 In Samarkand, visitors have the chance to travel through living history, not just by way of artefacts kept in the confines of a museum. Mosques and tombs still serve as places for religious pilgrimage, as they have for a thousand years and wares from all over Central Asia are on sale just as during the time of The Great Silk Road.
Even those who have but blurred notions about Central Asia, its actual geographical location and accessibility, its connection to the rest of the world or the way its citizen may live, even those have somehow or other heard the name of that magic city spoken or read out and may at that moment have been gripped by a strange longing for a world that possibly no longer exists.
The Samarkand of the year 2006 is Uzhekistan's second largest city after Tashkent in both surface and population. During Sovjet Times, Samarkand was one of the most visited tourism destinations in the entire USSR with over 300’000 visitors not only from the Russian Federation but also by organized group travelers from all over the world privileged to discover a hitherto forbidden world with citizens who looked and acted distinctly exotic and oriental. It was this tourism boom that blessed Samarkand with an airport, a train station, an excellent foreign languages institute whose graduates speak fluent German, French, English, Italian and thus help to open many a door for foreign visitors by bringing this mysterious world closer through words.
 Samarkand offers the visitor some of the most imposing and impressive architectural monuments of Islam of the of the middle ages, restored and rebuilt to the way they looked some 700 years ago, when very few from Europe had the opportunity to set foot into this world. Another type of building, the Empire style homes of downtown Samarkand that are now lovingly restored, will allow a glimpse at an entirely different moment in history, when the Russians established their garnison at the end of the XVIII and brought the modern world to this very remote part of the world.
The contrast of grandeur of different epoches, the mix of people that inhabit Samarkand, contribute to its myth as one of the “must” cities to visit during a lifetime. And rightly so.
The same people who are very rooted in their customs and traditions also hold a modern outlook on the world. Those working in tourism understand the need for comfort and convenience and with their natural gift for hospitality, have created hotels and restaurants amongst which every guest will find the very place that suits him best, from backpackers guest house to four star hotel and much in between.
 Whether you are lucky to be able to discovery Samarkand at a leisurely pace or whether you have but one day to take in the splendors, there is enough to see and do to put together a custom made program. Cars and drivers can be easily arranged, as can be guides. Maps are available, the sight seeing list is long, from monuments to pilgrimage sites, the museums in town and at Afrosiab. Crafts are highly developed in Uzbekistan and a great variety of handcrafted items are widely available on your shopping spree in the bazaars within the Medresses. But if you would rather just take it easy in the courtyard of your B&B, on the tapchan sofa bed, sipping tea, you certainly can do just that and someone interested in a chat with you will most likely not be far.
Getting to Samarkand is no complicated matter these days. Once inside Central Asia or prior to your arrival, even via internet, any travel arrangements you need can be made through hotels and travel agents within Uzbekistan. Daily flights connect Samarkand with Tashkent, a business-class train runs over the week-end and hiring a car and experienced driver can be arranged.
From Samarkand it is not far over the border to Tajikistan, it is a 3.5h drive to Bukhara, a 2h trip over the mountains to Shakhrisabsz, a 2h trip to the Nuratau Biosphere Reserve and Lake Aydarkul so you can easily make Samarkand your base from where to explore the most various parts of Central Asia.
See you in Samarkand.
Photos Malika Akhmedjanova |
