The greatest gift of travel: We found it in Uzbekistan.

We saw incredible sights in Uzbekistan. We were wowed by the unparalleled history and magnificence of the Silk Road. And we visited human disaster, witnessing the damage by humans to the Aral Sea.

But the greatest experience of all in visiting Uzbekistan was the people that we met.

And most especially in Uzbekistan; the time we were adopted by an Uzbek family.

It wasn’t just a quick meeting with the usual exchange of pleasantries on being introduced. We were welcomed into their family, forever humbled to be hosted and share in Uzbek culture.

A chance meeting

Travel does that. It creates opportunities for meeting people you might never otherwise be fortunate enough to cross paths with.

Like the time we met Aslbek, in Tashkent.

It was late in the afternoon after a busy day of exploring. We got chatting to him at our hostel. Aslbek, a student from the famous Silk Road city of Samarkand, visiting Tashkent at the time for exams. His English was good, having learnt it at school and he was keen to talk. And likewise, we were excited to meet a friendly local and felt ever grateful for his confidence in a third language.

Looking back, our meeting seems almost fitting for a scriptural style tale of introduction… He tore off and offered us a piece of his bread, brought from his home in Samarkand.

In Uzbekistan, bread is sacred. And the most famous of Uzbek bread comes from Samarkand.  We had read that real Samarkand bread should be eligible for up to three years. And thus started a great connection as we ate bread together and talked about his incredible country.

He connected instantly with our boys, likening them to his two younger brothers. And they were suitably reciprocal in awe of him. It was a treat to meet a fun, young and friendly local who took an interest in meeting them too.

Making plans to meet again

We saw Aslbek again the next day, as we got ready to leave Tashkent by train heading for Nukus in Karakalpakstan. He gave us his number and said that when we got back to Samarkand he would like to meet with us and show us around. He told us of his families home in the hills beyond the city, explaining it as paradise and that we must see it too.

There are many chance meetings in travel, and many relationships that begin only to be ended a short while later due to the geographical challenges that also come with travel.

Sometimes it is easier to make light of goodbyes. We say ‘see you in New Zealand‘ or ‘see you when we return‘ but a little part of us knows that will likely not ever happen.

The Golden Road to Samarkand

We spent nearly two weeks in Karakalpakstan, Khiva and Bukhara before taking the fast train to Samarkand. The west of Uzbekistan is much more isolated geographically and feels distanced from the modern city we originally landed in.

We contemplated messaging Aslbek, debating that notion of whether a second meet up would really happen or if it would burden him with honouring that offer in the first place.

But thank goodness we did. It became the best part of our travel in Uzbekistan.

Meeting again

Aslbek came and met us on our first day in Samarkand. It was great to see him again and we all felt that sense of content relief that only comes with meeting up with a friend when you are quite literally miles from home.

We spent a morning exploring Registan Square and the sights of Samarkand in between finding more of that famous Samarkand bread that we now had even more reason to love.

The next day he picked us up again and we went by taxi to meet family friends that were bakers. [Cue Samarkand bread heaven! (But I need to write more about that separately)]. We spent that next morning seeing how it was made.

Aslbek said his Dad wanted to meet us too and that he had his lunch break soon. In fact, he had rescheduled his entire day and planned to take us to their village home in the foothills outside of Samarkand. But first, he insisted on taking us out for lunch at his favourite restaurant in the city.

Paradise found

At the village, we were announced proudly upon our arrival, by Aslbek’s father. Hands extended to be shaken to Uncles and cousins. Aunts appearing from different directions of houses on the property. We couldn’t offer more than a greeting in Uzbek, “Assalomu Alaykum“. But the excited buzz of introductions was contagious. No one noticed the language barrier.

He loudly explained what could only be a story of how we met and were great friends with his son, and how we had come all the way from New Zealand. The kids were immediately distracted by two cows tied up not far away, and so began our guided tour of their paradise.

Thinking back to his description of their village home as he told us in Tashkent, standing there lived up to expectations.

In stark contrast to the deserts of Western Uzbekistan and the Silk Road, the entire landscape here is green.

Behind the house are paddocks and orchards with rows of fruit trees. There are vines of grapes wrapping around the house and stretching on to the one adjacent. And beyond the garden, the impressive shape of the Zerafshan Mountains looks magnificent. 

Touching the hills

In fact, the entire village is dominated by the panorama of hills. The Zerafshan Mountain Range stretches from the southeast outskirts of sprawled Samarkand down to the Tajik border.

And fortunately for us, as Aslbek translates, we are assured no visit to their paradise is complete without also experiencing a ‘touch of the hills on your heart’. 

The road climbs up into the mountains. We pass through guarded border checkpoints for the Qashqadaryo Region. It is cold suddenly being up so high but worth it without question. 

The vista from our final spot is breathtaking.  The hills are precursors of the Pamir Mountains further to the east and lead on to meet the famous Pamir Highway in Tajikistan.  It feels like an entirely different country and for sure an entirely new confirmation of paradise found. 

An inspiriting reminder

We spent three days in Samarkand with our new Uzbek family. But it was much more than three days of making travel memories in Uzbekistan.

It’s hard to describe that humbling feeling of gratitude and joy in sharing time like that.

Meeting new people and experiencing hospitality and culture in a different country brings the kind of travel memories and emotions that can’t truly be captured any other way.

Katta rahmat, Aslbek.

Useful links for your travels in Uzbekistan and beyond…

These are the companies we use while traveling fulltime as a family and that we would recommend to anyone planning and booking travel. 

• Booking.com – The best all-around accommodation booking site that constantly provides the cheapest and lowest rates. They have the widest selection of budget accommodation and it’s easy to filter and sort into price and availability with all the extras you are looking for personally. 
• Hostelworld– The largest inventory of hostel accommodation in the world. 
• Skyscanner – This is by far our favourite flight search engine. They are able to search small websites and budget airlines that larger search sites often miss. We book all our flights through Skyscanner.  
• GetYourGuide– Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace for tours and excursions offered all around the world including everything from walking tours, to street-food tours, cooking classes, desert safari’s and more!
• SafetyWing – A global travel insurance that covers people from all over the world while outside their home country. You can buy it short or longterm; and even if you are out of the country. 
• World Nomads – Travel insurance tailored for longterm travel and nomads (including those who have already left home). 

Read more about traveling in Central Asia

• What makes Silk Road flatbreads so fabled? 
• Uzbekistan: A Complete Travel Guide to Uzbekistan. 
• 5 Awesome things to do on your first time in Tashkent. 
• Taking an overnight train to Nukus, Karakalpakstan. 
• Border crossing: Karkara, Kyrgyzstan to Keten, Kazakhstan.
• Kazakhstan: Completing a dream circuit of ‘Stans.
• 5 Reasons we loved Kyrgyzstan (and why you need to visit).
• Kyrgyz’ what? A Travel Guide to Kyrgyzstan.