Category: Zulya’s Blog

Dear friends, there are two ways to visit Central Asia. For more than three decades, I have made sure our guests experience the second one. In my homeland, the most beautiful moments of life happen behind courtyard gates. A family gathering, a wedding, a grandmother cooking plov for thirty people. A traveler walking past will…

On 2 October 2026, our Tour Operator, Areeba Gul, spent the day inside three Tashkent hotels with her phone in one hand and a long list of our guests’ questions in the other. She looked at every room category. She stood in the bathrooms and checked what was there. She found the pools, the breakfast…

From Khiva’s tiled courtyards to Bukhara’s bazaars and family homes, October is bringing Uzbekistan to life, and I am sharing it with you as it happens. Over three decades of welcoming travelers to my homeland, I have learned to recognize a particular look. It appears the first time someone steps into a Khiva courtyard at…

Music, plov, laughter and small gifts: what happens when our travelers are welcomed into a local family’s home in Uzbekistan. There is a moment on almost every journey that makes me smile. Our travelers arrive at a local family’s home expecting a lovely lunch. Cameras are ready. Everyone is curious about the food, the house,…

From day one, my dream has been to show travelers an Uzbekistan and a Silk Road that no book, no travel guide, and no internet search can truly reveal. I was born and raised here. These are my people, my culture, my traditions, and my connections. I have always asked myself: how can I use…

A Personal Reflection on Solo Female Travel in Uzbekistan and Central Asia I grew up in Bukhara, a city with 3,000 years of history, and some of my earliest memories are of early mornings. The sound of footsteps on the ancient streets. The smell of bread baking in the tandoor oven. My mother shaping the…

Discovering the heart of the Silk Road through the people, traditions, and landscapes of Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Türkiye. When I talk with travelers about Central Asia and the Caucasus, I often tell them that the most memorable moments are rarely the ones you simply photograph. They are the moments when you sit down…

You can absolutely travel Central Asia on your own. The real question is whether doing everything yourself is the best way to experience the region. I have been a solo traveler myself. I know what it feels like to arrive somewhere new, to figure things out on my own, and to rely on my instincts…

Ancient civilizations, visionary architecture, and the most exciting chapter in Silk Road travel Something remarkable is happening across Central Asia. New museums are opening in cities where scholars once revolutionized mathematics and astronomy. Luxury resorts are rising in the mountains above Tashkent. Cable cars now carry visitors to alpine viewpoints once reachable only by demanding…

Where the Silk Road Becomes Your Story Some journeys give you photographs. Uzbekistan gives you the kind of stories your children will still be telling in twenty years. There is a moment during every family trip to Uzbekistan when something shifts. It rarely happens at a famous monument or inside a museum. It might come…