Bukhara

If Samarkand has the most beautiful buildings and Khiva has the best preserved old town, Bukhara is the best balance of the two. Our last stop in Uzbekistan, this is the city we'd heard would be the best of the bunch.

Unlike Samarkand, most of Bukhara's old buildings around the historic centre are still intact, and it feels much more vibrant for it. There are lots of people around (especially coach tours of 60+ Europeans), and the streets are filled with market stalls selling beautiful crafts and textiles. We have never been more tempted to buy a huge silk rug, despite it being the least practical item we could possibly pick up this year.

Dan was finally feeling better by the time we arrived, meaning we could actually enjoy wandering together around the old madrasahs, mosques, markets and art galleries. The place is jam-packed with beautiful arches, domes and passages... but there's something uncanny about the city, which is a persistent feeling we've had throughout Uzbekistan. The cities are too clean, too well-managed, and it's clear that everything has been rejuvenated in the last ten years. It's like walking through a Silk Road-themed shopping centre.

Our biggest gripe: the markets are full of incredible spices, yet the food is unbelievably bland. What are they doing with all this cinnamon, saffron, cardamom and chilli if it doesn't go in the food? We haven't encountered a vegetable that has been cooked properly since August. They sprinkle herbs on top of the food for garnish, but don't use any in the recipes. Weirdly, we've found that the Uzbeks do very good desserts—so we've often been filling up on cheesecake after disappointing main courses. What's more, the service in all the cafes and restaurants is oddly stilted, like the staff have learnt a few phrases from TV shows but never had any training. They will bring you a menu, then never come back to your table. They will come and ask how the food is, half an hour after you finished eating. You will go to the front desk to pay, and they will look at you like you're crazy, even though they've not looked at you once for two hours—we often felt we could walk out without paying and no one would ever notice. (We never did, obviously).

This is probably an issue of heightened expectations... Uzbekistan was one of the countries we were most excited about at the start of the year. It has underperformed those expectations, but overall we've had a really relaxing fortnight here, it’s extremely easy going for tourism. This whole year has been conducted at a relentless pace, so having two weeks to read, write and catch up on sleep in a beautiful, uncrowded country is not a bad thing at all. Just a shame about the food!

For now though, we're in the capital city of Tashkent to snoop their Soviet-era metro (a delight!) and catch (hopefully) our final flight of the year 🤩Read more