I find Uzbekistan represents the heart of Central Asia, despite Tashkent airport’s unruly first impressions. Sensory pleasures evoked by 2,500 years of history here are compelling, from the tiger mosaics on the imposing Registan in Samarkand and the legendary love that inspired the Ark Fortress to the carpet shopper’s dream that is Bukhara and the dramatic mountain peaks promising adventure for trekkers. What links all of these memories for me is the sense of Uzbek culture that pervades.

Colorful woman at the Samarkand market.
A camel is lead past the Ark Fortress in Bukhara, Uzbekistan
A man walks by the Khast Imam Complex in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Ethnic dance performers in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Kababs at the Tashkent market are a daily staple.
Vendor at the Tashkent market.
The Registan, Samarkand's main highlight.
Vendor at the Samarkand market.
Ethnic dance performers in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The iconic Char Minor in Bukhara, with its four distinctive dome towers.
An Uzbek family poses for photos inside the Ark Fortress in Bukhara.
Women from the Fergana Valley pose for photos while visiting Bukhara.
The friendly peacock keeper at Sitorai Mohi Hosa in Bukhara.
This vendor at the Samarkand market smiles with her golden teeth, common in Uzbekistan.
An ethnic dance performer in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The Gur-Emir Mausoleum in Samarkand.
A bread vendor at the Samarkand market proudly shows her wares.
A friendly Uzbek Imam and a Russian woman at Shah-i-Zinda in Samarkand.
A Russia Lada parked in front fo the ancient structures of Bukhara.
Vendors at the Taskkent market.
An old man traveling by donkey near Qarshi, Uzbekistan.