Uzbekistan: Nuratau Mountains Hiking Guide
Узбекистан: Путеводитель по горам Нуратау
An offbeat alternative to the typically more history-focused travel itineraries, the Nuratau Mountains are an excellent place to experience trekking in Uzbekistan firsthand and see historical and cultural sides of Uzbekistan that most visitors completely miss. The hiking is fairly light (especially compared to typical Central Asia trekking) and the infrastructure well-developed, leaving it to tourists to just decide upon an itinerary and head out.
Trekking in the Nuratau Mountains
We’ll look first at the most popular hikes in the Nuratau Mountains, many of which center around the large village of Sentyab, and then at some of the practical considerations like where to stay and how to get there.
- Nuratau Mountains Itinerary
- Sentyab Ridge Loop
- Kadvan Valley Ruins
- Fazilman Lake Loop
- Villages of Nuratau
- Katta Ej Ruins
- Dara Valley Loop
- Getting to the Nuratau Mountains
- Where to Stay and Eat
- Costs and Practicalities
Nuratau Mountains Itinerary
The biggest travel hassles visitors to the Nuratau Mountains will face is transportation, and so it will be a central consideration for trip planning as well. The village of Sentyab is one of the biggest in the region, and so one of the best connected, and most tourists will find it convenient as a base for the bulk of their stay, particularly if attempting to use public transportation or point to point car hire without an accompanying guide.
- Day 1: Samarkand or Jizzakh to Sentyab
There’s a solid half-day drive to get from Samarkand to Sentyab, assuming you’ve either hired a private car or get lucky with not waiting on public transportation in both Samarkand and Jizzakh. Once you’ve arrived to Sentyab and checked into a guesthouse, spend some time wandering around the small village lanes (particularly the shaded footpaths surrounding the river) to get a feel for what is a really lovely community full of friendly folks.
- Day 2: Sentyab Ridge Loop and Kadvan Valley Ruins
Set off early from your guesthouse to climb above Sentyab village on the Sentyab Ridge Loop, a please several hours hike that takes to the ridge west of the village and returns to near the village’s southern edge. Though you could call it a day here, if you have some legs left under you it’s worth connecting immediately into the Kadvan Valley Ruins route, which passes through the ridge loop’s end point. Though you could stop in at a guesthouse for lunch in between the two, we’d much rather suggest packing a boxed lunch to eat along the trail somewhere.
- Day 3: Fazilman Lake Loop
Having warmed up a bit on Day 2, tackle one of the Nuratau Mountains’ most demanding dayhikes on the Fazilman Lake Loop. It’s a long day, but a beautiful landscape and well worth the effort. Overnight one last time in Sentyab afterwards.
- Day 4: Sentyab to Hayat, small dayhikes nearby
Arrange a ride from Sentyab to the village of Hayat, home to probably the coziest guesthouse in the entire Nuratau region, and make the short loop hike up to the Sverdlov Sheep enclosure above the village to watch these beautiful (and very endangered) animals without any time constraints.
- Day 5: Hayat to Uxum to Asraf
Head out to visit the Villages of Nuratau, a quick hop over the small ridge that separates Hayat and Uxum villages then a longer afternoon stroll to Asraf and an overnight there. If you’re not traveling with a guide you’ll probably want to find transport the following day directly back to Jizzakh or Samarkand, but if you have a car at your disposal continue on for a bit more hiking.
- Day 6: Katta Ej and Dara Valley
Rather than the more direct route east to Jizzakh, head west to the small desert trek at the Katta Ej Ruins and then onwards to a quick walk around the lush Dara Valley (a popular daytrip stop for city-based locals). End the day and the trip in Nurata city for a stop at the old fortress of Alexander the Great or continue directly onwards to Samarkand to rejoin the more beaten tourist trail.
Sentyab Ridge Loop
Total Km: 9km
Elevation Gain/Loss: 508m+ / 508m-
Start/End Point: Sentyab Village
The nice 9km Sentyab Ridge Loop above and around the village of Sentyab is a delightful introduction to the local landscapes in and of itself, as well as a good warm-up for the more difficult Fazilman Lake loop that shares some of the same trail. Expect it to take a fairly relaxed half-day, or combine it with the Kadvan Valley Ruins route for a relaxed full-day walk.
Kadvan Valley Ruins
Total Km: 10.23km
Elevation Gain/Loss: 228m+ / 228m-
Start/End Point: Sentob Village
Another relaxed half-day route that uses Sentyab (also written occasionally as Sentob) as a base, the Kadvan Valley Ruins offer a glimpse into the Nuratau Mountains’ history as well as some rugged but beautiful landscapes along the way. The is the best casual hike of the three for Sentyab-based tourists who want to stretch their legs a bit without any substantial exertion.
Fazilman Lake Loop
Total Km: 25km
Elevation Gain/Loss: 1141m+ / 1141m-
Start/End Point: Sentob Village
A more ‘serious’ hike in terms of both elevation and distance, the Fazilman Lake Loop is a long one-day loop from down in the village to a high mountain pasture capped by a seasonal lake. The best hike in the Nuratau Mountains for really digging into the variety of landscapes, though 25km may be a bit much for casual hikers who haven’t warmed up elsewhere in the region.
Villages of Nuratau
Total Km: 15km
Elevation Gain/Loss: 426m+ / 701m-
Start/End Point: Hayat/Asraf Village
Perhaps the single best combination of landscapes and culture in the Nuratau Mountains, the one-day Villages of Nuratau hike gives visitors the chance to overnight in two separate local villages (Hayat and Asraf) and walk the old mountain paths that connect them both to a third (Uxum).
Katta Ej Ruins
Total Km: 8km
Elevation Gain/Loss: 179m+ / 179m-
Start/End Point: Katta Ej Village
Though it’s a little out of the way for travelers that don’t have their own vehicle, the old ruins and petroglyphs in the desert above the little village of Katta Ej present a quite different landscape to most of the hikes in the Nuratau Mountains while still showcasing the culture and ruined villages that make the region so historically fascinating.
Dara Valley Loop
Total Km: 4.5km
Elevation Gain/Loss: 153m+ / 153m-
Start/End Point: Dara Valley Parking Lot
Another easy dayhike in surprisingly lush landscapes, the Dara Valley is a popular daytrip for residents of Samarkand and Bukhara to get out of the city and into the mountains. You’ll likely meet city families picnicking, local shepherds with their herds, and even a bit of small wildlife along the way. It’s a great stop while traveling between Samarkand/Nurata and the villages deeper into the Nuratau Mountains, as well.
Good To Know
Though it’s entirely possible to travel and trek the Nuratau Mountains independently, lack of transport connectivity and possible linguistic barriers mean that for many tourists a guide will really add a lot to your enjoyment of the area.
We traveled throughout the region with Ruslan of Nurata Tours, and were happy with the service and prices. Our friend Shivya of The Shooting Star visited the Nuratau region with Responsible Tourism, another local operator, and also reported being pleased with the experience.
Getting to the Nuratau Mountains
The most obvious starting points to get to the Nuratau Mountains are Jizzakh and Nuratau, both of which are within easy reach of Samarkand. If you’re insistent on public transport you’ll want to take a shared taxi or the train to Jizzakh and then switch to a share taxi for the mountains, but it may end up being a long wait to fill up or you might have to ride with a share taxi partway and then switch or hitch the rest of the way up. From Nuratau there’s a road that goes through the Dara Valley towards the western side of the Nuratau ridge, but even less public transport plies this route so only count on it if you don’t mind to spend some time waiting.
Where to Stay and Eat
All of the villages we’ve written about here have at least one local guesthouse, with the exception of the Dara Valley. You could conceivably wild camp in the region, and it might be worth doing so up past Fazilman Lake to open the possibility of routes deeper into the mountains, but around the villages much of the charm of visiting is in staying in local guesthouses and spending time with the families that run them.
We noted at least six guesthouses in Sentyab – see the GPS files in those write-ups for the locations. We like Komil’s guesthouse for location, comfort, hospitality, and food. If you want to book online, the large hotel-like Manzarahoi is currently the only choice in town. Otherwise, just rock up and see who has a bed available – Sentyab is popular among tourists to the Nuratau mountains, but it’s still rare that you’ll show up to the village and every place will be booked up full. All guesthouses can prepare meals for guests, or with advance notice for drop-in visitors as well.
There are excellent options in Hayat and Asraf to bookend the villages of Nuratau route, both in extremely pleasant village settings by a stream and run by overwhelmingly welcoming families. It’s possible to book the Hayat Guesthouse online in advance, though as far as we’re aware the Akshigul Guesthouse in Asraf must be booking in person or through a tour agent. Uxum has a handful, but we much preferred the other two villages.
There was one guesthouse in Katta Ej, and another local family told us they were considering opening their home to guests, but most visitors will come for a half-day and continue onwards to Sentob or Nurata city.
Costs and Practicalities
There are no entrance fees to speak of anywhere in the Nuratau Mountains, and guesthouses will typically be around US$20 per person per night including breakfast, and $5-10 more per person for additional meals. Transportation will be cheap (sometimes just a few dollars) if you can manage to catch actual shared public transport, but if you need to private-hire a vehicle it will be open to negotiation and the mood of your potential driver. Don’t be afraid to bargain down initial prices.
