Our trip to Uzbekistan during Covid in 2022

Uzbekistan part 1: Tashkent

January 2022

Along the Silk Road is Uzbekistan, a country that drew almost 7 million foreign visitors a year until the Covid pandemic struck in 2020. It’s famous for Samarkand, Buchara and Khiva, cities full with historical architecture. The major, though far from only, language is Uzbek. As the region has been part of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union, Russian is widely spoken as well. Islam has been the major religion for over a millennium. There are century old mosques, mausoleums and madrassas. Outside of the cities you can find mountain ranges, valleys with wine production and ancient fortresses in the desert.

Nicole and I travelled here during winter, not a popular time to visit. On top of that the pandemic made travel challenging. Still it turned out to be an amazing trip starting in Tashkent, continuing to Samarkand, the Nuratau Mountains, Bukhara, Khiva, and the Kyzylkum Desert Fortresses. Here’s part 1: how we managed to fly into Tashkent.

Entering Uzbekistan

In January 2022 many parts of Europe and Asia had lockdowns due to the Omicron Covid-19 variant. Rules differed frequently between and even within countries. There was little up to date information online about restrictions in Uzbekistan. We are a Dutch-Irish couple living in the Netherlands, and because of the new variant anyone arriving from the Netherlands had to quarantine 10 days in Uzbekistan. Fortunately this seemed only the case for direct flights. Since we would fly in via Istanbul we decided to risk it. We planned to travel around the country independently, but booked a tour agency for the day of arrival so we’d have someone local to advise us on the latest rules. This turned out to be essential: while online sources mentioned we needed a test (PCR) test 72 hours before arrival, the tour agency warned us it had just been changed into 48 hours before arrival. We did our test within the new time frame.

What we didn’t know was that a new rule came in the day before we arrived. Everyone flying in needed to do a Covid-test on arrival. The airport staff might have been as surprised as the arriving passengers, since Tashkent airport was in chaos when we landed in the early morning. Three international planes had arrived, meaning more than a thousand passengers needed a test. We entered a crowded hall without any explanations or signs. After asking around it became clear that everyone had to buy a test at one of just three desks on the left of the hall, and then take a test at tables on the opposite side. There was no queue, just a big group of people crammed together and pushing each other towards the three small windows. Slowly we managed our way through the hall. After getting tested and walking through passport control we collected our bags and got our negative test result in a separate hall. We made it to Tashkent.

Tashkent

With a population of 2,5 million Tashkent is the largest city in Central Asia. In 1966 it was severely struck by an earthquake and rebuilt in the style of the Soviet era. Therefore Tashkent has similarities to Russian cities. An example includes the beautifully decorated metro stations dedicated to national heroes, like Kosmonavtlar for the cosmonauts and Navoiy Station for the Uzbek national poet Alisher Navoiy. The small historical area around Hazrat Imam Square shows what Tashkent was like centuries ago. Here are madrassas, mosques and a library holding the world’s oldest Qu’ran. Another great area to walk around is the massive Chorsu Bazar, the first (but definitely not last) place in Uzbekistan where we enjoyed Uzbek food.

Entering Uzbekistan was like traveling to pre-pandemic times. All the Covid measures mentioned above didn’t apply once we left the airport. Shops, restaurants, museums and tourist sites were open. People didn’t seem worried about Covid. We found many Uzbeks to be social people: curious and happy to chat. We ended up dancing with other guests in a restaurant and were invited to join their table. This meant we could fully enjoy Uzbekistan. Though we were slightly worried that we wouldn’t pass the Covid-test to fly out two weeks later.

Tashkent was only a taste of what Uzbekistan has to offer, as you can read in part 2: what’s the best city to visit in Uzbekistan?

For practical information on traveling here, read part 3: what’s it like to visit Uzbekistan in January?