Uzbek Yurt Camp
Days Three & Four - Uzbekistan & Oman - 2025
A relaxing, mostly photo-free day en route to an overnight Yurt camp before heading to Bukhara the following morning.
1. Nurota Fortress
Nurota was founded in 327 BC by Alexander the Great due to the presence of a spring; here he built a fortress on an approximately 25 hectare / 62 acre area atop a hill which served as a refuge and important strategic defensive position for the nearby water source.
After departing Samarkand, we made our way northwest for our overnight stay at an Uzbek yurt camp. Along the way, we made a stop at the former fortress of Alexander the Great in Nurota. There really isn’t much to see here, if I’m honest, but the walk up to the ruins of the fortress is free, so you might as well stop if you are passing by.
Another series of important stops were the toilet breaks. It is important to note that no matter where you are in Uzbekistan, no matter how dingy the toilet appears, and no matter how unattended the toilet block looks, by the time you step out of that room there will be some elderly lady with a mop waiting to collect money. And they know how to squeeze every som out of tourists. As one co-traveler quipped, “toilet cleaner must be the most lucrative profession in Uzbekistan.” Long story short: bring change for the toilets with you on the highway.
2. On the Way to Aydar Lake
Goats graze on shrub in the desert near Aydar Lake.
After departing Nurota, we headed towards a relaxing mid-day sojourn to a beach along Aydar Lake. Here, you had the option of swimming in the lake (which seemed quite far away from the beach house), or enjoying a drink at the on-site cafe. Given my well-known contempt for water, I opted for the latter and had a pot of tea. Not being 100% sure of the opinions of those who swam in the lake, I can say this stop is pleasant but probably not necessary - bear in mind, however, that I was traveling during autumn and this stop is probably more useful during the hot summer months.
3. Samsas, Tea, & Bread #1
In Uzbekistan’s rural areas, many homes have an outdoor oven -known as a tandoor- for making bread.
Following our stop at Aydar Lake, we made a quick stop in the village of Yangikazgan for a bread-making demonstration. Our host was also kind enough to provide tea and samsas for us. This was a wonderful experience and definitely one of the highlights of the trip!
Six more photos from Yangikazgan follow.
4. Samsas, Tea, & Bread #2
5. Samsas, Tea, & Bread #3
6. Samsas, Tea, & Bread #4
7. Samsas, Tea, & Bread #5
8. Samsas, Tea, & Bread #6
9. Samsas, Tea, & Bread #7
After departing Yangikazgan, we made our way to the yurt camp. Checking in right around sunset, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the accommodation here: my yurt had power, a pretty comfortable bed, and a super warm blanket. The shower and bath facilities were pretty solid, and the dining room and food was quite nice, as well. After dinner, there was traditional Uzbek music being played by the camp’s large fire pit. This sounds lovely, of course, but it does beg the question: was this even faintly authentic, or was this the yurt equivalent of what glamping is to camping? Glurting sounds terrible, so let’s go with … luxyurtious.
Anyway, I had planned on maybe doing some astrophotography since we were in the middle of the desert, but -much to my surprise- it was really, really cloudy outside so I just went to bed instead.
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10. Yurt Camp Sunrise #1
While these ones are gussied up and filled with creature comforts for the tourists of today, yurts once served as the homes of the nomadic people who occupied the area which is now Uzbekistan.
Knowing full well the correlation between bad astrophotography and top-notch sunrises, I woke up extra early and climbed up a small mound above our yurt tents to try and get some good pictures. This was a fruitful endeavor, I hope you’ll agree.
Four additional sunrise photos follow.
11. Yurt Camp Sunrise #2
12. Yurt Camp Sunrise #3
13. Yurt Camp Sunrise #4
14. Yurt Camp Sunrise #5
15. Rural Horse
Wealth inequality is an enduring concern in Uzbekistan; as of 2023, the top 10% of income holders managed approximately 60% of the country’s wealth, while the bottom 50% managed less than 5%.
Soon we were back on our bus and headed towards Bukhara. Just outside the yurt camp we passed a small farm and -for the first time- I got the strong sense I was in a post-Soviet republic. That’s not a knock on the farmer or even Uzbekistan, who has very clearly tried to move on from its communist past and replace their great folk heroes -Stalin, Lenin, etc.- with iconography of their own - like Timur. But decades of decades of economic hardship are hard to undue, especially in the rural part of a non-Slavic satellite republic. It made me ponder: has Uzbekistan overcome this income disparity so quickly it is difficult, perhaps even rare, to see, or are visitors traveling in corridors where such a thing isn’t as obvious?
