Uzbekistan

Written and updated by expert authors who have extensive experience of living and working in central Asia, this new, fully updated edition of Bradt's Uzbekistan remains the definitive practical travel guide to this increasingly liberal destination central Asia's most populous country and the heart of the Silk Road. Offering more detail for independent travellers than any other guidebook, it includes first-hand descriptions of everything from UNESCO World Heritage sites and the world's best collection of Soviet avant-garde art, to riding across deserts by camel and cooking plov. The quintessential Silk Road destination, Uzbekistan is opening up to tourism, easing visa regulations, encouraging family-owned guesthouses, building new railways (including a tunnel to the Fergana Valley) and introducing high-speed trains. With the passing of the post-Soviet strongman Islam Karimov and the election of a more reformist leader, there is an air of change about the country. This new edition includes expanded coverage of hiking, details of new entertainment such as the sound and light show in Samarkand's Registan, and lots of new practical information, ranging from the increasing availability of ATMs to efforts to develop tourism, visa requirements, availability of SIM cards, haggling for taxis, access to museums and booking accommodation. New maps have also been added and existing maps revised and expanded as appropriate. Whether you're interested in culture, trekking, historical sites, archaeology and architecture, seeing endless deserts or the majestic mountainscapes of the Tian Shan range, or simply fascinated by the 'Golden Road to Samarkand; and the equally famous Silk Road cities of Bukhara and Khiva, Bradt's Uzbekistan is the ideal companion. AUTHORS: Sophie Ibbotson is Uzbekistan's Tourism Ambassador to the UK. She has had a professional interest in central Asia since 2008, working in the region as a consultant for public- and private-sector clients including government ministries and the World Bank. Sophie is the founder of Maximum Exposure Ltd, Business and Economics Advisor at Scarmans, and a member of council at the Royal Society for Asian Affairs (rsaa.org.uk). Aidan McMahon has over a decade of experience working in publishing, with a particular focus on web content and digital media covering global trade and travel. He studied History and Hispanic Studies at Trinity College Dublin, and has lived in Spain, Poland, and for many years in Istanbul, Turkey/Turkiye. While based in Turkey/Turkiye he developed his interest in the Turkic world and its languages, and travelled extensively in the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. He has travelled widely across Uzbekistan in particular. He has authored and contributed to guidebooks to his native Ireland, Morocco, and western Turkey/Turkiye, the latter for travel publisher Fodor's. His photography can be found at www.aidanmcmahon.com.