Boysun

Boysun sits in the mountains of southern Uzbekistan where the Hissar range comes down to the Surkhandarya, and its isolation preserved practices that had gone elsewhere: healing rituals, epic recitation by bakhshi singers, weaving, and a calendar of observances mixing pre-Islamic and Islamic elements. UNESCO proclaimed the cultural space of the district in 2001, in the first group of intangible heritage listings it ever made. A spring festival held in the town has become the main occasion on which the district's music and craft are performed in one place.

What you actually see

• The bakhshi singers - the epic reciters who perform the region's oral repertoire.
• The mountain villages - settlements in the valleys of the Hissar foothills.
• The ritual calendar - observances mixing pre-Islamic and Islamic practice.
• The 2001 proclamation - one of the first intangible heritage listings UNESCO made.

When to go

April to June and September to October are the best months. The Boysun Bahori festival is usually held in spring. Winter closes mountain roads.

Honest expectations

There is no visitor infrastructure and arrangements must be made locally. Performances are tied to occasions and cannot be booked on demand. Mountain roads are rough.

Nearby

Sangardak Waterfall is east, and Termez is south.