Uzbekistan - Return to Tashkent

So, back in Tashkent after an amazing tour. I can't quite believe that it's actually time to come home.

It's an incredible country with the friendliest most hospitable citizens I've ever met, and so many layers to discover.

Now I'm home, there are a million things I could write about Uzbekistan (that I won't because it would bore you). Here's a few though.

The country truly is like nowhere you've ever seen.

The people are incredibly friendly, beyond anywhere I've been before. You're a guest in their country and they're isn't enough they can do to make sure you're happy and safe (except speak much English!).

The depth of history is astounding, going back to the "Dark Ages" of European history in buildings, temples, books and art.

It's a secular Islamic society: alcohol is served, clothing ranges from traditional robes to modern Western but reasonably modest.

From deserts of the West and south, to the mountains, to the green lands of the north and east, the land is varied. Its come a long way from being the collective cotton farm of the Soviet Union.

Water is precious everywhere. What comes out of the tap is clean but not drinkable. The whole country is lined with canals to bring water to fields and homes.

To western budgets, it's cheap. I took 600US$, used a third of it on tips, and came back with a quarter. A good meal and drinks was between £3 and £8 a head.

The food is Asian but not heavily spiced. There's a lot of meat and potatoes. It's probably not the best place for a vegetarian, but I ate pretty well all the time I was there.

Western tourists and visitors are still rare. If you want to know how it feels to be a Hollywood star, that everyone - from teenage girls to families to gold toothed grannies - wants to speak to you, to have a photo with you - this is a place for it.

The markets are jaw dropping.

I was lucky enough to be travelling with a small group who were all great. I was the youngest; the oldest was 84 (!). Bobur our guide was brilliant - good English, knowledgeable, funny, calm - and was also fasting for Ramadan whilst shepherding us around his country. There was no tourism for most of the last two years, this was his first work in that time.

In a decade, this place may be as common as Tunisia is now, as Greece was a few decades ago. If your ideal holiday involves a bikini and a beach, it isn't for you (yet). But if you want to see somewhere like nowhere else you've been, go.

Blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures.