Author: Dilshod Karimov, Cultural Heritage Specialist and Travel Guide

I used to think traditional music schools were all the same—dusty rooms, stern teachers, rigid technique drills. Then I stumbled into a classroom at Bukhara’

The Kyzylkum stretches across Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan like a wrinkled bedsheet someone forgot to smooth out. I used to think deserts were all the same—sand

I used to think soap was just soap. Then I spent an afternoon in a cramped workshop in Tashkent’s old quarter, watching a woman named Gulnara stir

I used to think textile museums were just glorified fabric warehouses. Then I spent three hours in Bukhara’s Textile Museum, watching an elderly

I used to think horseback riding tours were all the same—polished trails, scripted guides, maybe a sunset photo op if you were lucky. Then I ended up in

I used to think mountain biking near Tashkent meant dusty roads and not much else. Turns out—and this surprised me when I first moved here, honestly—the

The thing about Uzbekistan’s national parks is that nobody really talks about them. I spent three weeks last summer wandering through the Chatkal

I used to think straw was just something you threw away after harvest. Then I watched Gulnora Karimova’s hands move through a pile of dried wheat

I used to think hiring a guide in Uzbekistan was overkill—until I got spectacularly lost in Bukhara’s old city, wandering the same labyrinth of clay

I’ll be honest—I never thought I’d spend three weeks chasing plov across Tashkent, but here we are. The thing about plov is that it’