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Nuratau Mountains Horse Riding: 3 Days, 2 Nights, with a Plov Lesson

3 daysPrivate tour

Two rides into the Nuratau Mountains from a family guesthouse in Hayat village, an afternoon cooking plov with the family, and two nights under the walnut trees. Wild sheep, old stone houses, home cooking. Transport to the village not included.

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About this trip

Three days in Hayat, a Tajik-speaking village in the Nuratau Mountains where the family who host you also keep the horses you ride. Two rides take you higher into the range each day; the second afternoon is spent at the kazan, learning plov from the woman who has cooked it for the family all her life. It is the slow version of the Nuratau: enough time for the village to stop treating you as a visitor.

It sits well in the middle of a Silk Road itinerary, between Samarkand and Bukhara, or as a long weekend from Tashkent.

The rides

Day 1, two hours after lunch, up the valley past the orchards to the open slopes where the Severtzov argali graze in the evening. Day 2, two to three hours in the cool of the morning, over the hills to the lookouts above the neighbouring villages and back for lunch. No riding experience is needed: the horses are calm and the guide stays with beginners.

The plov lesson

After lunch on day 2, the family lights the fire under the kazan and you cook the evening's plov together: the lamb and the onions, the carrots cut by hand, the rice, the moment the lid goes on. Then you eat it, in the courtyard, with the family. This is the plov of the Nuratau villages, not the restaurant version.

The guesthouse

A family home with guest rooms, beds or kurpacha mattresses, a shared bathroom with hot water and a courtyard under the walnut trees. Every meal is cooked by the family from the garden and the village. Your hosts speak Tajik, Uzbek and Russian; the guide has basic English.

Good to know

  • Getting there: transport is not in the price, so the trip fits any route. Add a private car when you book: from Samarkand (3–4 hours, a scenic drive) $85 by sedan for up to 3 or $199 by SUV for up to 6, one way; from Bukhara (4–5 hours) $105 or $239; from Jizzakh railway station (2 hours; the Afrosiyob train stops there) $39 by sedan. Combine them: arrive from Samarkand, leave for Bukhara. Other pickups: message us on WhatsApp.
  • Guide: the local mountain guide who walks or rides with you speaks basic English. If you want a professional English- or Russian-speaking guide with you for the whole stay, add one when you book: $150 per group on the two-day tours, $300 on the three-day.
  • Riding: suitable from about age 10 with an adult. Long trousers and closed shoes. The village has no riding helmets, so bring your own if you ride with one. Riders over about 100 kg should tell us in advance.
  • When: open all year. March to June and September to November are best; in July and August the rides move to early morning and late afternoon.
  • Shorter: the two-day horse tour has one ride and one night; the two-day hiking tour walks instead.

Travelling alone, or want to combine this with the Silk Road cities? Message us on WhatsApp.

Day by day

  • Day 1

    Arrival in Hayat, lunch, the first ride

    Arrive in Hayat around midday and settle into the guesthouse. Lunch in the courtyard and a rest. In the afternoon, two hours on horseback with your guide: up the valley through the orchards to the open slopes where the argali graze in the evening light. Dinner with the family.

  • Day 2

    The long ride, then plov with the family

    Breakfast, then two to three hours in the saddle in the cool of the morning: over the hills to the lookouts above the neighbouring villages, the whole range in view, and back down for lunch. In the afternoon the fire goes under the kazan and you cook plov with the family, step by step, then eat it together in the courtyard. Evening free.

  • Day 3

    Breakfast and departure

    Breakfast under the walnut trees, a last walk through the village if you like, and departure for your next stop.

What's included

  • 2 nights in a family guesthouse in Hayat village, shared bathroom with hot water
  • All meals from lunch on day 1 to breakfast on day 3, cooked by the family
  • Horse and saddle for two rides (about 2 hours on day 1, 2–3 hours on day 2)
  • Local mountain guide for both rides (basic English)
  • Plov cooking lesson with the family on day 2, ingredients included
  • Tea and drinking water at the guesthouse

Not included

  • Transport to and from Hayat village (we can arrange a private car; see Good to know)
  • Tips for the family and the guide
  • Travel insurance — required for every traveller; it should cover horse riding

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