Uzbekistan's bazaars: a guide to the markets that matter

By nine in the morning at Tashkent’s Chorsu bazaar, there are women who have been here since six. The spices are already arranged in perfect mounds — cumin, turmeric, dried pomegranate seeds, herb blends for shurpa — and the first transactions of the day were completed hours ago. Chorsu is not waiting for the tourist. Chorsu functions with or without tourists, as it has functioned for centuries, following an economic logic that has nothing to do with the picturesque marketplace some travellers expect to find.

That is the essential difference between Uzbekistan’s bazaars and the souks that tourism has transformed elsewhere: in Uzbekistan, the markets are still primarily for local use. What the traveller sees is not a performance of the past but the genuine nervous system of the cities.

Chorsu in Tashkent: the market under the blue dome

The steel-and-brick dome that dominates the Chorsu bazaar was built in the 1970s, but the market it covers has been operating on this same site — in the heart of Tashkent’s old quarter, Eski Shahar — for centuries. The exterior of the dome, a pale blue that contrasts with the Soviet concrete surrounding it, is one of the capital’s most photographed landmarks. The interior is more interesting.

The spice section on the ground floor is the best reason to visit Chorsu. The vendors know their products with pharmacist’s precision: they know which spice blend goes with which cut of meat, how much cumin a forty-litre kazan of plov requires, what distinguishes Uzbek zira from the Indian variety. Buying here involves no aggressive bargaining; prices are low to begin with, and a kilogram of quality cumin — something that would cost twenty euros in Europe — leaves with the equivalent of two.

The upper level has meat, bread, dairy and a hot food area where at midday you can eat plov for under a euro. Climbing the stairs and watching the bazaar from above, with the light falling through the dome’s skylights onto the movement below, is worthwhile in itself.

The Siab in Samarkand: beside Bibi-Khanym

The Siab bazaar runs along the outer wall of the Bibi-Khanym mosque, and that proximity is not accidental: the great markets of the Silk Road always installed themselves beside religious buildings, which guaranteed foot traffic and a degree of protection. Today the Siab extends several hundred stalls beyond its covered central market and onto the surrounding streets.

The best of the Siab is its seasonal produce: fruit in summer, melons in August, pomegranates in autumn. The melons from the Fergana Valley and the Samarkand region have a reputation in Central Asia that is entirely justified — sweeter and more fragrant than any European variety — and in August and September the market has cultivars that do not exist outside Uzbekistan. Vendors offer pieces to taste without any obligation to buy, a custom that has survived despite the pressure of tourist footfall.

The Siab is also the right place for an Uzbek breakfast: the tables outside the market have plov ready from seven in the morning, hot shurpa and samsa fresh from the tandoor. Sitting here before visiting the monuments, with the sun rising over the mosque’s minaret, is one of those moments Samarkand offers without being in any official guidebook.

Bukhara’s covered markets: sixteenth-century toqi

Bukhara has something Samarkand and Tashkent do not: genuine sixteenth-century domed covered markets, the toqi, built at the crossroads of the historic centre to shelter commerce from the elements. The Toqi Zargaron — jewellers’ market — is the largest and best preserved, with an octagonal brick dome that filters outside light into an intimate space now selling mostly silk and handicrafts.

The other two toqi — the Sarrafon (moneychangers) and the Telpak Furushon (hats) — are smaller but equally authentic in their architecture. What is sold inside has changed: there are no longer moneychangers under the Sarrafon, but ceramics shops instead. Yet the structure, the scale, the way the dome concentrates sound and light, remains exactly as it was in the time of the Bukharan khans.

What is worth buying

Spices at any Uzbek bazaar are extraordinarily affordable and of a quality hard to find in Europe. Uzbek cumin (zira) has a more intense fragrance than European commercial varieties. Dried herb blends for soups, rose petals for tea, saffron (cheaper than in Spain or Iran) are purchases that take up little space and travel well.

Rishtan ceramics — blue and turquoise, with geometric motifs — are Uzbekistan’s authentic souvenir. Prices at the bazaars are lower than at tourist shops, though buying directly from the Rishtan workshop artisans is better still. Suzani — silk embroidery on cotton, with bold floral motifs in vivid colours — are the most representative textile craft, and the best pieces are unique handmade works you can feel the difference in.

What is not worth buying: most generic souvenirs — fridge magnets, industrial-looking ceramic figures, mass-printed fabrics — are manufactured in China and bear no relation to Uzbek craft traditions. Price always gives them away: a genuinely handmade piece is never extraordinarily cheap.

How to move through the bazaars

The question of bargaining in Uzbekistan is less dramatic than some travellers expect. Prices have room to move, particularly for handicrafts, and offering seventy or eighty percent of the asking price is reasonable. But aggressive bargaining, pushing negotiations to the limit, is not well regarded and does not correspond to the culture of the place. Uzbeks negotiate with dignity: if the price does not suit them, they simply walk away.

Photographing in the bazaars requires tact. Generally, vendors accept having their stalls photographed — the spices, the bread, the melons — more readily than being photographed themselves. Asking with a gesture before raising the camera is always the right approach. An affirmative response is common, especially if some kind of prior contact has been established, however brief.

The complete Far Guides Uzbekistan guide includes detailed Silk Road routes, interactive maps and all the practical information you need to plan your independent trip.