Five Good Reasons to Visit Uzbekistan

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I visited Uzbekistan for 3 weeks in May of 2017. During my time there I managed to traverse almost the entire length of the country from East to West. Yet there were still several places I didn’t have time to get to.

Uzbekistan contains within its borders a great trove of historic and cultural marvels that are little known in the West. That’s beginning to change with group tours starting to become popular with western European tourists. Independent travelers are still a rare sight in Uzbekistan however, even in the exulted former Silk Road cities of Khiva, Bukhara, and Samarkand. You’ll often feel as if you have the place to yourself if you venture there on your own. Historic cities and ancient ruins – some dating back thousands of years – are scattered throughout the country and beckon to travelers with a taste for exotic and lesser-known locales.

Once a part of the former Soviet Union, Uzbekistan lies right in the heart of Asia. The country has a harsh continental climate with bitterly cold winters and hot, humid summers. Unless you plan to get in some skiing, Spring and Fall are the best times to visit.

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Visiting The Aral Sea, Uzbekistan, 2017

Moynaq, Uzbekistan city sign

Moynaq: The Town Haunted By The Ghost Of The Aral Sea

The Republic of Uzbekistan, in Central Asia, is little known, and seldom visited by Western travelers. A part of the former Soviet Union until 1991 when it gained independence, Uzbekistan has the distinction of being one of the two double landlocked countries on Earth. In other words, all five of the countries that border on Uzbekistan are landlocked themselves.

Despite its steadfastly continental geographic status Uzbekistan was, up into the late 20th century, home to a bustling port city called Moynaq that was the center of a large and thriving fishing industry. Moynaq once sat on the southern shore of the Aral Sea which was the fourth largest inland body of water in the world. Today Moynaq ia surrounded on all sides by the Kyzyl Kum Desert and what’s left of the Aral Sea is more than 150 km away.

The recent history of the Aral Sea is a tale of one of the greatest human-caused environmental disasters of all time. It is also a story of governmental arrogance, ignorance, and greed.

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