By train around Uzbekistan: Zomin National Park

Writer: Helena Bergström

Now the story of our train journey through Uzbekistan continues… After the capital Tashkent we leave by train towards Samarkand and get off in Dashtobod. It was time for us to experience Zomin National Park.

Dashtobod – and the dish “Tandir Gosht”

Dashtabod is a small town in the Jizzakh region of Uzbekistan and is part of the Zomin district. The train station is so small that the conductor asked for us Real would you get off here? But yes, we would! We were on our way to Zomin National Park and on the way we stopped at Finally a fatherwho prepares the traditional Uzbek dish Tandir Gosht.

Tandir Gosht (or Tandoor Gosht) is a traditional meat dish popular in Uzbekistan. The name comes from “tandir” (clay oven) and “gosht” (meat), and the cooking involves lighting a fire in a clay oven in the ground, lowering the meat when the fire is extinguished and then covering it.

The result is very tender meat, which at the same time has a clear smoky flavor. We got it all served in a local bread, really tasty! And yes, it was very tasty!

Check-in at Wyndham Garden Zomin

With some meat and bread in our bellies we left for Zomin National Park and our hotel Wyndham Garden Not so. The drive took us through the mountains as temperatures dropped, and we arrived in a nature reserve full of newly built hotels. Even our hotel was new and fresh, with an interior style that could have fit almost perfectly into a European ski resort.

We ate a total of two lunches and two dinners at this hotel. Here the buffet applies and none of us are really fond of buffets, but we had nothing to complain about either. Various hot dishes were served at each meal, along with salads, soup, bread and desserts. The choice for vegetarians may have been somewhat limited.

Another interesting thing in Uzbekistan is its relationship with alcohol. On the one hand, this is a Muslim country and many do not drink alcohol at all. On the other hand, there are local wine producers and a wine culture. In most restaurants we visited it is fine to order wine or beer with dinner, but this is solved in different ways.

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Here, at the Wyndham Garden Zomin, we had to rush to the nearest market to buy wine (which was kept behind a wine cellar). Once back at the hotel the staff helped with wine glasses and wine openers. All’s well that ends well…

Zomin National Park

Zomin National Park, or Zaamin National Park as it is called in English, is a nature reserve in the mountains between Tashkent and Samarkand. The place is at an altitude of 2400 meters, which is such a significant altitude that you should be aware that the air will feel thinner than normal and sleep may be affected for the first few nights.

The nature reserve is popular for several reasons: the nature here is incredibly beautiful and in summer, when the heat in the cities becomes almost unbearable, this place provides a refuge. Remember that Uzbekistan is a “double landlocked country”; the country has no coast, and neither do its neighbors.

As a Scandinavian you think: can I walk here? Or maybe bird watching? The local guide I asked was a bit put off. Well, they are planning to build hiking trails here, but it’s not done yet. Most people come here just to “relax”.

Our group went for a short walk in nature, and we were joined by a so-called “tourist police”. Tourist police are common in Uzbekistan and help make the visit to the country even safer and smoother. The tourist police we encountered here were 25 years old and patiently answered all our curious questions.

There is a cable car in Zomin National Park and I, who am afraid of heights, enjoyed riding it for two reasons: the distance from the cable car to the ground is not too far and it is super modern. Zomin cable caras the cable car is called, was supplied by a Swiss company and inaugurated in 2023. The cable car ride also offered beautiful views!

Then we walked around the area for a while. Among other things, we spied the Zomin Sanatorium, a classic ‘health house’ that has been here much longer than any of the new hotels.

The nature in the area is beautiful and we were told that the area is called the “Switzerland of Uzbekistan”. Large parts are relatively dry, but there is of course also a lot of greenery here!

We chose to buy some “kurt” and invite our friends. If you didn’t grow up with it, it might be a little hard to love it, but it’s still interesting to try! “Kurt” is a hard, salty cheese from Central Asia, made from dried, fermented cow’s milk.

Suspension bridge and zipline

The government of Uzbekistan invests heavily in tourism in the country – and therefore also in the Zomin National Park. In just a few years, several modern hotels have sprung up here, with more to follow soon. They also invest in trails, snowboard slopes and all kinds of adventure activities.

One of the biggest tourist attractions is the suspension bridge over a gorge that was inaugurated in 2023 and is now one of the area’s most famous landmarks.

The bridge, built with Swiss technology, is 305 meters long and has a height of 150 meters above the ground.

Right next to the bridge, anyone who wants to zipline over the gorge can do so.

Everything here feels extremely safe and well-organized, but I, who have a hysterical fear of heights, naturally preferred to watch from a distance. On the other hand, the two over-65s of the group, Peter and Magnus, immediately registered for the adventure.

Then they came back happy and full of adrenaline. “Beautiful!” was the appreciation.

Local bread in Zomin

Another experience we had in the Uzbek mountains was traditional bread baking. The woman who baked for us is a trained teacher with a day job, but on weekends she contributes to the family’s bread business with her mother-in-law. The bread, which contains flour, milk and butter, is baked in a pan that fits perfectly on the grill plate.

The result is magical! Along with generous pats of butter, we got to taste a bread that might be the best we’ve ever eaten.

What did we like about visiting Zomin National Park?

For us, the visit to Zomin National Park was worth its weight in gold – it gave us a broader view of the Uzbek countryside and Uzbek nature. It was also interesting to see how quickly tourism is growing in a place like this, with many hotels and activities.

It is somewhat convenient to get here by train, as Dashtobod station is strategically located between Tashkent and Samarkand. However, the train station is not high in the mountains, but you will need a taxi or other local transportation to get further from the train station.

The train continued towards… Samarkand!

We spent two days in the Uzbek mountains, and then it was time for the train to move on, from Dashtobod to Samarkand. To be continued!