Reviews

UZBEKISTAN UNCOVERED

Surpassed all expectations. This was an 11 day escorted tour across Uzbekistan, following the silk road.

Uzbekistan Uncovered

A well balanced comprehensive trip in that we had time to see all the sights and look around in general before moving on to the next destination. Trips out to the desert fortresses and the night staying a yurt followed by a hike with camel ride to Aidarkul Lake were a welcome break from seeing the historical and other not so old blue tiled mosques and madrassas etc.
The long drives were made more bearable in the fact we had a full sized coach and only 16 people so were able to spread ourselves out, the rest stops were regular and unhurried.
The food was variable and rather greasy and mostly edible. The local people were friendly (apart from some taxi drivers)

Glad I went but glad it's over

This was a bit of disappointment because I was hoping to see lots of exquisite Islamic art and architecture. There is some toward the end of trip in Samarkand but the mosques and madrasas in Khiva and Bukhora weren’t very attractive. There was too much shopping time for my taste. I am vegetarian which limited food selections. The salads are very good but there isn’t much choice beyond that and I don’t think even the non-veggies enjoyed the food much. Sometimes a vegetarian dish was just a regular dish with the meat removed e.g. we were told chick peas were vegetarian but they came with some bits of meat which they had overlooked. The local beer, however is excellent.

An interesting part of the trip was learning about the Russian influence, good and not-so-good, and the changes that have occurred since the Soviet Union imploded and Uzbekistan became independent. I also enjoyed learning a about current life in Uzbekistan but am aware that we as tourists we may be presented with a somewhat sanitized view of things.

Uzbekistan uncovered

Well planned and executed trip. A wide range of sights visited. Hotels were reasonable some were good and some were very good. Particularly the room in the madrassa was unusual. Generally the standard was better than expected.

A great mix of the old and new in Uzbekistan

A fascinating tour along the Silk Road seeing all the fabulous architecture, mixed with activities which were relaxing and interesting. This is a leisurely tour, a couple of early starts and a few long drives but nothing too onerous. Good to have some free time to explore places. We had an expert guide, helpful and friendly and quietly smoothing our path – perfect!

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan was the only section of the Silk Road that I had not travelled so this trip was on my bucket list and it met my expectations. We had a lively group. Travelling was fine, as described in the trip notes, and the pace was just right. Hotel accommodation was good with excellent service. We visited all the famous sights,shopped in the bazaars, enjoyed the local food and had fun at the yurt camp. I was impressed by the friendly and enterprising. people. A memorable trip.

Great trip to Uzbekistan

An absolutely great trip. We were lucky with our group of 8 as we gelled brilliantly. Star leader/guide in Dilshod. I loved Uzbekistan. Relaxed, safe, and met with universal friendliness. Once there a very cheap holiday. Itinerary pretty standard with exception of excursion from Khiva out to desert fortresses which was interesting – one of bits of “leavening” of a diet of cities and mosques/madrassas etc, lovely tho they were. Altogether well balanced trip, and would recommend Exodus version.. Can’t avoid long journeys between centres, but we had plenty of space in a medium sized coach. Even the retail stops (carpets, embroidery (beautiful pieces), pottery were quality.

Uzbekistan Uncovered

This was well planned and organised, and very satisfactory. The variety, with city explorations plus trips to the desert fortresses and into the desert to stay in yurts, was a good idea, but entailed a lot of time spent in the bus driving over indifferent roads. Hard to avoid that, but the journeys used a lot of time. The advance notes were adequate, but incremental changes had been inserted and noted, some of which conflicted with the earlier text, but the whole document had not been adjusted and edited to create a clear narrative (about the details and practicalities, such as liability for a departure airport tax). The local leadership was excellent and might be worth more emphasis – it was a 24/7 service whilst I certainly expected to be relying on my own resources much more. The hotels were generally good (even the Uzbekistan in Tashkent had no hot water on day one, and the loos in Bukhara were somewhat smelly). The airline trip was really uncomfortable in both directions – London to Tashkent direct might only be possible with Uzbekistan Airlines, which is a plus, but the seating and the service – the food – was quite dreadful.

Uzbekistan uncovered

Very nice trip, good company and leader. Historical monuments are not as old as some in other countries (modern compared with Roman). But good trip none the less – Beautiful tiles

uzbekhistan uncovered

overall rating on the ground brilliant, transport to London and back DIRE; only a few hours of the 12 glorious days but if Uzbekhistan wants to encourage tourism, the age of their (?only) Boeing 757 and the Soviet charm of their staff needs to be seriously improved; this (an overnight flight out of 6 hours so arriving shattered and a miserable 7+ hours back, seats broken, minimal leg room, the most appalling inflight service etc etc) left an appalling impression.
Having got that off my chest, the trip was exhilarating and a much better itinerary than many of the other groups met at the airport (only 2 London flights a week so all, whatever their cost, suffered the same indignities) (C&K, VJV, etc who were submitted to a an unvarying diet (saturation) of the 3 Ms (mosques, madrassahs and markets); this one had intervening days out in the desert including an arguable highlight, a night in a yurt followed by a Bactrian camel ride to a swim in an inland sea