Tashkent Local Living and Mahalla Experience Day Tour

Tashkent Local Living and Mahalla Experience Day Tour




















mahalla
mahalla
mahalla
mahalla
mahalla
mahalla
mahalla
Mahalla of Tashkent
mahalla
mahalla

Tashkent Local Living and Mahalla Experience Day Tour

We would like to offer you to change the tourist route and go to the very heart of the many-sided Tashkent, to its residential quarters mahallas, where the passage of time, social foundations and traditions continue to flow in the same rhythm as several hundred years ago. Here, children play merrily under the supervision of old people among the narrow streets, the hypnotic quail songs sound from behind the high walls, the baker takes fresh fragrant bread from the oven, and a merry wedding is celebrated on the neighboring street. 

Mahalla is worthy of attention not only for those who are interested in the traditional architecture of the cities of Uzbekistan, but also for those who want to see the real life of local residents, plunge into the daily rituals of a traditional Uzbek family, which tightly intertwine history, religion, life, traditions and social life.

Tour Highlights

Learn about the cultural and social traditions of the Tashkent people;

See authentic fragments of buildings of the 19th – early 20th centuries;

Discover a wide palette of Uzbek street food tastes;

Visit interesting artisans and communicate with the local population

Itinerary

Guide and driver will meet you at the hotel lobby or in another place convenient for you. 

We will start our tour with a visit to the memorial and cultural Khazrati Imam Complex, on the territory of which there are several places of worship. We will start with a visit to the Friday Mosque, where we will try to understand the daily spiritual rituals of the locals and how the daily prayer schedule affects their daily routine. You will then be able to see one of the oldest Qurans in existence, located in a nearby building. You will also visit the Barak-Khan Madrassah, which vaguely resembles a mini-version of the famous Registan Square in Samarkand.

Note: the visit time of religious places, or the order of visits could be alternated due to Friday praying times or Muslim holidays.

After studying the religious component, we will go to the residential area of the mahalla, where we will visit a traditional Tashkent house. Previously, such houses were divided into two parts – into women’s and men’s courtyards, into the so-called private and public courtyards. The public courtyard had access to the street, and workshops or commercial premises, warehouses and guest quarters were located around this courtyard. The private courtyard has always been a very private space. This system of separation practically doesn’t exist nowadays, but you will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the space of the traditional public courtyard, the heart of the Uzbek house.

A cozy workshop of technologists of Uzbekistan’s traditional fabrics is located not far from this house. Here you can take a mini tour of the varieties and styles of traditional fabrics during a tea break, and you will also learn to identify the characteristic ornaments of the Ferghana Valley, Shakhrisabz, and Boysun. You will also be able to see a functioning loom used for hand-weaving ikat and adras fabrics. 

The continuation of the tour will take place in the format of a walk along the narrow streets of the mahalla along the Kalkauz canal (estimated walking distance is 1.7 km). Here your guide will tell you many amazing stories and local legends, and he will also show you the technology that makes the walls of traditional houses withstand various seismic loads. You can also become a casual witness to a traditional wedding or family celebration. 

After the cultural part, we will go to explore the social life that has always been seething between the bright stalls of the oriental bazaars. One of these places today is the oriental Chorsu Bazaar. Like many centuries ago, today the bazaar is the center of attraction for the local population, where acquaintances and neighbors exchange news, buy or sell various goods, competing in the ability to bargain. Bargaining in the East remains a kind of sport, where the winner is not the one who was able to negotiate the ideal price for himself, but the one who was able to find the golden mean, both for the seller and for the buyer. You can also practice this «competition» and consolidate your skills in getting the «best prices». 

The bazaar is famous not only for its food stalls and commodity shops but also for its street food complex. In addition to traditional pilaf and barbecue, here you will be offered almost the entire range of national dishes that will make even those who are not hungry. Optional: You will be offered a lunch in the format of street food tasting. 

At the end of a day full of impressions, you will visit the Rakhimov’s unique house workshop, of the family of hereditary ceramists. Here you can communicate directly with the master over tea and oriental sweets after a leisurely walk through the workshop, a garden in a small courtyard and an exhibition hall of the author’s works. 

Note: the visit time could be alternated due to the availability of visit times and/or due to special exhibitions the venue may hold. The guide will inform you during the tour. In case of no-visiting days (very rare), we will provide you with alternative experiences.

At the end of all visits, the guide and driver will bring you to a hotel or other place convenient for you in the central part of Tashkent. 

We hope very much that this day, which you spent in the circle of your new hospitable Uzbek friends, will warm you with pleasant memories for a very long time.

Price includes:

Price does not include:

  1. Transportation: transfers and city tours, as per itinerary
  1. Tour guide: Local Professional English speaking guide;
  2. Entrance tickets: Tickets for attractions listed in the itinerary, unless otherwise specified;
  1. Accommodation in Tashkent;
  2. Lunch and Dinner, Street Food;
  3. Tips for guides and drivers (not mandatory but very welcomed).

Price includes:

  1. Transportation: transfers and city tours, as per itinerary
  1. Tour guide: Local Professional English speaking guide;
  2. Entrance tickets: Tickets for attractions listed in the itinerary, unless otherwise specified;

Price does not include:

  1. Accommodation in Tashkent;
  2. Lunch and Dinner, Street Food;
  3. Tips for guides and drivers (not mandatory but very welcomed).

Notes:

The guide will wait for you at the hotel lobby, holding a paper with the traveler’s name.

This tour required a physical fit for walks during the tour, the total distance could be up to 5~7 km, short breaks included. Please make sure you have comfy clothes and shoes for walks. Up to the weather condition, please take with you sunscreens, hats, or umbrellas. 

We do not include hotels in Tashkent but we could offer booking of the hotels as per your request, please contact us during the booking.

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