mosque, Siab Bazaar - carpet weaving, silk weaving, bread and wine making artisan shops and have some Samarkandi plov - between these, we'll visit the village below:

We'll take an exciting day trip from Samarqand to one of the mountainous villages. It is a peculiar 5-(might be also 4) storey village, which is organized by the height levels. We can indulge in some real fruits and food here, hang out with shepherds: they love tea, alcohol, and are quite fun people.

We will end our trip from Tashkent, the capital and bustling city of the country. Tashkent has a lot of culture and art to afford as the country's best talents gather here. We will take it easy here by mainly wrapping up the trip and visiting some of the nice sites such as: - the Chorsu bazaar - the old city - some of hip cafes and night life of Tashkent