Blog
Useful articles about trips, tips and service updates
Samarkand Plov: How It Differs from the Tashkent Style
Layered serving, yellow carrots and rice that is never stirred: we break down how Samarkand plov is made and where and how to try it.
The Besh Qozon Plov Centre: How It Works and What to Order
Tashkent's most famous plov centre: giant cauldrons, serving times, what to order with your plov and how not to arrive to empty pots. A practical guide for a first visit.
Morning Plov in Tashkent: Why It Is Eaten Before Noon
The tradition of plov for breakfast, the men's dawn "nahorgi osh", cauldrons that run empty by lunchtime, and how not to miss the best plov in the capital.
Tashkent's Railway Museum: Steam Locomotives in the Open Air
Steam, diesel and electric locomotives next to the capital's main station: what to see, how long to allow and how to combine the museum with a trip to Samarkand.
The Muhammad Amin Khan Madrasa and the Other Madrasas of Khiva
How Khiva's madrasas are laid out, which ones are now a hotel and which are museums, and which are worth visiting in Itchan Kala if you only have one day.
Kokand: The Modari Khan Mausoleum and the Dakhmai Shakhon Necropolis
Kokand's lesser-known monuments: the tiled mausoleum of the khan's mother and the rulers' tomb with carved doors. What to see and how to combine them with Khudayar Khan's palace.
Nurata Fortress and the Chashma Spring: What to See in Nurata
A holy spring full of fish, fortress ruins linked to Alexander the Great and an old mosque: how to spend a day in Nurata between Samarkand and Bukhara.
The Derbent Gorge and the Iron Gates of Southern Uzbekistan
A historic pass on the Samarkand to Termez road, described by Chinese pilgrims: legends, mountain views and where to stop for photos on the way south.
Teshik-Tash Cave: A Neanderthal Site in the Boysun Mountains
Where the remains of a Neanderthal child were found in 1938, how to reach the cave in the Boysun mountains, who to go with and what else to see in the area.
The Kitab Latitude Station: An Observatory on the 39th Parallel
Why one of the stations of the International Latitude Service ended up in little Kitab, what it measures, and what a traveller can see on the road from Samarkand.
The Tashkent TV Tower: observation deck and restaurant
How to reach the observation deck, whether you need a passport, when the mountain range on the horizon is best visible and what to see nearby if you are in the capital for a day.
The State Museum of the History of Uzbekistan
What to see in the country's main history museum if you want context before travelling: from the Buddhist monuments of the south to the Timurid era and the khanates.