Client Blog: Pippa and John's group tour in Uzbekistan

My husband, John, has always wanted to go to Uzbekistan to travel along part of the Silk Road. Having made a stab at planning it myself, I contacted Jenny, who we'd used before, and said "What do you know about travelling in Uzbekistan?" She quickly found us a small group (14 people) tour for two weeks with an itinerary that seemed perfect. Never having been on a group tour before, we were a little anxious, but we really didn't need to be - as a group we all got on really well and the group size was perfect.

Our flights with Uzbekistan Airways were comfortable with decent food and modern touch screens – but don't expect great entertainment. The films were all Uzbek films with titles resembling western ones such as 'The Intouchables'!

We were met at the airport by Muhammad, our guide for the next two weeks. I cannot praise him highly enough. His English was fluent, his knowledge extensive, he was very patient with all our questions about the history of the country, family life and Islam, and he had a great sense of humour.

We stayed in a variety of hotels, all of which were in great locations with large rooms and great breakfasts, but the best was the Shahriston in Bukhara right in the centre of the old town with a rooftop bar.

We also spent one night on a sleeper train from Tashkent to Urgench – a fun experience and part of the reason we joined this tour.

Our itinerary involved staying in four different cities: Tashkent, the capital with lots of Soviet-era buildings and a fabulous Metro; Khiva, with wonderful preserved city walls around the old town; Bukhara with its old city centre, the country's oldest surviving minaret, the Tsarist-era summer palace of the last Emir, and the Ark, a fortress with 6th-century beginnings; and finally Samarkand, a large modern city with the amazing mausoleum for Amir Timur, the Registan with its monumental blue-tiled madrassahs, and my favourite, the Shah-I Zinda, an avenue of huge blue-tiled tombs.

During our two weeks we were taken to ceramic studios, art studios, carpet weavers, yurts, plov centres (the national rice dish), medieval mosques, madrassahs and desert castles.

We saw so much and ate so much but also had time to ourselves most evenings to wander at our leisure. The old Silk Road cities were visually stunning and very different to any other place we've been to.

Uzbekistan is a fascinating country with a complicated history (thank goodness the tour also included a free copy of the Bradt guide to Uzbekistan). And if you want any other reading material, can I suggest The Silk Roads, A Carpet Ride to Khiva, and The Great Game.

The country, although Muslim, is secular and relaxed with alcohol available everywhere (though I would be cautious about drinking some of their wines!).

We went in mid-September with temperatures ranging from 15C at night to 30C in the day.

I really would highly recommend a trip there and especially the tour that we were on, which was well organised, hit all the top spots and took us to places we would never have found if we were travelling by ourselves.

Thank you, Jenny, for another memorable holiday.

Pippa