Uzbekistan with Visit-Uzbekistan.com

We’d wandered much of the world since retirement but never within Central Asia. Samarkand beckoned.

We searched the Internet and contacted Rustam Muslimov of Visit-Uzbekistan.com (6-57, Abdulla Kahhar str., Tashkent 700015, Uzbekistan; mobile phone +99890 1082679, www.visit-uzbekistan.com), who made all arrangements for the two of us to enjoy five days in Uzbekistan, April 5-10, 2008. E-mail communications with Rustam were prompt and clear.

We felt the price was reasonable: $625 each, excluding meals (other than breakfasts) and tips but including the flight between Bukhara and Tashkent, airport transfers, hotels, car and driver, and English-speaking guides in Tashkent, Samarkand, Shakhrisabz and Bukhara.

All of our city guides were excellent, as was our driver, who made us feel very confident with his driving skills, was always more than prompt and even helped us order in restaurants.

The hotels were comfortable and interesting, and every staff member was helpful and friendly.

Flight schedules to and from Tashkent are unfortunate, processes at Tashkent’s airport are slow, and Uzbekistan’s visa process is cumbersome and expensive, but the tasks are worth the effort.

Tashkent is a city of three million people, with broad boulevards, green parks and several interesting sights.

Samarkand’s ancient buildings, including the 14th-century Timor the Lame’s (Tamerlane’s) Mausoleum, are magnificent and more extensive than we had imagined. Crossing the snowcapped mountain pass from Samarkand to Timor’s birthplace and palace home, Shakhrisabz, was beautiful.

Bukhara proved as interesting to us as Samarkand.

The Uzbek people varied in their dress, the old often wearing traditional costume while the young more often dressed in Western style. Although most were Muslim, in this former Soviet Republic we heard few calls to prayer, saw a minority of women with scarves, and most mosques we saw were open only as museums.

We never felt threatened and usually felt warmly welcomed, including by schoolchildren eager to practice their English.

We were completely satisfied with everything Rustam provided, and we recommend his services.

BILL & MARY CARSTEDT

Beverly Shores, IN