Far from deserted, you can hook up in a yurt if you want to
Travel | Sacred Travel | Uzbekistan
2 April 2024
Crossing the Kyzyl Kum desert on the Royal Road from Samarkand to Bukhara — a holy Islamic site in Nurata, a picnic by a vast artificial lake, and an overnight stay in a yurt under a spectacular Central Asian sky. (3 min read)
Today we drove the Royal Road from Samarkand towards Bukhara, crossing a little of the Kyzyl Kum desert and stopping overnight in a Yurt camp in an area called Sputnik Navoi.
On the way we visited an Islamic holy place in Nurata. Ironically, this place abuts the remnants of a fort established by Alexander the Great (nothing fabulous!).
I had a simple picnic lunch of Samarkand bread and spinach pastry on the edge of Lake Aydarkul — a huge artificial lake in the middle of the desert.
This day of driving was a good change of pace and it was so interesting to see the Central Asian steppes.
The desert is not what I expected. It is scrappy green vegetation on a sandy plain that goes as far as the eye can see until it reaches the Nuratau Mountains in the very far distance. The plain is occasionally interrupted by small villages, the occasional farmer and many sheep, cows and horses that probably have genetic linkage to Alexander’s caravan.
We got a taste of Kazakh culture with singing and traditional instruments and some very basic food.
I can take or leave the Yurt but the desert night sky is spectacular and the perfect companion to yesterday’s astronomy lesson in Samarkand.
By the sounds coming from the neighbouring Yurt, some people find Yurts romantic — or perhaps it is just feral cats that get off on the smell of camel.
© Paul McCarthy & Iluminar.au
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