A hike along the "Forbidden Paths". Uzbekistan

Over 9 months I didn't write topics for Steemit. My job, carriere and projects devoured all the free time. Fortunately I can can return to my photo reports about trips to the most beautiful places in Uzbekistan.

My subscribers know that about a couple of years ago I met a somewhat unusual travel company "Mysterious Uzbekistan", and since then I have been riding with them all over the country. The guys from this team are finding new, amazing routes that most tourists don't even know about. Around one month ago, the team of “Mysterious Uzbekistan” got a permission for a new route to places that previously were forbidden to visit and we were the first tourists who received permission to visit the territory bordering the Ugam-Chatkal national nature reserve. Previously, only huntsmen went there, and Very Important Persons, for example, like Russian President Vladimir Putin.
I would like to tell about this trip.

We left early in the morning on three vans. The group was really big - almost 40 people. From Tashkent the road took almost three hours. We got to some mountain village, the name of which I forgot unfortunately. Finally we arrived and started our hiking.

The climb was pretty smooth and uncomplicated. Actually all route was quite easy. There was one small area where we had to climb a rather steep slope, but on the whole everything was just fine.

The route was chosen very well - we could go and admire the landscape.

Soon we reached a small glade with beautiful yellow flowers. I forgot their name - by the way, in the photo below you can see the body of an old bus (it seems that this is “ZIL”). They say that huntsmen and local residents sometimes stop there at night.

Around there were a lot of all kinds of beautiful vegetation, but the guides strictly forbade touching the grass "like a dill." If you touch the unprotected part of the body, then blisters may appear. I confirm - in one of the past travels I somehow accidentally touched this “dill” and a small rash appeared on my hand which soon passed.

Our girls, of course, immediately rushed to the center of this yellow glade to take pictures from different angles.

Having finished the photo session, we went further and went deep into the forest. By the way, there is a lack of people in this forest - we found porcupine needles, and the guides said that wolves and bears feel quite at ease in this part of the reserve. Fortunately, we have not met any predators. In addition to bears and porcupines, lynxes, foxes, badgers, snow leopards and mountain goats also live here. In general, there are more than 60 species of various animals, most of which are listed in the Red Book.

The vegetation of the reserve is quite diverse, although archa species dominate, of course. I googled and found out that there are several dozens of plants in the reserve that are characteristic only for this region and are listed in the Red Book. The guides told us about them and called the plants, but alas, I only remembered the "dill". Although in reality, it seemed to be a hogweed.

After the nearly three-hour transition, we went to the meadow, where we settled for rest and lunch. We walked along the very border of the reserve - there is still a forbidden territory, where the entrance to tourists is still closed. And this is right, I think, since we humans can make things very, very quickly.

After a rest, we went back.

I was very pleased with this trip - beautiful places, great company. High budget trip. Transportation, permits and guides cost about $30. By the way, foreigners are also allowed here, which previously seemed impossible.

In general, it should be noted that over the past couple of years Uzbekistan has very seriously engaged in attracting tourists and their flow has increased significantly. This is facilitated by the abolition of the visa regime for a number of countries and easing of the entrance rules. For example, what does it cost to cancel a stupid ban on photographing in the subway (one of the most beautiful subways in the world). Although, remnants of the past, still remain, but I hope for a while. But Uzbekistan has faced with another problem - there are so many tourists that it is difficult to book a hotel and a ticket for a high-speed train to the main tourist cities - Samarkand and Bukhara. Our government agencies responsible for tourism began to work and the results of their work are already visible.

In the following posts I will tell you about trips to the salt lake Tuzkan and to ancient Khiva. In the meantime, allow me to bow out.

By the way, please follow me and I show you Uzbekistan - one of the most beautiful countries in the world!

!steemitworldmap 41.705570 lat 70.375476 long A hike along the "Forbidden Paths" d3scr