(Last Updated on Apr 6, 2024)

Here’s a quick background of Khiva before we dive into the travel account. Khiva sits right at the border between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. In the local Uzbek language, it is written as Xiva (note this because it will come in handy during train bookings). It gained prominence as a key stop for caravans on the Silk Road. Khiva comes under the Khwarezm region of Uzbekistan and was once the capital of the Khanate of Khiva.

The term Khanate is derived from the Khans who used to rule here – Khans are usually part of the Mongol lineage (think Genghis Khan etc), though not always. The city then became infamous for being a slave market in the 17th century where a large number of Persians and Russians were enslaved and sold. After the Soviet collapse, it became a part of the new country of Uzbekistan in 1991.

To reach Khiva, you can either take an overnight train from Tashkent or take a flight to Urgench and then drive over to Khiva. Ok then, let’s get started! Before we begin, do subscribe for the latest blogs and itineraries. It will hardly take a few seconds and it really helps to get your support!

Day 2
It was an early start for us at Tashkent as we had to leave for the airport at 5am. We were initially planning to leave by 5:30am but our hosts suggested that we should keep some buffer especially because we were travelling with an infant. We said goodbye to Mrs. Botir and Mr. Botir took us to the airport. Our flight to Urgench was to leave at 7am. We almost did not make it to Tashkent as planned the previous day. Read all about it here.

It was a smooth flight of 1hr and 15mins on Uzbekistan Airways. We got some rain along the way and after landing as well – we hoped it would bring down the temperature. Khiva was forecasted to cross 40 degrees that day and we were not in a mood to explore the town in that heat!

At Urgench, we realised that Yandex was not an option – all those blogs which mentioned that Yandex was there were wrong! Makes me wonder how many of those people actually travelled to Urgench and how many actually used a cab! We had to pick a couple of cabs standing outside the airport, Nam negotiated well and we got them to agree for 250,000 som total (roughly 1700 INR for 2 cabs). Not bad for a 40km journey. The cab driver put on some Tamil songs for us after he confirmed that we were from India – there was apparently an FM station which only played Tamil songs! We got some rain on the way to Khiva as well. Soon, we could see the walls of Itchan Kala (the inner walled city).

We entered through one of the few gates that allowed cars and reached Islam Khodja Guesthouse – where we were staying that night.

We checked in to our rooms and stepped out for some breakfast and sightseeing before the sun got too hot.

It was around 9:30am at the time and the sun was mild, thanks to clouds. Right outside our guesthouse was the Islam Khodja complex with the tallest minaret in the city.

The tea houses and restaurants we had shortlisted were closed (probably because it was Sunday). So we stepped into one that was open (Murod Josh). We ordered tea, gumma (fried pastry filled with potato), samsa with meat, bread and apple juice. It was not very filling but we planned to have an early lunch. Also, we were super hungry – so, there are no pics of the food. Sorry!

Meanwhile, Parth ran and found another kid his age who was picking up stones from the road. He joined along and made a new friend.

There are over 50 historical sites inside Itchan Kala – mosques, madrassahs, palaces, homes and minarets. To enter most of the them, you need a ticket – this can be bought at the ticket counter outside the gate called Ata Darvaza (the West Gate). So, off we went to get our tickets.

We had not converted a lot of currency at Tashkent airport. In our travel experience, airports typically had poor conversion rates and we could get much better rates inside the city. So, we were out of Uzbek Som and hoped they would accept USD.

We asked a tourist police nearby and he said we could get our USD exchanged at ATMs. He even pointed us in the direction of one. We spent close to an hour running around and looking for ATMs. But none of them were working. There were only 2 machines in the entire area and both were not working. Meanwhile, Parth was doing an elaborate photoshoot with some uncles having tea.

We went back to the ticket counter and asked what we could do now. The lady there said that all banks would be closed as it was a Sunday. That’s why the ATMs were out of cash and would remain that way till Monday. She stood up and said something to a bunch of guys sitting nearby. They were tourist guides and since this was not a peak season, a lot of them seemed to be free. One of them called a guy and asked us to wait for 5-10 mins. One of them struck up a conversation with us about Raj Kapoor movies.

Sure enough, a guy came on a cycle with a small bag sitting in his front carrier basket. He stopped just beside the ticket counter, asked how much we wanted and pulled out a huge stash of notes from his bag. It was all over in a matter of seconds. Thank God for the unofficial currency exchange market! We bought our tickets and stepped back into Itchan Kala, the walled city.

It had started drizzling and we took cover at the nearby Terassa Cafe. We refueled with apple and pomegranate juice and then started our sightseeing.

One thing we noticed everywhere we went in Khiva was that there were wash basins right outside all restaurants and tea shops. It was super convenient and functional – wash your hands and face with cold water to escape the heat of the sun. Very practically placed! The sun had now come out with a vengeance after the few spells of rain. Out came our umbrellas. We first visited the Kuhna Ark – it is a fortress that also contains a throne room, offices, a watch tower and a mint (it still contains coins and currencies through the ages).

We were starving by now and decided to head for lunch. We walked to the Khiva Moon restaurant. It was among the highest rated in the town. We ate plov, shivit oshi (green dill noodles), vegetable soup, pumpkin manti and topped it off with Ayran (we were super excited to have it again after tasting it for the first time in Turkey). Ayran is similar to the sambhaaram of Kerala in India – it contains yogurt, water and salt as the base ingredients and spices/herbs are added for extra flavour. Everything tasted really good – especially the plov!

Tummies full and energized, we decided to visit the Juma mosque on the way back to our room. The mosque was not in use anymore. It had hundreds of wooden pillars – each having a unique design. It was similar to some temples in India which also had stone pillars of unique designs.

We became instant celebrities inside the mosque. Apparently, most of them had not seen Indians (except in movies) and wanted to click pics with us!

After an elaborate photo shoot and selfies all around, we walked back to our room. We ended up staying outside longer than planned due to the delay in getting tickets and currency exchange.

We all slept well in the AC room for around 1-2 hours (we were glad this place did not have a power-cut issue like the last one). At 6:15pm, we went back outside to continue sightseeing. We visited the Tash Khauli complex, another royal palace. There were some really beautiful courtyards inside filled with blue walls. One of them even had a yurt built on a platform – it was steaming hot!

We then walked to the Farrokh Tea House to have some tea. Tea is a cultural element in Uzbekistan. They have beautifully decorated tea sets and use small bowls for drinking tea. It pairs well with the Uzbek bread.

The sun was starting to set around 8:30 and we spent almost an hour sitting there watching the different hues reflecting on the Kalta Minor and other buildings. The buildings were being lit as the evening went on. We walked around clicking more photos – this place was truly a photographer’s paradise – some many fascinating colours and lights. Check out all the pics and videos on our Instagram highlights. Do follow our page to virtually travel along with us next time!

For dinner, we went to the Khorezm Art Restaurant. We had Gumma, shashlik, salad, fried chicken, egg dumplings and watermelon. It was a beautiful place to have dinner. The restaurant stood at the site of one of the historical buildings and it was lit up with multiple colored lights at night.

We got back to our room, had a nice bath and slept! The weather was better than we had hoped!

Day 3
Woke up by 5:30am. Quickly got ready and went for a morning walk. The city would be empty at this time and given how early the sun rises, we would get to see it in its full glory. This is something that Nam and I love to do – starting from our very first trip at Prague.

We walked along the Pahlavan Mausoleum – dedicated to the famous wrestler, Pahlavan Mahmud. He was also a poet and philosopher and is considered the patron saint of Khiva.

We walked all the way upto Kalta Minor, saw the other minars as well – Islam Khodja and Juma minaret. There was no one on the streets except for one or two sweeping staff. The souvenir shops were all shut. This is usually the perfect time of the day to go and explore any city – especially if it is about the architecture.

We got back, quickly packed up our bags and went for breakfast. It was a Turkish style breakfast with breads, plum and apricot preserves, cold cut meats, cheese, pancakes, eggs and fruits. One of the breads – a pastry filled with something like sweet “khoya” was quite interesting. Parth was enjoying running around their courtyard and playing with the owner’s kid’s tricycle. He kept going around and honking.

Our host arranged for our cabs to the train station that was a few kilometres away. Our host was very thoughtful as well. We had requested him to arrange some lunch for us as there would be no food on the train. He packed a travel friendly lunch for us – a plum, apple, cucumber, tomato, sausage, sandwich and a jam bun. We said goodbye and boarded our cab to Khiva station.

Khiva was the starting point of our train which was bound for Andijon – at the far north east of Uzbekistan. It left right on time at 8:28am.

We were dreading the train journey as it was a non-AC train and we were almost into the peak of summer. We were really surprised to see that there were no fans inside! The windows were also sealed shut and only a tiny portion opened up on top (see the image above). This did not make any sense at all!

Khiva seemed to be the end of the line as we were right at the border of Turkmenistan. Our first stop was Urgench. The train stopped there for over 90 mins! So, a tip for all you folks our there – if you can afford to get to Urgench by car (which will set you back by 100-120k som) then you can save those 90 mins instead of spending it stewing inside the hot train.

There was only 1 more stop before Bukhara. That was thankfully only 5 mins long. And then, the desert began. There was nothing but sand and brambly bushes as far as the eye could see. There was no respite from the heat.

Luckily Parth cooperated and slept for most of the journey! We used the printouts of our tickets as fans. And soon, we found out why the windows were sealed! A huge dust storm engulfed the train. There was sand flying everywhere and through the tiny gaps in the windows, our seats were getting covered in sand and dust. The toilet looked like someone threw mud all over it – the window was open and it bore the brunt of the storm.

An Uzbek lady travelling in our compartment walked around and gave us a big bunch of apricots. They were really juicy and sweet! It was very nice of her to offer us so many apricots.

After 5 hours of non-stop ride (and 8 hours overall), we finally reached Bukhara! And that looks like a good place to break. We’ll continue on our adventure soon. To get notified for the next part, subscribe to the blog!

Check out our other Uzbekistan blogs here:

• The Roughest Start We’ve Ever Faced – a cancelled flight, a delayed one and many other challenges kicked off our trip to Central Asia
• Time Traveling in Khiva – A Hidden Treasure of Uzbekistan
• Enchanting Bukhara – A Treasure of the Silk Road. Join us as we explore this oasis
• Samarkand – Where History and Beauty Converge
• Tashkent Tales – The Uzbek “Metro” Capital
• The Uzbek itinerary – plan your perfect trip to Uzbekistan