Silk Road Cycling Uzbekistan

Tashkent · Uzbekistan

Moderate14 daysAsia~£700 est.

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Overview

Cycling the Uzbek Silk Road means earning cities travellers have dreamt about for two millennia. Out of Tashkent you ride steppe and cotton country, cross the Syr Darya, and climb gently towards Samarkand, where the Registan's three madrasas stand in a single square of turquoise tile and gold that no photograph survives contact with - linger for the Shah-i-Zinda necropolis at dusk after the coaches leave. The riding then turns properly remote: the Kyzylkum desert stages towards Bukhara are long, shadeless and punctuated by chaikhanas where you will be fed plov, poured green tea and asked about your entire family. Bukhara's old town, still a functioning medieval city around the Kalyan minaret, is the reward. Heat rules the calendar: ride in March-April or September-October, never high summer, and carry five litres of water on desert legs. Roads are mostly decent and drivers courteous if curious; modest dress at religious sites and hotel registration slips are the small admin to respect. Uzbekistan is now visa-free or e-visa for most nationalities, and the fast train can cover any stage you need to skip. Two weeks self-supported runs about £700 - Central Asia's best-value grand tour.