Karakalpakstan

Mon 1/6/26

Today we took an excursion to the 3 ancient fortresses of Khorazm, located in the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan, about 100km from Khiva. We booked the tour with our hotel for a driver and a car for USD 50 for both of us, which we paid by card.

We departed from our hotel  after breakfast at 9am. It was sunny and hot today, unfortunately the driver didn't switch on the car air conditioning, only opening the car window. We passed by Urgench and Amu Darya river, which serves as the border between Karakalpakstan and Khorazm region. 

Our first destination was Ayaz Kala fortress at the Kyzylkum desert, which we reached at 10.45 am. We were stopped by an elderly woman after we alighted from the car, demanding 40K UZS from the 2 of us for 'parking' and 'toilet' fees, which of course was unofficial. I managed to negotiate the fees down to 30K UZS. Partner In Crime did go to the toilet here. There were also yurt camps here for rent.

We walked a bit on the desert and climbed towards the ruins of the Ayaz Kala no.1 fortress. The fortress functioned as protection of the agricultural settlements from attacks by nomads. (from Wikipedia). From Ayaz Kala no. 1 fortress, there is a viewpoint of the second Ayaz Kala fortress. 

Kyzylkum desert with Ayaz Kala fortress in the background

Ayaz Kala no 1

Ayaz Kala no 2 view from Ayaz Kala no 1

Ayaz Kala no 1

Ayaz Kala no 1

Ayaz Kala fortress

Next destination was Toprak Kala ruins, located about 34km from Ayaz Kala fortress. It was an ancient palace city and the capital of in Chorasmia in the 2nd/3rd century CE (from Wikipedia). Again we were stopped by an elderly woman, however this time we were stopped in the middle of the road, before parking. I tried to negotiate for 20K UZS this time, as there was no toilet facilities, but failed. Since we didn't want to hold up traffic, we relented with 40K UZS 

Toprak Kala ruins

Toprak Kala ruins

Toprak Kala - stairs look newly built

The last fortress for today was Kyzyl Kala, just 4km away. Again we were stopped by yet another woman, but younger this time, again in the middle of the road, so there was no time for negotiation, hence we paid 40K UZS.

The Kyzyl Kala looked artificially re-built and didn't have much of its original ruins. It was first built in the 1st-4th century CE, possibly as a fortified defense for the site of Toprak-Kala (from Wikipedia). You could skip this one if you wanted to save 20K UZS 'parking' fee per person.

Kyzyl Kala fortress - looks artificially re-built

Kyzyl Kala - new stairs

Kyzyl Kala ruins 

On the way back, we stopped by a rest area by the Akhchakol lake, where local families were seen swimming to get a respite from the hot sun. We didn't eat at the restaurant here, there wasn't any menu or prices displayed. There was no 'parking' fee here. 

Akhchakol lake

We then returned to the hotel and reached back by 4pm.

We rested in our room for the remaining of the afternoon before going out for dinner at 7pm. We had dinner at Parvos restaurant, just outside the North Gate of Itchan Kala. We had the Khiva lagman (pulled noodle), spinach manti (dumpling) and lamb shashlik with a pot of tea for 156.4K UZS (RM 48), paid by cash.

Khiva lagman noodle, shashlik and manti

inside Parvos restaurant decor

Khiva

Sun 31/5/26

We ventured out after sunrise at 6am to capture Itchan Kala, a Unesco Heritage Site, minus the crowd of tourists. We re-visited Kalta Minor minaret, Kunya ark citadel and Mohammed Rakhim Khan madrasah in the calm of the morning, then walked around the walled city of Itchan Kala, visiting Islam Khoja Madrasah and its taller minaret; with the Juma mosque beside it with its own minaret Jummi minaret, then walked to Pahlavan Mahmoud mausoleum which was already opened at 7am, then walked back towards Mohammed Amin Khan madrasah near Kalta Minor minaret at the West gate.

Kalta Minor minaret

Islam Khoja Madrasah minaret

Islam Khoja Madrasah

Pahlavan Mahmoud mausoleum with Islam Khoja Madrasah minaret in the background   

Mohammed Amin Khan madrasah near Kalta Minor minaret at the West gate

Pahlavan Mahmoud mausoleum courtyard

Toshovli palace facade

The Juma mosque and madrassahs in Khiva are no longer functioning and only served as museums for tourists with tickets required. There are also caravansarays from the past which now houses restaurants and teahouses (or chaykhanas). 

wooden columns and courtyard in Juma mosque

Kunya ark citadel wall

Kunya ark citadel entrance door

The Itchan Kala walled city has 4 gates - we entered via the North Gate (Bakcha Darvoza) yesterday (the only gate that allows vehicles to enter), East Gate , Stone Gate or South Gate; and West Gate which is the busiest gate where tour buses are parked. 

Kunya ark citadel outside wall near West Gate

We walked back to our hotel for breakfast at 8am where we had a sumptuous meal of omelets, local bread, somsa, fried brinjal, salad and fruits and nuts. We enjoyed having our breakfast with the owner of the guesthouse kept offering freshly fried brinjals or somsas on our plate.

buffet breakfast spread at Ulli Oy 

breakfast at Ulli Oy

After resting a bit, we headed out to the local market by walking to burn the calories gained from breakfast. The walk to the market took about 30 mins which is located 2km from our hotel. We bought 1kg of cherries for 60K UZS (RM 18), which is about half the price in Malaysia. 

Khiva market

We then tried to find a restaurant outside the walled city to have a local flavour, but they were closed or only had somsa available, so we walked back to our hotel. On the way back, we stopped by at a park to sit and enjoy the view. Luckily today wasn't as hot as yesterday.

one of the parks outside Itchan Kala walls

It rained that afternoon not long after we reached our hotel. So we decided to have tea and cherries bought just now at the hotel rooftop while watching the Itchan Kala view in the rain. 

After it stopped raining, we walked back out of the walled city via the North Gate and had late lunch at Tohir & Zhura café. We had manti, manti soup and samsa with a pot of black tea for 143K UZS (RM 43), paid by cash.

manti and manti soup

samsa

Back at Itchan Kala by 4.30pm, the walled city is now full of tourists and souvenir stalls busy with customers. 

busy with tourists and souvenir stalls

At night, it was still busy at 9pm, so we decided to go out again at 11pm hoping to get a deserted night view of Itchan Kala. However, there were still people and some last stalls still standing. Finally some lights near the Kalta Minor minaret were switched off at 11.30pm, then we returned back to our hotel to retire for the day.

Islam Khoja Madrasah minaret at night

Islam Khoja Madrasah minaret at night

Kalta Minor minaret at night

Mohammed Rakhim Khan madrasah at night

TAS-UGC

Sat 30/5/26

Since it was summer and there is no daylight saving in Uzbekistan, sunrise is very early at 5am but we would have to wait another 2 hours for breakfast to start at 7am.

breakfast at Avant Wellness Hotel Tashkent

No plans today, only flying to Urgench via Uzbekistan airways and then take Yandex taxi to Khiva. It would take 14 hours one way if we take a train from Tashkent to Khiva, so a one way flight is more feasible to us. There is no airport in Khiva, and the nearest airport is Urgench. Then we would break our journey via train from Khiva to Bukhara, Samarkand and back to Tashkent.

After checking out from the hotel at 11am, we made our way to TAS domestic airport terminal 3 via Yandex taxi (19.5K UZS = RM 6.6)  which took about 10 minutes only.

Our flight to Urgench is at 1345 and the check in counter only opens 2 hours before at 1145 am so we waited a bit. While waiting, we withdrew cash of 1.5 Mil UZS (RM 508) from the ATM with Wise card. There was nothing much at the small domestic airport, so we didn't have to arrive early. 

One peculiar note is that we bought the most expensive economy ticket via the Uzbekistan airlines website online so we could choose our seats, and we selected our seats at 5E and 5F. However, during check in we were bumped to the middle of the flight at seat 17 in the old A320 plane. Also, we didn't receive the e-ticket, only the e-ticket number in our email, with no reference number. The one way flight ticket cost RM 360. We were served with a sandwich and water (the other options being carbonated soft drinks only)

A320 TAS-UGC

meal in Uzbek air TAS-UGC economy seat

Our flight departed on time and we landed at 3.15pm. After waiting briefly for our luggage, we took the Yandex taxi to our accommodation in Khiva at Ulli Oy boutique hotel, located within the walled city of the Unesco heritage site of Itchan Kala. The Yandex cost UZS 96.5K (RM 33) for a 50 minute (37 km) ride. The Yandex taxi entered Itchan Kala via the North Gate. Our hotel cost RM 745 for 3 nights with breakfast, paid with credit card. 

our room at Ulli Oy boutique hotel Khiva

Ulli Oy boutique hotel courtyard

We had dinner tonight at Old Terrace restaurant at the rooftop. Since we didn't have a reservation, we were seated a bit behind, but still had the view of Itchan Kala's . For dinner, we had Kazan kebab, manti spinach(dumpling) and Khiva plov with a pot of fruit tea for UZS 369K (RM 123) paid by card

having dinner at rooftop - spinach manti and fruit tea

Kazan kebab and Khiva plov

view from restaurant rooftop

interior decor of the restaurant with wooden column

After dinner, we walked briefly around Kalta Minor minaret, Kunya ark citadel and Mohammed Rakhim Khan madrasah at sunset. We then made our way back to our hotel to rest for the day and watch the final of the Champions League between Arsenal and PSG on the hotel rooftop to get better 4G coverage.

view of Itchan Khala from our hotel rooftop

KUL-TAS

Fri 29/5/26 

Due to war situation in Iran, my risk assessment was done based on MH's flight suspension to Doha until 2 July. Hence, I decided not to transit in Doha for this trip. Since we are members of the One World alliance and based in Malaysia, MH and QR flights are always our first choice.

For this time around, I decided to go to Uzbekistan via Batik Air, since European destinations not transiting in Doha / Oman (One World alliance members) were too expensive. In this trip, Batik Air flies direct from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Tashkent (TAS). We bought our ticket about 2 weeks (early May) before the departure date (29 May). Our return trip ticket cost RM 4782 per person for a Business Class ticket (non premium airline). 

Traffic looked normal, so we decided to take a Grab ride to KLIA at 12.30pm. We arrived at KLIA at 1.15 pm.  Although we arrived more than 3 hours before flight time, the check in counter was already opened (since Batik Air Malaysia is based here). After checking in and immigration clearance using the MyBorderPass app, we made our way to Plaza Premium Lounge at the landside, before taking the aerotrain. Our Business Class ticket came with lounge access in KUL, but not in TAS.

The lounge was crowded at the time, but we did manage to get seats. There is only buffet serving at the Plaza Premium (normal) lounge. Made to order sets are only available for Plaza Premium First customers. Our flight to TAS was delayed for 45 minutes due to late arrival of 2 connecting passengers. Since I have pre-booked airport transfer with our hotel in TAS, I managed to update the hotel of the new arrival time via whatsapp.

at Plaza Premium Lounge KLIA

We have pre booked our meals and seats when buying our tickets. I chose lamb briyani, while Partner In Crime chose chicken biryani. For light snack, I had chocolate muffin while Partner In Crime has chicken pizza. We were given (manufactured) orange juice for the pre departure drink. I chose seat 1K while Partner In Crime was seated next to me in the A330 2-2-2 seat configuration with no direct access to aisle and angled flat seat (not full flat). Although it was not full flat seat, we managed to get a few hours of sleep after having our meal shortly after departure. We were not served hot beverage for the whole journey as the seatbelt sign was on and there was air turbulence (same policy as MH, but not for QR). The IFE is via bring your own device.

Batik Air business class seat

Batik Air business class meal

Batik Air angled flat seat. The 3 pin plug didn't work (in green colour)

Batik Air IFE showing our flight path

We landed Tashkent around 10.30 pm (about 40 minutes late). Immigration was smooth and we got our luggage not long after immigration. We waited for a bit for our driver from Avant Wellness hotel Tashkent with free one way airport transfer. 

Our hotel cost RM 240 for 1 night with breakfast included, paid by credit card. Note that foreign credit card transactions in Uzbekistan incurs a commission fee, which is not mentioned by the hotel. On top of this, our local bank in Malaysia also charges a conversion fee. Otherwise, paying by cash would eliminate the additional fees, however you would have to withdraw millions of cash in Uzbekistan Soms. For internet, we opted for 15 day Maxis roaming for RM99 per person, although all the hotels that we stayed in Uzbekistan provided free wifi. However, we only got 4G coverage for the data roaming in Uzbekistan.

Our room at Avant Wellness hotel Tashkent