At the shiny Samarkand International Airport, a smooth-faced border officer was examining my passport. He stood at his booth in an oversized uniform, looked at my photo, and asked where I was staying. He had already checked over 60 stamps and visas and inspected every one of the security holograms, foil coverings and perforations; and now he was holding it up to a lamp, examining the watermarks on each page; despite the silent, unsettling anger of the tall group of Uzbek citizens behind me. Finally he waved to me.
I offered a weak smile to another European traveler as I passed. After a similar review, his passport was rejected until it was seen by a senior official. But it wasn’t Soviet-style bureaucracy that slowed things down; It was naivety. The fully redeveloped airport only opened in March 2022, and the young border officer, who had never seen a Norwegian passport before, had no idea whether his document was genuine.
Home to some of the finest examples of Central Asian architecture from the 14th to the 20th centuries, Samarkand is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Uzbekistan and dates back to B.C. It is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia, with a history dating back to 1500. Known for its craft production, this region was one of the most important stops on the legendary Silk Road, a 4,000-mile jumble of trade routes that crossed Eurasia from the 2nd century, starting in the far east of modern-day China. Western Turkey – where silk, spices and jade were transported. Attracting the attention of merchants from all over the world, Samarkand has been recognized by Unesco as the crossroads of world cultures for more than two thousand years.
And then came the late 19th century. The Soviets occupied and controlled the country until 1991; Uzbekistan then spent several decades under the isolationist rule of President Islam Karimov, who was notorious for human rights abuses and forced slave labor on cotton plantations throughout the country.
Although considered the jewel of the Silk Road and a shining beacon on countless to-do lists, during this time Uzbekistan and Samarkand became relatively unfamiliar to visitors from distant lands. For the natives, Norway was like Neptune.
But everything changed when Kerimov died in 2016. International isolation had led to youth unemployment and the collapse of the economy; Therefore, Karimov’s successor, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, made rapid judicial reforms and opened the country to tourism and foreign investment. By 2020, the number of countries allowing visa-free travel to Uzbekistan increased from nine to 90. Accommodation options have almost doubled, while the number of tour operators has more than tripled. The number of foreign visitors increased from two to 6.7 million as the country focused on attracting tourists from more remote areas, and Uzbekistan was named the fourth fastest growing country for tourism by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in early 2020.
Links from the UK to Uzbekistan are also about to grow. In March 2024, Uzbekistan Airlines announced a new flight route from London Gatwick to Tashkent. This service, which will be operational on 7 April 2024, will increase the total seat capacity from London to Uzbekistan by 50 percent (another service from Uzbekistan Airways already operates from Heathrow).
Long defined by the iron rule of dictators – B.C. In a city captured by Alexander the Great in 329 BC, devastated by Genghis Khan in the 13th century, and capital of the Tamerlane Empire through the 14th century, this violent rise to modernity is largely welcomed by Samarkand’s empire. by citizens and a government that looks to the Gulf and the glittering Emirates for inspiration. But this is a plan that does not always treat the culture and traditions of historical places kindly; Look at Dubai’s Old Town and the likes of China’s Lijiang, who are now being forced to compete and feel more like tribute bands than the real deal. Like Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah, a “modern re-imagining” of a traditional Arab village.
In Uzbekistan, there are at least efforts to connect the past to the present. With its design reminiscent of an open book (the cosmological tome Zij-i Gurgani), Samarkand’s airport terminal building is a nod to Ulugh Beg, the 15th-century astronomer who remains the city’s most famous citizen. the pages radiate from the center of the entrance hall, the roof spotlight twinkling with a star map of constellations.
This momentum to bring the past into the present is also evident in the country’s newest and boldest push for the future, the nearby Silk Road Samarkand project: a massive, futuristic tourist complex that became the largest in Central Asia when it opened in 1910. August 2022. With eight luxury hotels (1,200 rooms, increasing the city’s amenities by around 50 percent), 32 kilometers of pavement and a congress hall that can accommodate 3,000 people, this “new image of Samarkand”, which cost £450 million to build, is designed by President Mirziyoyev, according to the hotel management. It was the invention of. There’s even a four-star property named in honor of the country’s favorite astronomer, Lia! By Ulugbek’s Minyoun Stars.
However, as I stood on the 20th floor of the neighboring Samarkand Regency hotel, the sprawling mansion stretching out below me, it was hard not to sense that this was the kind of resort an extraterrestrial entity might create; A seemingly endless liminal space, the landscapes go on and on. At night it is endlessly illuminated by a galaxy of fairy lights that spiral around thousands of freshly planted saplings.
The centerpiece of the massive resort is the 28-acre Eternal City: a brand new tourist destination designed to mimic a medieval Silk Road town, reflecting the mosaics, golden arabesques and ribbed, cobalt domes of the old city. Although it’s only 15 minutes away from the architectural wonders of ancient Samarkand, its shops and restaurants are brimming with curious locals; among them the majolica-covered madrassas of Registan Square; the bright blue tiles adorning the street where the 14th-century shrines at Shah-i-Zinda are located; Tamerlane’s jade tomb; and Ulugh Beg’s impressive 15th-century observatory. But apparently that’s the point.
“The Eternal City is even better than Madinat Jumeirah,” says Roland Obermeier, general manager of the Samarkand Regency hotel. “Everyone goes to Registan Square, to these architectural monuments; but we also have our own monuments, so people can stay at the resort and don’t have to go to the Old Town.” He pauses and adds: “People go to Paris just for Disneyland.”
The Disneyfication of Samarkand is an ongoing debate and will likely continue for some time. Clearly, culturally minded tourists are not the focus of these efforts; target markets are business travelers, conference stays and medical tourists (as Obermeier believes, Istanbul is the global capital of hair transplants and “Turkish teeth”). Samarkand can become the beating heart of cardiology holidays).
So where will tourists hungry for culture fit into the future of Uzbekistan? It is certainly true that efforts towards modernity have made visiting the country easier and more comfortable than ever before. Likewise, yesterday’s Uzbekistan can continue to coexist as long as dreams of globalization remain incomplete.
Venture beyond the mega-complex’s gold baths and smoked-glass exteriors and hop aboard one of the resort’s fleet of cars (Chinese-made, all-electric chrome pieces that resemble the love child of a Rolls-Royce and a Range Rover) and ride through the foothills of the Fann Mountains or across the Middle East. You can be in the markets of the city within minutes, where all ideas of ostentation are forgotten.
Friendly pottery vendors slurp tea surrounded by wobbly towers of porcelain cups; roadside chefs give impromptu cooking lessons while roasting chickens in homemade clay tandoor ovens; and gold-toothed women flash beaming grins as they sell crystallized candy bars.
Perhaps now – while modern conveniences beckon, but before a final renovation leaves this foundation of the Silk Road unrecognizable from its former self – is truly Uzbekistan’s moment to shine.
Fundamentals
James Draven traveled the Silk Road as a guest of Samarkand (silkroad-samarkand.comRooms at Wellness Park Hotel Turon, the lowest priced of their hotels, start from £42 per night. Uzbekistan Airlines’ new flights from Gatwick to Samarkand will cost £545 return. Turkish Airlines (turkishairlines.com) also operates round-trip flights via Istanbul for around £500.