Why I Will Come Back to Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is one of the countries I traveled to this year that I truly want to experience again. It’s a vibrant place, full of history, nature, food, and genuinely warm people. Honestly, it took me almost a month to write this blog, because I wasn’t ready to conclude the experience yet. Writing about it felt like a way of staying there a little longer — as if drawing out the words could let me hold on to the moment just a bit more.

I simply loved Uzbekistan. My journey was short, but it was deeply meaningful.

To be honest, Uzbekistan wasn’t even supposed to be my destination last December. I’d originally planned to go to Pakistan, but between ticket prices and logistics, Uzbekistan became the right choice at the right moment. I wanted to experience snow — and the very next day after we arrived, Tashkent was already covered in it. I wanted to experience nature — and Uzbekistan’s mountains and countryside kept pulling me back to postcard scenes and old music videos I’d half-forgotten. In every way, this trip exceeded what I expected. It turned out to be exactly where I was meant to spend my Christmas.

Day 1: Landing in Tashkent

Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan, and my first impression was that it feels laid-back — yet you can clearly see the city pushing forward, developing, growing. I stepped out of Tashkent International Airport and was greeted by a sharp, cold wind. That was my first sign that I was about to experience winter in a way I never had before.

Our tour guide picked us up and took us straight to an Uzbek restaurant, and honestly — it was one of the best welcome dinners I’ve ever had. Meat, plov, soup, even local beer that cost only a dollar. You can imagine how memorable that night was. Afterward, we checked into the hotel and let ourselves rest, gathering energy for everything still ahead of us.

Day 2: My First Real Snowfall

For the first time in my life, I experienced real snowfall — falling directly onto my face.

It was surreal. Unbelievable. Healing, honestly, and deeply emotional. Growing up in the Philippines, snow was never part of my reality. Even during my trip to Georgia, as cold as it was, I never got the true magic of snow falling around me. This was the moment that defined my first real encounter with it.

We rode cable cars up the mountain, surrounded by white landscapes and pine trees, watching how nature quietly adapts to winter — how everything transitions, how beautiful the world can be when it slows down like that. At the top, we walked through Amirsoy, stepping into heavy snow, letting it fall on our faces, letting the cold just linger.

I remember telling myself, “I am alive. I am truly living.”

People from all over the world were up there with us — laughing, smiling, sharing the exact same joy. It was one of the best moments of my life.

That evening, we went to the Plov Center and tried different kinds of plov — wedding plov became my favorite. That place is an absolute must-visit. You can watch the plov being cooked right in front of you, feel the warmth of the people around you, and just soak in the cozy atmosphere and great service.

Later, we wandered into Magic City — a park that felt genuinely magical, full of boutiques, restaurants, and lights everywhere. Christmas was alive in that city. Time seemed to freeze, and even now, I still catch myself drifting back to that exact moment.

Day 3: Samarkand — Silk Road, History, and Quiet Beauty

We left early to catch the bullet train from Tashkent to Samarkand — nearly 300 kilometers in just two hours, the fastest train ride I’ve ever experienced in my life.

Morud met us at the station, and without wasting a moment, we headed straight to the Amir Temur Mausoleum. Standing in front of his resting place, taking in the artistry of the structure, was breathtaking — the patterns so intricate, so perfectly symmetrical, that it was hard to believe something this beautiful was built so long ago. It made us stop and really sit with his history and legacy.

After lunch, we tried Samarkand plov, and once again, I couldn’t help myself — I loved it. Honestly, it became something I felt like I could eat every single day. We kept exploring with a city tour and visited Registan, a place that has carried enormous historical weight for centuries as a center of religion, knowledge, and culture.

Inside one of the mosques, I found myself completely amazed by the intricate patterns and optical illusions built into the walls. The symmetry was so precise I genuinely couldn’t understand how it had been achieved by hand, centuries ago.

We kept wandering — more mosques, old buildings, markets, parks. Being there felt like reliving history with my own eyes. Samarkand’s place on the Silk Road stops being a history-book fact and becomes something real the moment you walk its streets.

Day 4: Crossing Borders — Uzbekistan into Tajikistan

This one was unforgettable in its own way. I crossed a land border between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and it felt cinematic — like I was somehow playing the lead role in a movie I hadn’t read the script for.

There’s something about crossing borders, even between cities, that always moves me. This time it was between countries, and it hit differently. I’d crossed borders before — Hong Kong into Macau, for example — but this felt deeper. The scenery, the atmosphere, the feeling of the journey itself. I wasn’t just watching a story unfold. I was living inside it.

Once we were in Tajikistan, we visited the Seven Lakes. The mountains, the lakes, the villages, the people, the untouched nature — it was almost more than my eyes could process. It felt unreal. Tajikistan opened my eyes to the beauty of simplicity and quiet.

The most important things in life aren’t wealth or possessions. It’s the peace we give each other through a smile, through contentment, through quiet warmth.

Day 5: Back to Tashkent, and Saying Goodbye

This day felt like everything coming full circle. We took the train back to Tashkent and began our city tour. Tashkent really is a beautiful city — historical, clean, full of nature, and warm in spirit.

We wandered through public markets buying souvenirs, explored mausoleums, and spent time in the parks. Emotion kept washing over me throughout the day, because I knew my time in Uzbekistan was coming to an end.

Our guide, Kam, made the whole experience even more special — mysterious, relaxed, unbothered in the best possible way. He made the day feel light and easy, and honestly, his warmth made me wish I didn’t have to fly back to Dubai just yet.

That evening, we went to Seoul and even walked into a horror house on Christmas Eve — something that still makes me smile whenever I think about it. We shared dinner to celebrate both Christmas and a good friend’s birthday. That was the moment I knew it was time to say goodbye to Tashkent.

But maybe it wasn’t really goodbye.

Why I Know I’ll Go Back

Uzbekistan is a place I will visit again. I grew through this journey, and I made friendships that I know will last. I wasn’t ready to leave — but why say goodbye, when you can always come back?

Life keeps moving for all of us. We live for survival, for dreams, for the people we love. And somewhere along this trip, I realized we never really say goodbye to good memories.

They stay with us. Even when the small details start to fade, the footsteps we left behind remain. We become part of the places we visit — part of their history — whether or not our names are ever written down anywhere.

So I’m not saying goodbye. I made friends, and that part is forever. There’s always meaning in coming back.

I hope others get to experience what I experienced in Uzbekistan — a journey you never want to end, and memories you’ll carry with you for a lifetime.