Introducing Uzbekistan
No country in Central Asia seems to have it so good, yet at the same time have it so bad, as Uzbekistan. The region’s cradle of culture for more than two millennia, it is the proud home to a spellbinding arsenal of architecture and artefacts, all deeply infused with the raw, fascinating history of the country. But as students of that history know, it’s also sprung a few bad apples over the years. Tyrants enamoured by the country’s physical bounty have run the territory we now call Uzbekistan since time immemorial.
Concentrating on the good, if there was a Hall of Fame for Central Asian cities, Uzbekistan would own the top-three entries: Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva. The names practically epitomize the region, conjuring up images of knife-twirling dervishes, serpentine desert caravans and architecture that blends with the sand.
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Tilla-Kari Medressa in the Registan.
- Andrew Bain
- Lonely Planet photographer
