Getting There
Since the natural landmark is located near Tashkent, it is more convenient to get there by car. From the city, the journey by car will be 104 km, GPS coordinates – 41.637167, 70.044790. You can get to Lake Charvak by car directly from Tashkent – just flag a taxi from Buyuk Ipak Yuli subway station. Also, you can order taxi through the UZ TAXI, My Taxi or Yandex mobile apps. Taxi drivers meet tourists at the entrance and offer transportation to the place or a short excursion.
However, this method still remains the most economical. An alternative way is to take a minibus from Tashkent to Gazalkent, and get on another bus to Khodjiket, or immediately to one of the beaches on the lake.
Around the reservoir there are a number of settlements: Yusufkhona, Burchmulla, Charvak, Sidzhak, Bogustan, Nanay, Khojikent. It is easy to walk from them to the desired point in a few minutes, and most are already on the coast.
What to Expect
Charvak Reservoir has plenty to attract visitors young and old:
- Charvak Oromgokhi (Rest and Wellness Resort), which attracts thousands of tourists per year. Situated on the banks of Charvak Lake, the area features a beach with local topchans, (raised platforms for group rental) and opportunities for boating, swimming, sunbathing, windsurfing, water skiing and paragliding. Oromgokhi Hotel, with its famous triple pyramids towering visibly from a distance, have become the reservoir’s landmarks.
- Bochka, a popular avenue of cafes just a few minutes’ drive from the lake. Both tasty local cuisine and European dishes are served up in artfully decorated restaurants, where you can enjoy freshly made food after a day of swimming and hiking. Most iconic of them all is Chinara (Plane Tree) Restaurant which lives up to its name with the four huge plane trees that provide shade to hungry customers.
- In the vicinity of Charvak Reservoir are small villages with notable cultural and historical relics:
- Bogiston village is the birthplace of both Sheikh Hovendi at-Tahur (Sheihantaur), whose mausoleum in Tashkent is one of the key historical attractions of the city, and Sheikh Ubaydulla Ahror, a descendant of Sheikhantaur and renowned Sufi leader in the 15th century.
- Near Khodjikent village (Village Inhabited by Saints) are petroglyphs depicting mountain goats, hunting and other symbols of ancient life in the region. Tucked away in caves, these petroglyphs are well worth a visit.
History
This Pearl of Tian Shan Mountains has appeared quite recently. The rock fill dam of 168 meter height was made in 1970. Confluent of mountain rivers of Pskem, Kok-Su and Chatkal created the wonderful mountain lake – Charvak Reservoir, which blue water attracts everyone in hot summer days.
Formerly, some villages, mounds, evidences of primitive people sites, petroglyphs and other historical sights has existed on the site of the lake bottom. But after the destructive earthquake of 1966, when entire USSR made every effort to rebuild Tashkent, it was the period of acute shortage of cheap and ecological electricity.
Therefore the government decided to create the Charvak Hydropower Station (they didn’t have another more convenient place for this purpose). Archeologists and historians have conducted researches of every object, made photos and fixed over 150 monuments of this area. Today, 40 years later, major part of these sights is under layers of mud and sludge.
Facilities Available
- “Avenue Park” Hotel
- “B&B Lake House” Hotel
- “Charos Deluxe Resort & Spa” Hotel
- “Krokus Park Resort” Hotel
- “Charvak Oromgokhi (Pyramids)” Hotel
- “Chatkal Mountains” Hotel
- “Chinara” restaurant
- “Sazanchik” restaurant
- “Farovon” restaurant
- “Sharshara” restaurant
- “Oltin taqa” restaurant
- “Edelweiss” restaurant
- “Aist” café
- “Bochka” café
- “Gornyak” bar
