Destinations
Tashkent's Old City: A Walking Guide
A half-day walk through Tashkent's surviving old quarters: Hazrati Imam, the mahalla lanes, Chorsu bazaar and the Kukeldash madrasah, with timings and etiquette.
Author · 223 guides · page 12
Toofan Singh
Destinations
Chor-Bakr: The City of the Dead Outside Bukhara
A 16th-century necropolis five kilometres from Bukhara: courtyards, family tombs, peacocks and almost no tourists. How to get there and what to combine it with.
Culture & History
Magoki-Attori: Bukhara's Oldest Mosque
The mosque in the pit: five metres below modern Bukhara, on a site that was a bazaar and a temple before it was a mosque, and a carpet museum today.
Things to Do
Tosh Hovli Palace: Khiva's Harem Courtyards
Inside Khiva's Tosh Hovli palace: the harem courtyard, the three courts, the khan who wanted it finished in two years, and how to read the tilework.
Things to Do
Kunya Ark: Inside Khiva's Old Fortress
Khiva's citadel explained: the khan's throne yard, the summer mosque tiles, the mint, the jail and the bastion with the best sunset view in the city.
Culture & History
Afrasiyab: Samarkand's Ancient City and Museum
The Samarkand that existed before Timur: the Afrasiyab mounds, the 7th-century Ambassadors' Painting, what the museum holds and how to visit the site.
Things to Do
Islam Khoja Minaret and Madrasah, Khiva
Khiva's tallest minaret: 57 metres, 175 dark steps, the best view of Itchan Kala, plus the museum below and the vizier who built it and was murdered.
Culture & History
Pahlavan Mahmud Mausoleum, Khiva
Khiva's holiest building: the tomb of a wrestler, poet and furrier who became the city's patron saint, plus tiles, etiquette and when to visit.
Things to Do
Bukhara's Trading Domes: Shopping Under 16th-Century Cupolas
Bukhara's four trading domes explained: what each one sold in the 1500s, what's sold there now, how to tell real from fake, and how to bargain properly.
Itineraries
Central Asia in Three Weeks: A Realistic Route
A realistic 21-day Central Asia route: Uzbekistan's Silk Road cities, Kazakhstan's Turkestan and Almaty, then Kyrgyzstan's mountains and lakes.