Traveling around Uzbekistan

I used to think food tours were just for tourists who couldn’t find restaurants on their own. Then I walked through Khiva’s narrow streets

I used to think oral traditions were just old people telling stories until the fire died out. Then I spent an afternoon in a mahalla courtyard in Samarkand

I used to think felt making was just about throwing wool at things until they stuck together. Turns out, the traditional Uzbek craft of kigiz—those vibrant

I used to think travel insurance was one of those things you bought out of paranoia, like earthquake coverage in Nebraska. Then I spent three weeks in

I’ve walked through a lot of fortresses, but Kunya Ark hits different. The thing about Kunya Ark—this sprawling citadel tucked inside Khiva’

I’ve stood at the base of a lot of ancient monuments, but the Zurmala Stupa outside Termez hit different. Here’s the thing: this isn’

I used to think railroad museums were just dusty locomotives behind velvet ropes. The Tashkent Railway Museum sits in Uzbekistan’s capital like a

I never expected a wrestler’s tomb to make me reconsider what sanctity actually means. The Pakhlavan Mahmud Mausoleum sits in Khiva’

I used to think madrasahs were just, you know, small prayer rooms with a handful of students hunched over dusty manuscripts. The Sprawling Educational

I never thought I’d feel safer walking through Samarkand at midnight than I did strolling through parts of Barcelona at noon, but here’