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A fantastic country, with open and welcoming people who are delighted to see European tourists, incredible sights and inspiring interiors
The interior of the Amur Timur mausoleum, a true wow moment…or arriving in Khiva to feel we were really on the Silk Road…no, the Registan or, or… in other words, the whole holiday
Takhir handled the usual “mixed” personalities with diplomacy and care. His telling of the stories behind the sites demonstrated his passion for history
Go
One of the most beautiful places I’ve been from the turquoise blue mosaics and the hand crafted embroidery and silks to the art deco style space metro station and Soviet constructivist sculptures
Tahir was kind, knowledgeable and consistently there for us whether it was endlessly changing money from one currency to another or patiently waiting for one or other of us, his recommendations of where to eat and what to eat, moving is between local eateries to internal flights and local trains and finally using his contacts to reclaim my coat after I left it on the last day in the train station hundreds of miles from Tashkent ~ a remarkable human being
Go!
The trip was well-paced, with a good variety of activities, transport and visits. It was great to have a larger coach, so we all had a window seat for long journeys. The hotel in Samarkand was nice, but a bit far from the main attractions when we had free time.
The long drive from Bukhara to Samarkand, stopping for drinks and toilet breaks in places where people have been doing exactly the same thing for thousands of years!
The group leader, Dilshod, was excellent. Incredibly knowledgeable and experienced, he balanced the needs of a diverse group very well.
Don't listen to anyone who tells you that Uzbekistan is unsafe or inaccessible. The recent tourism initiative has got rid of pretty much all red-tape, and there is virtually no street crime etc. Much less stressful than travelling in Egypt or the US! The vegetarian food is also much better than everyone leads you to believe.
Uzebekistan did not disappoint. All the main sites in Tashkent, Khiva, Bukhara, Samarkand are stunning, and the Uzbek people extremely friendly and welcoming. We were also lucky enough to get to visit the Savitsky Museum in Nukus due to the lack of flights to Urgench, and this was an additional highlight of the trip – I would recommend that Exodus consider including this in the regular itinerary, as it really didn’t add on much time to what was already a long drive anyway. Unfortunately, I can not be so positive about the night at the Yurt camp. While I enjoyed the drive through the desert and a chance for a little more wilderness and wildlife on what is generally a city-heavy trip, the actual camp was just an uncomfortable gimmick. There was no effort made by the camp, nor our team leader, to explain the history of Yurts and its relevance to Uzbek culture, and in reality we found ourselves in a busy basic campsite alongside about 3 other large noisy tour groups with limited and dirty toilet facilities (unlike the picture on the Exodus website which shows a small group of Yurts). We also weren’t given the opportunity (unlike the other groups) to camel ride as advertised in the itinerary – we had to either do it immediately on arrival, or not at all. Most worryingly, there was an enormous pile of abandoned plastic and broken glass behind the main Yurt buildings – hardly a sustainable experience. I would strongly recommend that Exodus just forget this Yurt experience, especially as it still requires a subsequent long and tiring ride to get to Samarkand the next day, which is especially painful after very little sleep in the Yurt and waiting arounf until 9.30 am to leave (unlike the other groups). If this trip must visit the desert, I would have preferred to stay in a local guesthouse in Nurata or somewhere similar (as some other companies do), and find out more about living in the desert environment – we leaned nothing at the Yurt camp other than not to do it again!
Strolling around the beautiful streets of Khiva at night - hardly anyone else around and very atmospheric.
Our tour leader Barbor was very proud of his country, and certainly knew his history. However, he was not the best at handling or organising a group, and I feel that our tour did suffer because of this - it felt like we had a lot of wasted opportunities. For example, instead of using the long bus journeys to explain what we would be doing that day, and the approximate timings and activities, he would wait to tell us everything on arrival, wasting valuable time. In addition, he was often vague about the sequence of sites and visits. This was particularly relevant in Samarkand when we lost the opportunity to visit the bazaar, which then turned out to be closed the next day when we had some free time. He would also sometimes "disappear" when we most needed him (e.g., on our first day in Tashkent when we were told we had 30 minutes for lunch but had no idea how to find it [especially given we had just arrived on a late night flight]). I feel that with another guide we could have had a richer experience. As it was, the tour was just ok.
It is easy to change money from dollars/pounds on the first day - we found that $200 each for the whole trip was just enough. It is almost impossible to use your credit card anywhere you visit apart from Samarkand, so you will need cash. Enjoy the bullet train from Samarkand to Khiva. I is a real treat and it was fun getting to 231 km/hr - beat that! Walking around at any time of day or night felt completely safe, and the tourist police (in Bukhara) are especially helpful even if it is just o ask directions. Buy any souvenirs in Bukhara or Khiva - Samarkand surprisingly does not have the same opportunities. Organise your own final group dinner in Tashkent or, perhaps better still, have it the day before in Samarkand. We ended up at the Gabrielle hotel in Tashkent were we were staying, the service is awful and the food expensive (perhaps why the tour leader chose not to stay and eat).
95% of the mausoleums, pishtaqs and madrasahs, though built many hundreds of years ago, are subject to very frequent maintenance and in some cases rebuilding. As such they look like new! There are a few ruins but these are mainly to be found in the desert.
Gur-i Amir at night in Samarkand
Encyclopaedic knowledge of the country and it's history.
As with any tour the local agency make changes to the itinerary. In this case the camel ride (Day 8) was just 10-15 minutes shortly after we arrived at the Yurt camp (Day 7). The trip notes highlight a 10 to 11 hour drive on bad roads (Day 4) but it doesn't advertise the 6 hour drive under similar conditions on Day 8. Unfortunately the vehicle used throughout did not have suitable air-con so in the 38-40C we all struggled a bit. Day 10 "we have a farewell dinner..." states the trip notes. If you want a farewell dinner you have to arrange it yourself as the local company doesn't do it. Having said that after the journey from Samarkand to Tashkent you arrive back at the hotel at 20:45 and several did not want to eat at that hour knowing we had an early start for the airport the next day.
Finally travelling again after a tough couple of years and I couldn’t have picked a better place for my first trip – Uzbekistan. I understand the group I was on was the first time the trip had run since the lockdowns, but everything ran smoothly, and it was a great group of people I was travelling with.
The toughest part of the trip was arriving into Tashkent at 3am, getting to the hotel at 4am and then back up at 10am for a day tour around the capital! However our guide – Dilshod – was excellent and pitched things at the right level considering most of the group were sleep deprived!
The next day was another early start and a flight up to Khiva. Part of the reason I chose the Exodus trip is because it went there (some tour companies skip this) and it didn’t disappoint. The hotel was ideally situated just by the gates into the old city allowing us to wander in and explore on our own after Dilshod had shown us around the main sites. We were also lucky enough to experience the preparations for an international traditional dance festival the Uzbek Tourism board have started and as a result there were many locals in traditional costume wandering the old city.
Next stop was Bukhara which I adored. There’s so much to see and do here and whilst the area around the hotel (Lyabi House complex) did feel very touristy, there were many locals around too and it was a short walk to many of the key sites. The free time here in the evening and during the afternoon on the final day in Bukhara was great to just wander at your own pace, or, after a few days in the heat, to visit a hammam as a couple of us did, to relax and get the knots in your shoulders/back pummelled away!
The drive from Bukhara to Samarkand is a long one which I’d guess is why there’s a stop at a yurt camp in order to avoid a super long day. I’ve spent a couple of weeks in yurts in Mongolia which were smaller but nicer than those here. I’m not sure if its because they haven’t had many guests during the pandemic, but the yurt camp felt a little run down, but it was only for a single night.
Samarkand, like Bukhara has loads to see and keep you busy but definitely feels more of a big city than Bukhara did. However, the scale of the buildings here dwarf anything in Bukhara with their sheer size. The jewel in Samarkand’s crown is of course the Registan and its certainly impressive. Definitely go back on your own when the sun has set to see it lit up.
Kudos must go to our guide, Dilshod. He was superb – even rearranging personal evening plans a few times to help the group out ordering dinner, etc and on the long bus trips was full of knowledge, history and jokes, keeping everyone entertained.
Nope - just book it and go! You won't regret it.
An amazing trip if you’re interested in Early to modern civilisation, beautiful architecture and a country rediscovering its heritage and crafts. The people are very welcoming, dress code is relaxed and beer or wine is always an option at mealtimes. It’s a country worth seeing now.
The unexpected ‘wild swim’ in the lake and visiting the beautiful Shah-I-Zinda on the day families were celebrating Eid are both magical memories.
Absolutely fantastic! Dilshod’s knowledge of ancient and modern history, the architecture, crafts and culture in each city was phenomenal; and his willingness to share his own stories of recent history put this trip right up with the best.
If you have a problem with pillows try and take your own travel pillow!
I have had to give this trip a 2 star because of the guide, although I take no pleasure in doing this. He was inexperienced and quite unfriendly at times. This was my 6th Exodus trip and this was my worst ever guide by a long way. See group leader section.
I absolutely loved swimming in Aidarkul Lake and the desert scenery on the way to and from the yurt. I also loved Samarkand and particularly Shah-i-Zinda.
Our group leader Shakh appeared to be inexperienced, he lacked friendliness at times and he showed a complete lack of interest in the fact that I was very badly ill twice. I had arrived a few days earlier (as a solo female traveller) and the day before I met the group I suffered sickness and diarhoea. On first meeting Shakh at the group meeting I mentioned this to him and I could not believe the almost complete lack of interest. In fact, I thought this so unusual, that I repeated myself in case he had not heard. We later went on our tour of Tashkent and I very nearly fainted (as I had not eaten due to the bug). Again Shakh was barely interested, pointed to a door where I could reach the outside and left me to it. Only when the other members of the group asked me if I was OK did Shakh very briefly check on me. A few days after that the bug returned and I was up all night with the worst illness I have ever encountered. The next day I again mentioned this to the guide and he was still uninterested (and no offers of pharmacy stops were made). Other problems with Shakh were:- not having sufficient water for our group in the first few days of the trip (at the desert fortresses we had run out of water completely in the heat and we also run out of water in the morning at Khiva). In fact, at the desert fortresses, I asked Shakh where the water was and he snapped back that he had not picked up the 10 litre bottle yet. As we had driven from the airport at Nukus there had been plenty of opportunity to pick up water. After that I no longer trusted Shakh to provide water and just bought my own to make sure I always had a supply. I have been on 5 other Exodus trips and on all those trips the guide has eaten with the group and the guides have been good/fantastic. This guide did not eat with us on the first night in Tashkent nor the first night in Samarkand and on around 4 or 5 other occasions. He was not always very friendly or smiley, which I think is the requirement of a guide. In fact one time we passed him in the street during our free time and he did not even smile or acknowledge us. The restaurant chosen for our final lunch in Samarkand was appalling in terms of service and again Shakh sat at a neighbouring table. Some of our food took an hour and a quarter or more to arrive and no complaints were made by him, to my knowledge. Then when the bill came the prices had changed markedly, for example the soup price had increased by over 50% and all the other prices had changed. This situation was awful and was handled very badly by the guide. The coach was not always asked to collect us, e.g from right outside the airport, so we were left with quite long distances to drag our cases. This was not really a problem for me as I had a rucksack (albeit a heavy one) but some of the other travellers were in their 70's and I am sure they would have benefited from being picked up. Shakh gave out his mobile number in case of emergency, with instructions NOT to ring him at night. Whilst I am sure most people would not ring the guide at night, emergencies can of course happen at night. On a more positive note Shakh was very knowledgeable about the history and geography of Uzbekistan and I very much enjoyed his commentaries, especially when he told us about his wedding. He also improved as the 11 days progressed (except for the final lunch incident). However I think being completely uninterested in the health of your travellers is completely unacceptable.
Sadly a number of people in our group were ill. Take plenty of rehydration salts. The bread is at least delicious, so you can survive on that! Do get out for a walk in the area around the yurt. I had a couple of little walks and it was so peaceful and the wildlife great.
We would like to thank Ann for her review; we were pleased to read she enjoyed the itinerary and found it to have a good combination of nature and cities, as we feel this is something that makes Uzbekistan such a special country to visit. We were, however, very sorry to read that she was disappointed with her tour leader, Shahrukh. Having discussed this with a member of the Exodus team who has also travelled with Shahrukh, who is an experienced guide, we feel that he has potential to be a great tour leader for us, so we have asked the local team to carry out some additional training regarding what is expected by Exodus and our clients. While we are sorry that this cannot alter Ann’s experience, we hope that this shows we have taken her review on board. Jennifer Cox – Product Manager
The names of Samarkand and Bukhara have conjured dreams since my school days many years ago and I never thought I would have a chance to see them. The fall of the USSR and now visa-free travel has left this land of desert fortresses, caravan stops and the beautiful buildings covered in ornate blue tiles within reach. The land of Tamerlane, the vastness of the central Asian steppes and the magical cross-roads of civilisations and learning need to be seen to be believed.
Arriving in Khiva and seeing the Silk Road monuments for the first time.
Shah is a young man fairly new to the industry. He is very knowledgeable but lacks some of the finesse and inter-personal skills that come with experience.
Uzbekistan is far easier to enjoy than imagined. Outside Tashkent English is widely spoken, particularly in the tourist industry and amongst the young. With a stay up to 15 days now visa free for tourists from a large range of countries including the UK this is the time to travel before too many people start making their plans and prices start rising.
A good overview of the country taking in the historic and architectural highlights of Uzbekistan. Transport was Good although it was evident that the train journey was more often than not unavailable. On a personal note, I felt that the group size (16) was too large.
The city of Khiva was the highlight for me. Still relatively unaffected by mass tourism and the locals were pleasant (as they were throughout) and interested to learn about their visitors.
Excellent, well informed and concerned for the welfare of the group.
Go now before mass tourism makes its mark.
