February 27, 2021 · 1 min read
Uzbekistan which is a doubly landlocked country located in Central Asia besides being a historical sightseeing paradise and excellent cultural tourism hub is a fairly good adventure tourism destination as well. Uzbekistan which is mostly deserts and mountains has a lot of opportunities for adventure tourists. Tien Shan which is a large system of mountain ranges running through the countries of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan offers tourists many exciting adventure sports to take advantage of. The Fergana Valley which was conquered by the Russians and split up between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan has many hiking routes. The small towns and villages in this valley are located in higher altitudes chracterized by both lush green and rocky environment. One of the towns, Rishton, is known for its gorgeous ceramic production which provides an off-the-beat tour experience. Chatkal Range which borders with the Fergana Valley and located in the Tashkent region also houses many high altitudinal towns which are prominent mountaineering destinations. Towns like Chimgan, Charvak, Iskandar, and Chirchik is where tourists flock to, the former two of which are ski resorts. Skiing, hiking, trekking are some of the activities enjoyed by tourists year along.
When you're done with mountains, you can always take a desert safari tour. Enjoy a camel ride, quad bike tour, or a 4X4 off road tour. Kyzylkum Desert which occupies an area of 300,000 km sq stretching between Amu Darya and Syr Darya should be your first stop. The nature in here is diverse and is home to few animals like antelope gazelle, jerboa, ground squirrels, and lizards. Next you can head to the Aral Sea, a dying lake which was once one of the four largest inland lakes in the world. It is surrounded by vast Aralkum desert which appeared since 1960. This desert was previously the seabed occupied by Aral Sea.
When you're in Uzbekistan, you can at any time challenge the daredevil inside you to get out in one of the adventure tourist destinations and show your skillset. But in the end, as you'll be exploring the cities and advancing down the path, you'll be retracing the footsteps of some of the bravehearts in history like Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and Tamerlane who ruled the regions of Uzbekistan.
