Samarkand, Uzbekistan
One of the oldest cities in Asia, oozing in history, culture and incredible architecture, Samarkand is a city that inspires feelings of wonder and incredulity. Known for its’ mosques, mausoleums and minarets, the city is located on the Silk Road which connected China with the Mediterranean and is also historically important for its trading and exports of silk.
Called a ‘Crossroad of Cultures’ by UNESCO, the city is pretty much entirely protected due to its’ rich cultural and structural importance; evidence of settlements in the area go back as far as 1500 BC. The third largest city in Uzbekistan and once the capital of the Timurid Empire in the 14th century, Samarkand flourished under the rule of Amir Timur’s grandson Ulugh Beg who transformed the city into a centre of architectural and scientific advancements.
Now a vibrant and lively centre for tourism and trade, the city is home to half a million people and hosts nearly three hundred thousand tourists a year. The city has been ‘cleaned up’ in recent years, with central areas pedestrianised and modernised, perhaps to give off a more polished façade to tourists.
When to go: Winters here are extremely cold, and summers extremely hot. Shoulder seasons are the best time to visit - April to June and September to November. We visited in October and it was still around 28 degrees Celsius most days.
Essentials to pack: Trainers for easy city traversing, long sleeved tops and trousers, sun cream, cardigans for covering up in religious or sacred places, some Disney tracks on your phone? (This very much feels like the setting for Aladdin!)
Currency: Som - £1 is approximately 15,000 Som
Must see: The Registan, Shah-I-Zinda Mausoleum, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, Siyob Bazaar, The Jewish Quarter.
How to get there: Flights from London Heathrow to Tashkent (capital of Uzbekistan) are direct and take around 7 hours - approx. £600pp return. Once in Tashkent, trains to Samarkand run several times a day, take between 1.5 and 3 hours and cost between £15-25 depending on whether you take the bullet train or the slow train.
Public transport: There are busses in the city but they tend to skirt the centre which is pedestrianised. We walked everywhere on foot as it is a relatively small city and all sites were easy to get to.
Where to stay: We wanted to stay somewhere that was within easy reach of the main attractions in the city but also wanted to keep the costs down so naturally we looked for a hostel. I wanted a private bedroom/bathroom if possible. We found a perfect combination at The Old Radio Hostel - https://www.booking.com/hotel/uz/old-radio-samarkand.en-gb.html which cost £90 for three nights in a double room with private bathroom, including taxes and breakfast - a bargain!
3 day itinerary:
Day 1:
Begin with breakfast at your hotel or hostel - every place we stayed in this area included breakfast in the price and it is something the Uzbek’s are very proud of. The breakfast at the Old Radio hostel was incredible - eggs, meats, bread, homemade pancakes, cakes, coffee, tea and more. Once you’ve had your fill, head out of the hostel and down the pedestrianised Tashkent Road - your first big sight to see is only a five minute walk.
Start your time in Samarkand at the grandest sight of all; The Registan. Take some time on the viewing platform to soak up the views and then head over to buy a ticket at the side entrance. Tickets cost around 50,000 Som (£3.50) which is a great price to enter and explore not only the exterior of the buildings but the interior too.
The Registan is made up of three ginormous ancient buildings called madrassah’s; centres for teaching and learning - grand schools. You can enter each of them to learn more about the history of the teaching centres, the city and the buildings themselves.
One madrassah hosts several small shops within its inner courtyard walls; the prices of these shops is expensive as you are in the most touristic area of the city. Being up close to the incredible ornate tilework is the most special part about visiting the Registan, and just admiring the buildings and architecture.
If you can tear yourself away from Registan Square, head over to Amir Temur Park nearby to see the statues of tigers, and then on to the roundabout with the huge statue of Amir Temur on it - you can’t miss it.
After your sightseeing and walking around the city you have earnt some lunch! Head to Magistr cafe nearby, for a cheap but tasty selection of traditional Uzbek food such as Shashlik (grilled meat) or Laghman (noodles with vegetables and meat).
Head to Alt Stadt Beerhaus in another nearby park for a great locally brewed beer (or three) and a chill out in the sun on their garden terrace.
Heading back towards the hostel, amble down the Tashkent Road and nip in and out of the souvenir shops as you wish - there are some great bargains to be had here - perhaps a silk scarf from the silk road, or a handwoven bag for all your new buys. There is also a great selection of art to be found around this area.
For dinner go to Zagaron, but make sure you get there before sunset (which can be extremely early in Uzbekistan - when we were there it was around 5pm) to watch the sun go down over the incredible and ornate Bibi Khanym Mosque next to the restaurant. The food and drinks here are great too.
Day 2:
Begin day 2 with a breakfast elsewhere if you’re wanting to explore the area - the nearby Art Café has a great selection and is perfectly positioned for your wanderings today.
Stroll over to the Bibi-Khanym Mosque which is practically next door and buy tickets at the entrance gates - they cost around 30,000 Som per person (£2). The beautiful buildings here are mesmerising in their grandeur and height, but they are in desperate need of some repair which you will see from the ailing tilework and paint.
It is said that Bibi-Khanym, wife of Temir, had the mosque built for her husband as a surprise whilst he was away. A feat of engineering at the time, she needed an incredibly skilled architect. The architect fell madly in love with Bibi-Khanym and would not complete the project unless she let him kiss her. The kiss left a mark on her face and on his return Temir ordered that all women would cover their hair and skin in order to reduce temptation to other men.
After your visit to the mosque, go to the nearby Siyob Bazaar which is the local market on every day from 5am-7pm and is at the entrance a fairly orderly and well-presented market of mainly fruit and vegetables as well as local spices and herbs, but the further you walk into the market the more it becomes a chaotic jumble of stalls and a mix-match of colours and variety; where everything from fresh somsa to oven appliances and cosmetics are hawked.
Not surprisingly you will pick up a few bits of food here to keep you going - make sure you try the somsa, a pastry encased in sesame seeds and filled with either ground beef and onion or chicken, and if you’re veggie like me sometimes you’ll get lucky and there will be pumpkin or squash soma on offer. These are small but tasty and filling if you have a few.
This afternoon is going to be filled with walking and a fair few drinks, so head back through the city and out the other side, stopping at Alt Stadt again if you need to break the journey, but ultimately heading for the Blues Bar. The Blues Bar is a jazz cafe which is coolly decked out in all sorts of blues and jazz memorabilia from saxophones on the wall to prints of blues greats from around the world. Have a couple of drinks here and chat to the friendly bar staff about their events that are on whilst you are in Samarkand.
On your way back towards the centre of the city, stop at Sam Craft for a few locally brewed beers which are cheaper if bought in larger quantities such as litres or 1.5 litres. As Tom would say - “The more you drink the more you save”! The main reason for visiting isn’t just the beer - this tiny bar is quirky and cool, having seats for around 6 customers maximum and being just one small room with a bar. There isn’t even a toilet, you have to use the restaurant next door!!
Leaving Sam Craft, walk towards the hostel as you will be having dinner at the Bibi Khanym Teahouse, which is actually a restaurant not just a teahouse and does the best rice soup we had anywhere in Uzbekistan. On your way there, pause to see the Registan from the viewpoint in the darkness - it is lit up in the most spectacular fashion. If you happen to be there at 9pm there is a 20 minute free light show.
Enjoy your dinner (and definitely have the rice soup!).
Day 3:
Begin day 3 by walking out to the Hazrat Khizr Mosque around a kilometre from the hostel. The entrance is free and the mosque boasts some beautiful buildings to look around. The view from the balcony back over Samarkand is also incredible and worth the visit alone.
Continue through the lush parkland to the Jewish and Muslim cemeteries nearby which are as big as cities and very full - graves and headstones stretch out as far as the eye can see on either side and are kept very clean, neat and tidy. An unusual thing about this region is that on the graves there are often pictures of the person who has died, so you get a more complete idea of what they are like.
After strolling through the cemeteries, loop down the hill and towards Shah-I-Zinda, known as ‘Mausoleum row’ for the many impressive tombs that are located here. This was one of my favourite places in Samarkand, simply because the mosques, mausoleum’s and tilework is absolutely breath taking. You will be asked to cover your arms, legs and hair at the entrance and there are scarves for you to use. The cost to enter is 40,000 Som per person (£2.60).
The name “Shah-I-Zinda” means ‘Tomb of the Living King’ and refers to the inner tomb which is believed to be the grave of Qusam Ibn-Abbas, cousin of the prophet Mohammed who brought Islam to the area in the 7th century. Later, rules Timur and Ulugbek also buried their families here and increased the number of beautiful buildings built in their memory. It is said some of the tilework here is the finest in the world.
Grab a coffee outside the complex at the gift shop near to the ruins of an ancient Hammam and soak up the atmosphere.
Walk back towards the hostel and main part of the city but take the back roads through the old Jewish Quarter. The guidebook we used for Samarkand suggested this area had been ‘hidden’ from tourists but you can still access it if you know how. The roads are less maintained, more dusty and potholed; a maze of alleys and smaller streets, but there was a sense of community here which I hadn’t felt in other parts of the city.
There were schoolkids in their uniforms, mums and grandmothers ushering them along, shopkeepers opening up, people sweeping the streets, stray cats and dogs - it felt real. Seek out the historical Gumbaz synagogue and ancient Dovudi Hammam which are still in use today and add some context to this area where Jews and Muslims lived in harmony and peace for hundreds of years.
The gateway into the Jewish Quarter - “hidden” from tourists
Heading back through a gate you will come out onto the main pedestrianised Tashkent Road near to the hostel/centre. Looking back towards the Jewish Quarter, you wouldn’t know there was anything interesting down there - there are no tourist information signs about the sights and the entrance has been partially concealed by a cream steel gate.
Have a tasty but cheap lunch at Chorsu Choyxonasi before heading for the Happy Bird Art Gallery next door and having a look at all of the locally made crafts - silk, leather, paintings, etc.
Now is the time to see the Registan at sunset, so head for the viewing platform. After soaking it in, splash out on dinner at Emirhan which is the only restaurant in town with incredible views over the Registan. Watch the sun go down over one of the most impressive structures in the world with a glass of wine and a fabulous meal and say a silent thank you to Samarkand for hosting you.