WHITE FIELDS
RED SANDS
BLUE TILES

A ten-day legacy journey to Central Asia’s most celebrated stan following a rather unusual route across lesser known and oftentimes downright forgotten backcountry provinces and Soviet outposts. Beyond a polished façade of Silk Road kitsch, exoticist narratives, and anachronistic restorations is where the real Uzbekistan hides!

AUGUST 31 ⇾ September 09

In addition to our regular group departures to Uzbekistan, we also offer tailored services for private travel parties and lone wolves alike. Get in touch for more info on our customised Uzbekistan Tours!

THE ROUTE

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DAY 1 to DAY 3 • A SOVIET METROPOLIS AND ITS SATELLITES

Meet-and-greet at Tashkent International Airport and transfer to our hotel of choice in central Tashkent.

We’ll spend the first three days of our Soviet Uzbekistan tour gallivanting in and around Tashkent, the national capital, losing ourselves among the many USSR-era gems of what was once the fourth-largest city in the entire Soviet Union: kaleidoscopic mosaics, colossal monuments and memorials, modernist concrete patterns, meandering street markets, and richly decorated metro stations.

Our sojourn will also include a few side trips out of the city knocking around Soviet working towns such as Yangiabad and Yangibazar and pay a de rigueur visit to the gargantuan solar furnace in Parkent.

Overnights in Tashkent.

DAY 3 TO DAY 4 • LOST ART AND SHRINKING WATERS

In the morning we’ll board a domestic flight bound for Nukus, the dusty capital of Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic within western Uzbekistan designed by the Soviets as an administratively and politically regulated homeland for the indigenous Turkic-speaking Karakalpaks.

As soon as we touch the windswept Karakalpak ground, we’ll head for the rather desolate city of Kungrad, once a thriving staging spot along the region branch of the Silk Road, and subsequently drive further north to reach the unearthly salt fields of Baras-Kermes.

From Baras-Kermes we’ll move east towards Sudochie Lake, an almost intact natural reserve within the vast Amu Darya watershed, and visit the end-of-the-world kishlak (hamlet) of Urga, before eventually entering the mighty Ustyurt Plateau, an endless transboundary clay desert stretching across Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan.

Our next stop on the plateau will be the remote Soviet settlement of Kubla-Ustyurt (formerly Komsomol) with its photogenically forsaken airfield and then we’ll descent towards the current shores of the Aral Sea.

Formerly the fourth largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea has been shrinking since the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet irrigation projects.
The southern shoreline of the Aral Sea, our goal for the day, lies now more than one hundred miles further north than it used to be and what’s been left behind is a somber wasteland aptly named Aral Kum (Aral sands), while former fishing towns along the original shores have now become ship graveyards.

Once we’ll reach the waterside, we'll set up a camp and prepare for a night full of stars, hundreds of kilometres from any form of civilisation.

The following day we’ll start at dawn at head back to Nukus, where we shall surface just in time for lunch and an afternoon city tour of bazaars, mosaic-adorned mass-housing architecture, and the surprisingly rich Savitsky Collection of Renegade Soviet Art.

Overnights in Karakalpakstan.

DAY 5• RED SANDS AND FOLK ROCK

Early start in Nukus and long overland journey across cotton fields and red sands to the mythical city of Uchkuduk, a lost Soviet-era urban outpost rising out from the scorching dunes of the Kyzyl-Kum and eternalised by the eponym USSR-wide chart-topper Uchkuduk by Yalla, a Soviet-Uzbek folk rock ensemble with more hairs than talent.

We’ll make our gloriously begrimed entry into lovely Uchkuduk in the early afternoon hours and spend the rest of the day roaming around this desolate utopia of somewhat pleasant bleakness.

Overnight in Uchkuduk.

BESPOKE experienceS

A plov cooking class in Bukhara, an authentic family meal in rural Karakalpakstan, and a private visit to a USSR-era House of Culture near Tashkent.

DAY 6 to DAY 7• EMIRS AND REVOLUTIONARIES

Bidding farewell to Uchkuduk and the endless expanses of emptiness this forlorn city lies amidst, we’ll transfer south to Bukhara, a fabled Silk Road of Persian and Jewish heritage.

We’ll cross the threshold to Bukhara in the late afternoon and enjoy a sunset saunter around the meanders of the old city crowned by a well-deserved Persian dinner.

The following morning we’ll kick off with a full-day sightseeing walk all around Bukhara and its many wonders: spectacular ancient mosques, mausoleums, Jewish cemeteries, antique necropolis, dusty backstreets, crumbling houses, and – needless to say – Soviet art and architecture.

Overnights in Bukhara.

DAY 8 to Day 9• SILK ROAD POMP AND HIDDEN CULTURES

Today we’ll travel by train to Samarkand, a cosmopolitan [post] Soviet city where a plethora of diverse cultures (Uzbek, Russian, Tajik, Jew, Ukrainian, Tatar, Turkmen, and even Korean) blend together to form a compelling mixture of languages and culinary traditions.

A centre of primary importance on the Silk Road and capital of the Timurid empire and the second largest city of the Uzbek SSR, Samarkand harbours a captivating concoction of medieval edifices, Tsarist palaces, and Soviet behemots.

Beyond its Timurid marvels, socialist mosaics, and elegant Russian mansions, Samarkand is also unjustly notorious for its large Lyuli population, the “gypsies” of Central Asia: accompanied by a member of the local community we will delve into a Lyuli neighbourhood and go beyond the many clichés still associated with this much-misunderstood culture.

Overnights in Samarkand.

DAY 10 • FAREWELL TO THE COTTON FIELDS

After sharing a last Uzbek meal together, we'll take care of your transfer to either Samarkand International Airport or Samarkand Train Station for you homeward flight via either Istanbul or Tashkent.

Possible tour extensions include: Turkmenistan and/or the Pamir Highway.

End of the tour.

2290 €

INCLUSIONS
Double/twin-room accommodation (breakfast included), private transport in Uzbekistan (car/minivan), all entrance fees, English-speaking guiding service, 24/7 on-site and remote assistance.

EXCLUSIONS
Single supplement, international flights, main meals (lunches and dinners), extra drinks, visa fees (if required), tips, travel insurance.