Since childhood I was fascinated by the arts and the history, culture and especially the music and dances of Central Asia. My uncle owned and played records with music from this part of the world since he is an oriental and folk music collector. Not only did I listen to my uncle's record collection, there was also an abundance of books, magazines and publications about Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries that I remember keep leafing through.

When I was 17, I traveled for the first time to Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, just during the first months of independence. I'll never forget my first impressions of Tashkent having arrived late in the evening from Bishkek with a small group of Swiss and French travelers. At the time we stayed at Hotel Chorsu, which is under reconstruction now. Waking up the next morning, I looked down from my "tiny ninth floor balcony upon the city, the bustling bazaar, the big Madrassa Kukeldash and the old town and it felt wonderful to be here. Later I had breakfast in the drab soviet style restaurant downstairs, A young Iranian also present went around the corner and bought fresh, warm patir bread and cheese from the market, which he offered us and we had a feast. Delicious, Later as I remember, I strolled around the huge Chorsu Bazaar where I had a chat with the sellers of dried fruit in Farsi-Tadjik. Most of the sellers were from the Samarkand area of Khodjent, in the North of Tadjikistan, I inquired about their life, their business and enjoyed the pleasant sounding, interesting Tadjik dialect, which is quite different from classic Farsi.

When I asked if they knew where the conservatory and the dance academy was located, they immediately sent their sons to drive me there, I joined a few lessons on Uzbek traditional music, the Makoms, which had always been among my favorites. I later set up a 5 years study program with the Dance Academy, Uzbek dance is very graceful, rich in movement of the hands and arms, each with their own significance, Don't miss out on a dance performance by one of the many folk ensembles, on your trip through Uzbekistan, By the way, the conservatory is now located in a brand new and very beautiful building and concerts of European as well as Uzbek classical music are held regularly, Throughout my studies in Tashkent I was not only interested in dance but also in ethnology and archaeology and over the years I have visited many many sites throughout the country.

I have traveled the entire country, visiting almost all towns, many villages and sites of interest, In nearly every village you will find some remnants of the past, a "tepalik", which is a small burial hill and fortifications, Some of the tepaliks are pilgrim sites now and in general holy sites, many dating back to the bronze or even stone age are located close to a spring,, As everywhere in the world, these places hold a special atmosphere, energy, which you will feel right away upon visiting. If you ask the village elders, they will tell you interesting legends. I had many adventurous experiences while traveling, it wasn't always easy, alone as a girl. Before 1997 there were hardly any tourists outside of the major tourism centers and even when appropriately dressed, one was a phenomenon the single woman in search of the past. In some areas in the Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya region I was sometimes met with suspicion but overall people were and are to this day very friendly and hospitable, Over the last 10 years, the situation in tourism has changed drastically, there are now many cafes, bed & breakfasts, especially in the city. There is more contact between locals and foreigners and more and better means of transportation to places like Samarkand and Bukhara are available. In the 12 years I have lived here, on and off, I have come to like Uzbekistan more and more and in spite of all the burocracy and financial complications, it is a very interesting country, unique through its far-reaching history and traditions.

Katya Daniela Hillebrand is Swiss and has lived on and off in Uzbekistan since 1991, researching Central Asian Dance. Her interest include history, ethnology and archaeology of this region, including India, Pakistan, Afghanistan.