Khiva

Khiva is a far away place that looks amazing but every traveler has to grapple if it is worth the effort. Out of all the adventurous souls i have met so far, only one made the trek... but he's also traveling for 6 months. Time is not a factor for Dan.

The train option is at 4am and takes 8 hours. Ugh. The flight option is much more pricey and requires two flights to do it. Or just skip it. I chose option 2. Got up at 7 and eventually made my way to the airport. Connected in Tashkent and landed a tad before 3pm in Urgench and still required a 40 minute taxi ride from there to khiva. Its a lot of effort for just one night in khiva. Worth it?

Yes! Khiva is gorgeous. Properly walled city and feels even more authentic than bukhara. Beautiful madressas, mosques and minarets throughout. Attractive alleyways connecting everything and markets set up throughout.

I got offered a tour by an uzbeki student where i could set my own price because she is still practicing her english vs the real tour guide telling me it was 40US I was tired and still fighting my cold but I decided to give it a try. She gave me a ton more info and into buildings i never would have entered. Worthy expenditure as i gave her 15 dollars and cut it short cuz i was melting in the insane heat.

Minutes after my guide left, two uzbeki girls approached me and asked if they could interview me for a khiva tourism video they are making. I agreed and they mic'd me up and started rolling the camera. I hope i did canada proud haha.

After that i just needed relief from the scorching desert environment. Got an ice cream and walked with that to a nearby 2nd story indoors restaurant near tons of the sites. Waited for the sun to drop a bit and then went to the top of a nearby watchtower for more great views.

And then to a few different restaurants for the views and eventually a really good local meal. Walked around more after sundown but ultimately I'm too tired to persist. Plus this small town seems to be shutting down early too. And gotta be up early for my flight to Tashkent anyways.En savoir plus