One of the main draws to Uzbekistan for many aesthetically inclined travelers — myself included — is its intricate tilework and mosaics in a monochrome rainbow of blues, ranging from pale turquoise to inky cobalt. All over the country, mosaics and tilework are an important point of national pride and identity. And perhaps nowhere is…
For my nearly month-long trip around Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (and a side quest into Tajikistan for a day), I did that will seem something pretty absurd to most people: I packed only one carry-on backpack. Over the decade I’ve spent travel blogging, I’ve been working to simplify my packing. That’s because I am a…
With its maze of streets interwoven in a compact city center that contains beautiful madrasah façades, artisans in the open-air bazaars (called toqis), and historic Silk Road structures, Bukhara lives up to every bit of hype. And while there are plenty of hotels inside Bukhara’s historic center, I loved staying at Duston Boutique Hotel just…
While most visitors to Bukhara will easily spend their entire time inside the city’s historic center, some of the city’s most interesting sights are actually outside the old walls. Though I definitely can’t speak ill of the city center of Bukhara, I have to say, the majority of my favorite sights laid outside the walls….
I’ve always been fascinated by textiles from around the world — this universal desire we have as people to tell stories through cloth. You can see it in the huipil of Guatemala, the batik of Indonesia, the saris of India; cloth is a blank canvas that bears the markings of each culture’s tradition. Uzbekistan is…
For most people staying in Nukus, the capital of Karakalpakstan, it marks either the beginning or the end of an Aral Sea adventure. With one of the best locations in Nukus, easy walking distance from the famous Savitsky Museum and some of the city’s better restaurants, Jipek Joli Hotel is a welcome oasis for travelers…
If you take a trip from Nukus to the Aral Sea, you’ll see a very interesting slice of Uzbekistan that few tourists get to see. Most travelers stick to the famous blue-tiled Silk Road cities, sometimes stopping at Bukhara, occasionally making it out to Khiva. Few tourists continue the journey further west into Uzbekistan, into…
Visiting the autonomous region of Karakalpakstan is a great addition to Uzbekistan itineraries for travelers who want to get off the typical Tashkent-Samarkand-Bukhara-Khiva route. If you make it to Khiva, I definitely think it’s worth it to continue onwards to Nukus, the capital of Karakalpakstan and the beginning and end point of most Aral Sea…
Nukus is often thought of as the gateway to the Aral Sea, but I think it’s a very intriguing destination in Uzbekistan in its own right. From its world-class Savitsky art museum to bustling bazaars, from its unique architectural style to its Karakalpak culture, Nukus offers a lot more than just being a waypoint between…
