Sierra Blogging Post Archives

Sam and Erin are a newlywed couple taking an 18-month bicycle tour of Asia and Europe… and they’re bringing Sierra Blogging Post along for the ride.

We’re sending them Sierra Trading Post gear and they’re sending us stories and photographs from their adventure. They just sent me their latest dispatch from Uzbekistan…


After leaving the mountains of Tajikistan, we descended into the vast heart of Central Asia, characterized by desert and scrub brush, first riding through Uzbekistan. We rode over 700 miles across Uzbekistan, crossing 3/4 of the country before boarding a train to beat the winter chills out of the area.

Most people have never even heard of Uzbekistan, but it hasn't always been that way. With sources of water that provided enough crop land in the desert, powerful kingdoms used to rule enormous swaths of Asia from fortified cities located in present-day Uzbekistan.

Our ride across Uzbekistan consisted of long stretches of straight desert highway, with stops in legendary towns where the ruins of formidable kingdoms still stand, preserved by the arid, desert air.

We visited both Bukhara and Khiva, each once the seat of powerful khans. These towns have wonderfully preserved relics, including massive fortresses, mosques and medrassas, many of them over a thousand years old.

We wandered around the markets of these ancient cities, vendors still hawking the same wares they have for centuries on this ancient trade-route. We watched Uzbek women hand-knotting famed Uzbek silk carpets, while metal workers banged away on copper cook ware in the tiny alleys.

The people of Uzbekistan overwhelmed us with their friendliness and generosity. They come from many different backgrounds - a mix of nomadic tribes and traditionally agricultural peoples - but most people today work in the cotton industry or on farms.

Everyone spoke to us in Russian, the language common to all the former Soviet Republics. Although, as we traveled across the country, we realized how many different regional languages there are. It was confusing to keep track of!

People were curious about our trip, and one woman even called the local television station to bring a camera down to interview us as we were waiting to change money at a bank. It was our first TV interview of the trip, and they broadcast the story about our trip later that day on Uzbek television.

Bicycling across Uzbekistan afforded us a chance to experience both the historical highlights of the country and interact with the locals, learning much about their lifestyle and history as we went. Despite its barren appearance, Uzbekistan is a land of warmth and rich in history and cultural experiences.