Uzbekistan Uncovered

Fabulous trip. We saw the famous cities and sites, and also travelled out into more remote areas. A real insight into the geography, the culture, and the history

An epic adventure full of jaw dropping moments & experiences: Desert to ancient cities, mountains, museums & a whole lot more. The scale, size & beauty of the architectural monuments alone is spectacular. An unforgettable(but tiring) trip..the people are very friendly, the food is plentiful & cheap compared to the UK & the artisanal crafts just exquisite. Be prepared for a tiring first 2 days especially, as jet lag will ‘get’ you & overall I think the trip should be re-classified as Moderate as their isn’t much down time at all & the middle 3 days (Home stay, overnight train, Yurt camp ) with a long minibus drive on extremely bumpy track is quite exhausting. Pack as light as you can (make space for taking some of the amazing textiles home)& comfortable travelling clothes. Take dollars & change them when you get there (not everywhere takes cards or dollars-Uzbek Som preferred). I do think that Exodus should review the itinerary if possible as the long road trip on very bumpy track was tough & we had a full size coach into the Homestay when 2 Mini buses would have been better as the coach really struggled to get through the narrow roads. Does the final section from Bukhara to Tashkent have to be by train??Travellers be prepared for long presentations by the Tour Leader when you arrive at a site (to be honest, these should be shortened as its very hard to take lots of info in when you’re recovering from jet leg). Hotels overall very good . An experience (or hundred) for a lifetime!!

This trip was the perfect mix of big-name Silk Road cities and places I’d never heard of but will never forget. It was amazing to explore the spots you read about in history books, but I also really loved getting off the main tourist trail. Walking through what used to be the Aral Sea was eye-opening. It’s one of those moments that makes you pause and reflect. Uzbekistan is bigger than you expect, so there are definitely some long travel days, but they’re totally worth it if you go in with a good attitude.

A fascinating mix of tree-filled, modern cities and desert with welcoming locals and well-situated hotels. Uzbekistan is a country I would recommend to anyone looking for something a bit different. Bukhara had a lovely atmosphere and which I enjoyed exploring in the evenings. The mosaic-tiled buildings, although there are a lot of them throughout the trip never fail to be awe-inspiring with the detail and care put into their construction. Other highlights included a visit to a desert fort after a delicious traditional lunch at a neighbouring yurt camp and the Savitsky Museum/Nukus Museum of Art in Nukus, which houses a large collection of ancient artifacts and soviet era avant-garde artwork. The food was also fantastic value.

A trip full of colour and beautiful buildings. The blue and turquoise colours and the intricate design of the religious buildings are breathtaking. Our guide Dilshod made the trip with incredible knowledge and passion for his country. The group also contributed to a great trip, all lovely people and we all got on well. Most of our hotels were well situated. There are so many parks and trees in each town which made walking very pleasant. We felt completely safe at all time. The people are very friendly and welcome tourists. The only disappointment was our stay in a yurt. The camp lacked atmosphere, no entertainment was provided except half of hour of singing and music organised by our guide who borrowed a nice man from another camp. Exodus should choose another camp or spend another day in the beautiful Samarkand.