| Page Views: 875 Last Visit to Nurata: July, 2007 | Away from the Silk Road by toonsarah - last update: Aug 28, 2007 |
Nurata is less-visited than the other stops on our tour, and with some reason as it has far fewer obvious sights. But it isn’t without its attractions, including the hill-top fortress (said to date from the time of Alexander the Great), a couple of interesting mosques, a lively market and some pools held to be sacred and swarming with equally sacred fish. To the south is Karmana, worth a stop to see the old well, roadside caravanserai and interesting mausoleum.
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|  | Into the Kyzyl Kum Desert This is also a good jumping off spot for a visit to the Kyzyl Kum (meaning “red sands”) Desert, where you can sleep in a traditional yurt; take a camel ride across the dunes and imagine yourself in a caravan of old; swim in the cooling waters of Aidarkul Lake and see ancient petroglyphs etched in the rocky hillsides.
We visited Uzbekistan with a tour organised by Explore, who specialise in smaller group tours and often go off the beaten track. Travelling this way meant we could get more easily to some of these out of the way destinations, although there are downsides to group travel as well. I’ve written more about our tour on my Uzbekistan page.
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A few words about my Uzbekistan pages
1. On the whole, I’ve written tips about the local customs and way of life on my Uzbekistan page. I’ve also included there some general information on things like packing, planning your visit etc. and some warnings. You may find some of this info duplicated here, but only where I feel it’s of particular relevance to do so.
2. Uzbek place names have several spellings. For instance, Nurata may also be spelt as Nurota. I’ve used the version taken from the excellent guidebook, “Uzbekistan: the Golden Road to Samarkand” (written by Calum MacLeod & Bradley Mayhew, published by Odyssey) which uses the most common form for well-known place-names (e.g. Tashkent rather than Toshkent) but adopts the newer Uzbek Latin spelling for street names, buildings etc. | | |
> Add to your Custom Travel Guide [What's This?]
| Pros: | "Good jumping-off point for a trip to the desert" | | Cons: | "Less to see in the town itself" | | In A Nutshell: | "A night in a yurt is a very special experience" |
toonsarah's Nurata Travel Tips
 toonsarah's Nurata Travelogues | | | |
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 Comments for toonsarah about Nurata | | | | |
Yaqui Fri Oct 2, 2009 20:39 UTC
You've been to some wonderful places and experienced some wonderful cultures. I enjoy reading your pages. Thanks for the lovely tour of Nurata! | volopolo Thu May 14, 2009 10:58 UTC
Great tips a lot of information | Nemorino Sun Oct 5, 2008 20:09 UTC
Interesting tips about sleeping in the yurt camp and swimming in Aidarkul Lake. Alexander the Great's Fortress still sounds impressive, even though it is mostly in ruins -- but I guess that's to be expected, since 327 B.C. was a very long time ago. | sachara Thu Sep 11, 2008 06:05 UTC
Sarah, I enjoyed to read your experiences in the desert with your stay in the yurt and a camelride. This summer we visited also the caravansaray and well close to Karmana. |
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