Advance preparation can help you make the most of your visit to Khiva. This can include reading books such as 'The Great Game' by Peter Hopkirk to get a taste of Central Asian history or looking up web pages such as www.iwpr.net, www.eurasianet.org or www.cacianalyst.org which provide a wealth of information and give valuable insight into the current political situation. There are also important practical preparations to make read on to find out more!

When to come
The tourist season in Uzbekistan is largely dictated by the weather. Very few visitors come during the winter months when it can be bitterly cold. Similarly most tour groups stay away from Khiva during the blazing heat of July and August although a steady stream of small groups and independent tourists do brave the hot weather. The peak seasons are from April to May and September to October.
Another good time to visit is around the festival of Navrus (New Year) on the 21st of March. Food-wise, it's useful to know that there's little in the way of fresh fruit or vegetables available during the spring months. September is harvest time and fresh produce is plentiful, including Khorezm's mouth-watering melons.

Visas and Letters of Invitation (LOI)
Uzbekistan still retains a bureaucratic system which requires letters of invitation (LOI) before tourist visas are granted. Obtaining these can be a time consuming procedure and should not be left to the last minute. Allow an absolute minimum of three weeks in advance to organise this. There are various tour agencies in Uzbekistan which grant letters of invitation for a small fee. Often the arrangement includes the proviso that you spend a few nights in one of their hotels. Tour agency contact details can be found on the web or in the Lonely Planet Guidebook for Central Asia.

What to Pack
What you need to bring depends mainly on what time of the year you plan to visit. Spring and autumn are usually fairly warm but the weather can sometimes turn cold so at least one warm item of clothing is recommended. Make a few photocopies of your passport and visa before you come as you may be required to leave your passport at your hotel but show some form of identification when you are out and about. This is particularly the case in Tashkent.
Health-wise, sun block and a sun hat are good to have even in winter and mosquito repellent is essential. Moisturising cream is also useful in the dry climate. Toilet paper and towels are a must but there's no need to pack water purification tablets as carbonated bottled water is readily available in shops and bazaars.
Small gifts can come in handy as a thank you for the various acts of kindness often shown by local people. Photos from home are also received with a great deal of interest.

Money
The US dollar is the currency to bring to Uzbekistan. Other foreign currency is often difficult to exchange, credit cards are not widely accepted and travellers cheques incur lengthy and complicated procedures if they are received at all. Dollars are eagerly sought after everywhere but should be new and not predate 1996.
Dollars can be changed into the Uzbek som officially in the bank or unofficially on the street or in the bazaar. The black market rate is often considerably better than the bank rate and is widely practised but illegal. Shopkeepers and hotel staff will often change money for you as local people prefer to save in dollars which do not devalue as easily as som.

Medical
Seek advice from your local doctor regarding which jabs you need before coming to Uzbekistan. Non-prescription medicine is available locally but it is best to bring your own. This also applies to contraception. In case of an emergency, it is worthwhile to carry the phone numbers of the United Nations clinic in Tashkent with you at all times:(8-371) 185-6093 / 185-8481 / 185-2088 / 120-6091.

There are many practical tips connected with preparing to come to Uzbekistan. However perhaps the most important thing is not what you pack in your suitcase but what mindset and expectations you bring with you. Most people working in the tourist sector have never been tourists themselves and are only just beginning to discover what foreigners need and appreciate. Independent travellers, particularly, have a great opportunity to support small tourist businesses which often struggle against a tide of corruption, having to pay large bribes and constantly being threatened with closure by their more powerful, but by no means better quality, state counterparts.
Touring Uzbekistan may not always be totally comfortable but it will be an experience.

'We ask if we might wash. We no longer dare hope for a bath. The professor says that he will get some water for us. He takes a kettle and lets himself out at the front door and through the window we watch him crossing the yard. Not merely is there no bathroom in the house, but there is no water. If water is as short as this in Samarkand, how fares Bukhara, which depends on Samarkand for its water supply? But perhaps it is not that Samarkand is short of water (are not the streets running with it?) but that though she has a university and museums and clubs and all the rest of the amenities of civilisation, including telephones and electric light, she has not yet reached modern plumbing.
If you think it odd that the university should come before the plumbing then you do not understand Soviet Russian mentality or objectives. It is as significant that the university should come before the plumbing in Samarkand, as that time, money and energy should be expended building a new theatre in Tiflis while many people continue to live under the most appalling conditions.
'Education, culture, production!' cry the Stalinists. 'We can't do everything at once, but we must get the masses educated, we must give them culture, we must maintain production, for these are the outward and visible signs of progress.' ...Only a bourgeois would put plumbing before education.'

Ethel Mannin 'South to Samarkand' 1936