Urgut in Uzbekistan - an excursion from Samarkand

Urgut in Uzbekistan is both a city and a region, located southeast of Samarkand. We made an excursion here one day to experience, among other things, mountain landscapes and thousand-year-old trees.

Urgut region of Uzbekistan

The Urgut region is known for its mountains and ancient trees. We travelled by car, accompanied by a guide, interpreter and driver.

Urgut is located just south-east of Samarkand, in the south-eastern part of Uzbekistan, on the border with Tajikistan.

Filming location for Västernfilm

Our first stop in Urgut was at a place where a Western film was apparently filmed once upon a time. If we understood correctly, it was an East German film from 1973 that used the area as a filming location. And there is still a small tourist stop here, with signs, a small souvenir shop, an "Apache Indian" who is happy to pose for photos, and a horse.

The special hollow stone, on which the "Indian" wisely jumped up, can apparently be seen in the film.

And yes, there was a short little ride on the horse ... For photos if nothing else!

We can also take the opportunity to show the small minibuses that are common in rural areas of Uzbekistan. One interesting thing about the country is that almost all cars are of the Chevrolet brand, which are produced in the country and have some kind of monopoly. It is possible to buy cars abroad, and thus get another car brand, but most people simply drive Chevrolet.

Millennial trees in the Chor-Chinor garden

We continued our journey and stopped at Chor-Chinor, an ancient garden famous for its thousand-year-old trees. Here our guides first exchanged words with some local men selling honey. We tasted both the honey and the fresh spring water from the mountains - both very good!

We then went for a walk in the garden, which featured footpaths, greenery and water.

In particular, we were able to observe the huge and powerful trees, some of which are older than others. According to legend, Hodja Abdu Talib, once ruler of Urgut, planted four trees around a spring. Upon his death, around 867-877, he himself was buried here.

One of the trees is hollow and equipped with an entrance, so you can enter.

Inside the tree there are benches to sit on. The picture shows our young talented interpreter Samander (only 19 years old), Larisa from the Swedish media company. Cawa Media, our knowledgeable guide Hosan and a local man who welcomed us into the tree, as well as into the nearby mosque.

Visit to a mosque

In the Chor-Chinor garden there are two mosques. We couldn't visit one because prayers were in progress, but we were welcomed into the other. Here we were impressed by the high arched roof, which was built without any regulations.

The men who showed us around the mosque were also able to tell us about other interesting places in the mosque. Behind the men you can see a narrow entrance, which is actually a narrow staircase, winding upwards to rooms higher up in the building. In the next picture you can see a room where holy men used to choose to stay for 40 days, without going out, to achieve closer contact with God.

More to see and do in the neighbourhood

Visiting the Urgut region was very interesting, as it means we got to see some of the countryside outside of Samarkand. Of course, there is even more to see inside the mythical city. Samarkandsuch as the historic square Registan and the amazing complex Shakh-i-Zinda.