Camping in the Chimgan Mountains

We celebrated Independence Day by camping in the beautiful mountains in the Ugam-Chatkal National Park. I picked out a ridge overlooking the town of Burchmullo with a spectacular view of the Chimgan Mountains. I discovered the spot while cycling last year and thought to myself it would be the perfect camping spot. It was an otherworldly experience with the spectacular views of the setting sun on the peaks, a night sky full of stars and a cool breeze with no mosquitos. My wife and kids are not into camping but I made them go. We were supposed to camp with friends on the Amirsoy Resort grounds, but it was too much of a hassle to get to the camping spot. Uzbekistan has plenty of beautiful spaces to camp, so we decided to set up camp on the ridge. Everyone was grumbling about the livestock droppings and thorny grasses. However, after setting up the tents and chairs and when the sun started to set, the evening turned magical. We all experienced the majestic beauty around us and it lightened everyone’s mood. The kids ended up having a great time!

Three times in the evening we heard howling dogs. It scared Ocean and I really liked being in a tent in the wild with “danger” around us. The pack of wild dogs never materialized and we had a decent sleep. In the morning it was actually a bit cold as we packed up and headed back to the city. The best aspect of life in Uzbekistan for me is the outdoor beauty of deserts and mountains and camping is the best way to fully experience it. We’ll definitely camp again, hopefully one of the weekends coming up we’ll give it another try.

I forgot how many constellations there are and it was cool to point them out to the kids. Ocean even saw her first shooting star! We forgot to bring pillows and our gas ran out so no morning coffee, but other than that, it was a perfect day in my opinion. Camping is another way to trap teenagers so they have to talk to you. We had a lot of laughs! I can’t wait to go again.