Traveling around Uzbekistan

I used to think the Tashkent metro was the whole story. When I first visited Uzbekistan’s capital in 2019, I was mesmerized by those Soviet-era stations—each

I’ve stood in the middle of deserts before, but the Khorezm fortresses felt different—like someone had dropped a collection of ancient castles across

I used to think book markets were just—well, places where you buy books. Then I spent three days wandering through Bukhara’s labyrinthine book bazaar

The first time I tried to explain Chatkal National Park to someone, I said it was “somewhere in Uzbekistan’s mountains”

I used to think weddings were pretty much the same everywhere—cake, vows, maybe some dancing. Then I attended my first Uzbek wedding, and honestly, I realized I’

The thing about Khiva is that nobody tells you the best food isn’t in restaurants. I spent my first afternoon there wandering the Ichan Kala—the

I used to think fungi were just those slimy things you scrape off old bread. Turns out, in the foothills of Uzbekistan’s Tian Shan mountains, a handful

I used to think madrasahs were all the same—just austere religious schools with intimidating calligraphy and stern teachers. Then I actually stood in the

I used to think hammams were just fancy steam rooms. Then I stepped into the Bozori Kord bathhouse in Bukhara’s old city, where the air hits you

I’ve photographed a lot of sacred sites at dawn, but Shah-i-Zinda hit different. The necropolis sits on the northeastern edge of Samarkand, a cascade