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16-Days Central Asia 2026 Day 3 : Bukhara to Samarkand

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AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures

Central Asia 2026
Day 3 : Bukhara to Samarkand

Central Asia 2026 Day 3: 17th May (Sunday)

Medium-size Group (Non-cycling) Tour of Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan & Kazakhstan)

Day 3 - Bukhara to Samarkand:

Bukhara (Reikartz Modarixon)>walk>Khodja Nasreddin Statue>Bukhara Old Town>Reikartz Modarixon>van>Bahoutdin Architectural Complex>Gijduvon Pottery Workshop>Navoiy.>Kattakurgan>Samarkand (Reikartz Hanzade).

This is page 3 of a 16-page blog. Click Here To Go To Title Page.

< D2: Bukhara | Go to Other Days | D4: Ard Tashkent >

Route recommendations, here are some tips on travelling to and around Uzbekistan, Central Asia:

1. Traffic Directions!

Central Asian countries are left-hand drive and vehicles drive on the right side of the road. So do bear this in mind when crossing the road OR when sitting at the front passenger seat. I made this mistake several times and boarded the car at the driver's side with the driver giving me a surprised look 😂.

2. Getting to and from Central Asia.

Several airlines fly direct to Central Asia from their originating country. We were fortunate that AirAsia X flew direct from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) to Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
We flew return via AirAsia X, starting from KLIA Terminal 2 to Tashkent International Airport, and returning from Almaty International Airport to KLIA Terminal 2, buying tickets earlier to get cheaper fares. We also packed light (20kg checked-in luggage for two people plus an additional 7kg of cabin luggage), totalling 41kg of luggage.

3. Getting around Central Asia.
We were on a private guided tour, and had 16-seater vans, with local guides taking us between the cities/towns.
Within Uzbekistan we took the Sharq Train from Tashkent to Bukhara, and from Samarkand to Tashkent.
Note: Traders in bazaars, markets, and small local shops only accept cash. The "sum" (ISO code: UZS) is the official currency of Uzbekistan. The "som" (ISO code: KGS) is the currency of Kyrgyzstan. The tenge (ten-gay, code: KZT) is the currency of Kazakhstan. It is divided into 100 tiyn.
Touch 'n Go e-Wallet can be used in Kazakhstan, just make sure the e-wallet is set to Kazakhstan.

4. Immigration & Customs Requirements

Malaysian passport holders do not need a visa to enter most Central Asian countries for short-term stays, and can visit Uzbekistan visa-free for up to 30 days. There is no need to fill in immigration forms.

Note: Malaysian passport holders can install the MyBorderPass app for fast immigration clearance to get in and out of Malaysia; use the app to generate a QR code just before passing through the 40 dedicated MyBorderPass gates (only at KLIA & KLIA2, 20 gates each), and getting through will be a breeze!

5. Places & Things of Interests

There were many scenic and interesting places of interest along the route, but one should not miss the following (Note: click on the GPS coordinates below for a directional map to the respective places):

At Bukhara:
- Bukhara Old Town (GPS: 39.77369, 64.41755).
- Nadir Devanbegi Madrasah (Nodir devonbegi madrasasi) (GPS: 39.77307, 64.42144).
- Khodja Nasreddin Statue ( Xoja Nasriddin haykali) (GPS: 39.77299, 64.42106).
- Divan-Beghi pond (GPS: 39.77302, 64.42051).
- Suzani Ikat Silk Textile Shop (GPS: 39.77307, 64.41908) cottage industry making/selling Suzani Cloth.

- Bahoutdin Architectural Complex (Bahouddin Naqshband yodgorlik majmuasi) (GPS: 39.80117, 64.5372).
- Gijduvon Pottery Workshop (Музей керамики Гиждувана в окрестностях Бухары) (GPS: 40.10097, 64.67834) in Gʻijduvon.
- Amir Temur Monument (Памятник Амиру Темуру) (GPS: 39.65044, 66.96493) in Samarkand.

6. Food

a. Breakfast

Uzbek & Western Fare at the Reikartz Modarixon (GPS: 39.77387, 64.42511) in Bukhara.
b. Lunch

At Yusuf Ustozoda Shashlik (GPS: 39.77335, 64.42026) in Gijduvon:
Uzbek Tea, Nuts & Sweets, Uzbek Bread (Obi Non), Salad, Stir-fried Eggplant, Lamb & Chicken Kebabs, Chak-chak Desserts, Sarbast Beer, and Fruits [Apricots & Cherries bought earlier from roadside stall (GPS: 39.97866, 64.50513) near Vobkent].

c. Dinner

Uzbek & Russian fare at Manhattan Restaurant (GPS: 39.65532, 66.95469) in Samarkand:

Greek Salad, Olivier Salad, Lentil Soup (Shorabet Adas), Borsht Soup, Mushroom Soup, Greek Fish Soup. Mixed Grill Mains of minced beef, lamb chops, lamb, turkey, chicken sausages, beef sausages, & potato chips.

d. Note: Just in case we yearned for some spiciness, we brought along Uleg Sambal Terasi to add to our food. We bought online from Lazada at RM7:40 for ten sachets.

7. Accommodations and Tour Costs

This was a recce-guided tour that included all ground arrangements, food, entry tickets to parks, and accommodations, but excluded return airfare to and from Central Asia. We booked Air Asia flight tickets online through their website at a return fare of around RM2,000 per pax. Co-travellers who booked later paid more. Our two pax airfare included 20kg of checked-in luggage and an extra 7kg of cabin luggage, giving us a total of 41kg of luggage..

The ground arrangements included 16-seater van transportation between and around cities; Sharq Express Train fare from Tashkent to Bukhara, and from Samarkhand to Tashkent, and domestic Tez Jet airfare from Osh to Bishkek. The 4x4 Russian truck ride to and from Karakol to the Altyn-Arashan Valley was optional and cost USD40 per pax. So was the 4x4 van ride from Saty to Kaindy Lake and Kolsay Lakes National Park, which cost USD20 per pax.

Accommodations were in three-star hotels, homestays, and a yurt camp. For those interested in this tour, contact Eddie at +6012-6122600 for more details and ground arrangement costs.
At Samarkand we stayed at the Reikartz Hanzade (GPS: 39.64416, 66.95635).

8. Communicating with Each Other

When travelling in a group, it's important to be able to communicate with each other, especially if one gets lost from the rest.
I pre-purchased the Maxis 15-day Multi-Country Roaming Pass at MYR99 and had it activated on the first day of our tour. This pass included a complimentary Maxis Travel Care insurance for the pass validity period - i.e. MYR50,000 hospitalisation, and MYR2,000 lost baggage, T&C applies.
Alternatively, an almost similar GOGO physical sim card for 15-day 20gB can be bought on Lazada at (excluding delivery) for MYR120.

9. Communicating with Locals

Our local guides spoke excellent English, and those in the travel industry or bazaar traders speak passable English. Other locals speak their local language (Uzbek, Kyrgyz, or Kazakh) or Russian (as they were former Soviet republics). Or one can use Google Translate on one's mobile.

10. Weather

June is the beginning of summer, and the weather in Uzbekistan is dry, sunny, and hot across the board. In Bukhara, daytime temperatures average 40°C. In Samarkand, daytime temperatures average 35°C, while nighttime averaged 20°C.
A useful weather forecast site for Bukhara and Samarkand is AccuWeather. For more detailed weather, including cloud cover and wind speed, use Weatherspark and Ventusky.

11. Navigation

Geo-tagging of places of interest was via FaceBook, Google Maps or Yandex Maps and Yandex Navigator.

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PRELUDE

The previous day, we had taken the Sharq Express Train from Tashkent to Bukhara (which is an Unesco Heritage City). It was a fun-packed day where we explored the historic Old Town with it its historic and beautiful mosques and madrasahs, and also the many colorful Bukhara Market Bazaars.
Today, we head by van to Samarkand, which was founded around the 8th and 7th centuries BC, and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia. The city was conquered by Alexander the Great in 329 BC, when it was known as Markanda, and later by Iranian and Turkic rulers and then the Mongols in 1220. In the 14th century, Timur made it the capital of his empire. So, it's a city with much history to show.

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DAY 3: TASHKENT TO SAMARKAND

Medium-size Group (Non-cycling) Tour of Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan & Kazakhstan)

Day 3 - Bukhara to Samarkand:

(Click here for the Central Asia 2026 Day 3: Bukhara to Samarkand Route Map)

Most of the posts below are linked to my Facebook postings during the trip and are embedded here with some comments. (NOTE: Click on respective posts to link to the FB post to read more details. If you can't see the posts, please log out of your Facebook first.)

Kicked off the day with a hotel breakfast with a wide spread of Uzbek and Western fare.. Of course, we went for the Somsas and pancakes (because they have good Uzbek honey). There was also a great selection of cookies and cakes for dessert! 9:00 am - Fara, our local guide, was already waiting for us at the lobby, and was eager to show her city to us. First, it was a walk to the nearby Nadir Devanbegi Madrasah. We had been here twice yesterday, but only for lunch and dinner at its compound. Now we will pop in for a visit.

At one corner of the madrasah's square is Khodja Nasreddin Statue, with his lucky donkey.

It is believed that if you put a child on his donkey, his life will be filled with joy and a lot of positive emotions. Many (including yours truly😏) touched the donkey for good luck, too! Khoja Nasreddin was a simple and cheerful guy; an Eastern hero, wit, troublemaker, and joker, who deftly turned clever combinations and anecdotes to ridicule the vices of greedy rulers, bays and burghers, hypocrisy and cowardice, bribery and litigiousness.
He reminds me of the ancient Chinese monk Ji Gong, who is of a similar disposition in helping the poor and standing up to injustice.

The local children here are super-friendly and often are eager to take photos with tourists. This group here is on a field trip, and we were happy to oblige by taking a group photo with them and answering their curious questions about Malaysia. Just opposite the madrasah is the Arkhitekturnyy Pamyatnik Karavan Saray Badriddina. The name is a mouthful, but basically, they do silk Ikat weaving, and we were surprised to see a guy running the manual loom instead of a woman. But he was quite skillful at his trade.

Central Asian silk ikat is a labor-intensive, ancient textile art in which yarn bundles are tightly bound and resist-dyed before being handwoven into vibrant fabrics. Known locally as Abrbandi (meaning "cloud binding").
At the junction points of the bazaars, often there will be Uzbek Traditional Dance performance. With one of the traditional dancers, who was taking a short break.
10:30 am - We left Samarkand to head for our next destination. At the country side, there were fruit plantations on both sides of the highway. Previously, cotton was planted, but this needed a lot of water and stopped as the Aral Sea had dried up substantially. In some wetter villages, cotton is still planted.

Our next destination was the Bahoutdin Architectural Complex, a complex that includes the mausoleum of Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari, the founder of the Naqshbandi order, who died in 1389.

En route to Samarkand, a quick stop at one of several roadside fruit stalls along Route M37, near Vobkent. We quite like the fruits of Uzbekistan, especially their peaches and figs.

12:30pm - At Gijduvon Pottery Workshop at Gʻijduvon.
This is a pottery workshop that is operated by Nazrullaev family for seven generations and is now operated by People's Artist of Uzbekistan Abdullo Nazrullaev, together with his children Akmal and Dilnoza, and his brother Alisher Nazrullaev.

While there, don't miss out visiting Gucci, the happy pottery donkey. It's happy because it works only two days a week, working the mill that grinds the kaolin clay.

Their workshop also included a museum that exhibits contemporary and historical ceramic works by the Nazrullaev family, alongside pieces created by other masters and schools of Central Asia. The display includes numerous trays, teapots, saucers, and other types of tableware. A large part of the collection also consists of decorative items, such as unique whistling toys shaped like small mythical creatures, known as khushtak.
Gijduvan ceramics are considered the most central, most renowned, and among the oldest in the Bukhara region. The earliest known examples of Gijduvan ceramics date back around 1,500 years.

Lunch at Yusuf Ustozoda Shashlik Pottery Workshop:
Uzbek Tea, Nuts & Sweets, Uzbek Bread (Obi Non), Salad, Stir-fried Eggplant, Lamb & Chicken Kebabs, Chak-chak Desserts, Sarbast Beer, and Fruits.

3:20 pm - Rest stop at 222 Savdo Maimuasi, along Route M37

3:30pm - A big sign greets us, "Welcome to Samarkand!"
We have entered the Samarkand Region, and is still quite a distance from the city proper.

4:30pm - A second rest stop at Coffee Time, next to Metan Petrol Station near Kattakurgan. They serve ok-ok only milk ice cream here. As it seems that Metan is a Uzbekistan-China JV Co., we had hoped that they would be the same as those we had in Sinkiang, China.

5:50pm - Arrived at Samarkand City, locally spelt Samarqand. Samarkand Region must be pretty big, it took us more than two hours from entering it to reaching the city itself!

Passing by the Amir Temur Monument.
Positioned at a major city intersection, this monument features a bronze statue of the 14th-century conqueror and statesman, Amir Timur, seated on a throne. It honors his pivotal role in Central Asian history and serves as a focal point for both locals and visitors, symbolizing respect for Timur's legacy.
Timur (1320s – February 1405), also known as Tamerlane, was a Turco-Mongol conqueror, the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty, and the founder of the Timurid Empire, which ruled over modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia.
Born into the Turkicized Mongol confederation of the Barlas in Transoxiana (now in Uzbekistan) in the 1320s, Timur gained control of the western Chagatai Khanate by 1370 and from there he led a series of military campaigns defeating the Khans of the Golden Horde, the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt and Syria, the emerging Ottoman Empire, as well as the Delhi Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent, thus becoming the most powerful ruler in the Muslim world.

Our hotel in Samarkand, the Reikartz Hanzade.

Uzbek & Russian dinner at Manhattan Restaurant, Samarqand

At Manhattan Restaurant in Samarkand:

Greek Salad, Olivier Salad, Lentil Soup (Shorabet Adas),), Borsht Soup, Mushroom Soup, Greek Fish Soup. Mixed Grill Mains of minced beef, lamb chops, lamb, turkey, chicken sausages, beef sausages, & potato chips.

The food was very good, and the restaurant well decorated.

Passing through the streets of Samarkand, before we call it a day.