Prominent places to see in Tashkent include the metro, Chor Bazar, Amir Temur square. Mountains of Ugam Chatkal National park including Chimgan, Charvak and Jade lake on the outskirts can be covered through a day trip
- Hazrati Imam Complex: Out first visit to blue domed buildings
- Chorsu Bazaar: Just to get a sense of chaos and colors
- Alisher Navoi Metro station and Amir Temur Station: To get an experience of travelled in a metro and getting to see some stations
- Amir Temur Square: Nice park wide lanes to walk and rest
- Tashkent Tower: Gives a nice bird’s eye view of Tashkent and character of the city
- Jade lake: This is a lesser-known treasure, also called Urungach lake (different from Urgench which is the city near Khiva). It is known as Nefrit Koli by the locals. While most people visit Chimgan, Charvak, rarely people go beyond. The road to Jade lake itself was very scenic with snow-capped mountains, clouds touching the mountains, rivers changing colors along, poppy flowers in some places
We arranged this day tour through Zidulay travel, a local travel company which we found on Instagram (reachable on +998931711207). They have accounts in Uzbek, but can communicate in basic English over Telegram once you reach out. There are options on sites like Getyourguide which are priced much higher. I had contacted few other companies on Instagram- Nefrit Koli, Urungach tour, Nefrit Travel, Ananas Travel, but didn’t go with them as they either had tours on specified dates only or the price was higher or some didn’t respond promptly
The driver was professional, prompt with clean vehicle. The tour included 4×4 which is required to reach the lakes. Overall, we paid $140 (1.8 Mn Som) for the day
It is relatively easy to reach the lower lake. The water was truly jade colored with apricot blossoms around the shore making it a picture-perfect destination
The hike to the upper lake took us a couple of hours. It started raining on the way and by the time we reached, the water was muddy and there was haze all around. We could still see snow-capped mountains and imagined what it would have looked like on a sunny day
There are limited options for washrooms along the way, it is typically a pit-based toilet only. Carry toilet roll for emergency
Where we stayed: Courtyard Tashkent on redemption. The stay was very good- we got upgraded and got breakfast for two along with credits which we could use for third person. The building has Western touch but food has lot of Uzbek options
