Yurt Camp and Aydarkul Lake: 2-Day Desert Adventure from Samarkand

Escape the city and discover a completely different side of Uzbekistan on a two-day desert adventure from Samarkand. The route leaves the blue domes behind, crosses farmland and open steppe to the old town of Nurata, and ends at a yurt camp in the Kyzylkum Desert near Aydarkul Lake. This guide follows the trip day by day, with drive times, what you see on the way and how to finish in Bukhara instead of returning to Samarkand.

Key facts

• Route: Samarkand – Nurata – Aydarkul Lake – yurt camp in the Kyzylkum Desert – Bukhara or Samarkand.
• Time needed: 2 days, 1 night in a yurt.
• Drive times: about 3 hours from Samarkand to Nurata, then roughly 60 km (about an hour) to the lake.
• Season: the 2-day tour runs from March to November.
• Highlights: Chashma spring and the fortress ruins in Nurata, lunch by the lake, a camel ride, dinner and folk songs around the fire.
• Guide: this tour runs with a driver and without a guide; ask us if you would like one.
• Book with: see the 2-Day Yurt Camp and Aydarkul Lake Tour or contact us for current prices.

Why go from Samarkand

Samarkand is the usual starting point because it is a short morning's drive from the desert edge, and the trip can end in Bukhara. That turns a plain transfer between the two cities into two days with a lake, a desert night and a pottery town on the way, instead of a train ride. If you would rather sleep in your Samarkand hotel again, the same route simply loops back.

Day 1: Samarkand – Nurata – Aydarkul Lake – yurt camp

Morning drive to Nurata

You are collected from your hotel in Samarkand and drive north-west through rural villages and open steppe. After about three hours you reach Nurata, a small town with a long history. Its centre is the Chashma complex, a pilgrimage site around a spring with a pool of sacred fish. Nearby are the ruins of a fortress associated with Alexander the Great, who campaigned in this region in the 4th century BC.

Lunch at Aydarkul Lake

From Nurata the road runs about 60 km to Aydarkul Lake. The lake is a surprise in the middle of the desert: a long sheet of water created in 1969, when flood water from the Syr Darya was diverted into a desert depression. Today it is part of the Aydar-Arnasay lake system, a protected wetland where many water birds stop on migration. Lunch is served by the lake; depending on the season you may taste freshly cooked Aydarkul fish. In warm weather you can swim or simply sit on the shore.

Evening at the yurt camp

In the afternoon you continue to the yurt camp in the Kyzylkum Desert. There is a camel ride across the sand, time to watch the sun go down over the dunes, and dinner at the camp, followed by folk songs performed by a Kazakh akyn (a traditional singer and storyteller) around the fire. The night is spent in a felt yurt under a sky with very little light pollution. For what the night itself is like — sleeping, warmth, what to bring — see our guide to what a traditional yurt camp in Uzbekistan is like.

Day 2: yurt camp – Bukhara or Samarkand

After breakfast at the camp you set off for Bukhara or Samarkand. On the way to Bukhara the programme stops at the Rabat-i-Malik caravanserai, a stopping place of the old caravan road, and at a pottery workshop in Gijduvan, a town known for its ceramics. You are dropped off where you need to be: your hotel, the railway station or the airport.

Finishing in Bukhara is the most efficient choice if you are travelling west anyway — your luggage simply travels with you in the car. If you start in Bukhara instead, read our Yurt Camp and Aydarkul from Bukhara guide, which follows the opposite direction.

One day or two?

There is also a one-day Yurt Camp and Aydarkul Lake tour from Samarkand, which runs from March to October. It covers Nurata, the lake and the camp with a camel ride and tea in a yurt, and returns to Samarkand in the evening — a long day of about 13 hours. The two-day trip adds what the day tour cannot: the sunset, the evening by the fire, the night sky and a slower pace. If you have more time, the 4-day Nuratau homestay and desert yurt tour combines village homestays in the mountains with the same desert night.

Practical tips

• Pack a small overnight bag: a warm layer for the evening, a torch or phone light, sunscreen, a hat and sunglasses.
• Swimming: bring swimwear and sandals in the warm months; the lake water is slightly salty.
• Cash: carry some small notes for drinks, or souvenirs in Gijduvan.
• Modest dress in Nurata: the Chashma complex is a pilgrimage site, so cover shoulders and knees.
• Photography: the softest light at the camp comes in the hour before sunset and just after sunrise.
• Plan the next leg: if you finish in Bukhara, book your train or hotel there for the second evening.

Plan it with TravelBliss

We arrange the car and driver from your Samarkand hotel, the night at the camp with dinner and breakfast, and the drop-off in Bukhara or Samarkand. See the 2-Day Yurt Camp and Aydarkul Lake Tour for the full programme. Prices depend on group size and season — see the tour page or contact us.