Namangan Northern Fergana Valley Landscape
Explore the northern Fergana Valley landscape around Namangan — the portion of the valley between the Chatkal Range to the north and the flat valley floor, the river terraces and foothill slopes where orchards and vineyards produce fruit of exceptional quality, the villages where silk cocoon production combines with cotton growing and the traditional pastoral activities of the mountain margins.
- 1
Syr Darya River Terraces
The Syr Darya river terraces north of Namangan — the broad river flowing from the eastern Fergana Valley westward through the length of the valley before exiting through the Khujand gap, the river terraces used for intensive horticulture growing the apricots, peaches, and grapes for which the northern valley is particularly celebrated.
- 2
Chatkal Range Foothills
The Chatkal Range foothills north of Namangan — the mountains forming the northern wall of the Fergana Valley, the lower slopes covered in the walnut and fruit tree forests that have sustained the foothill villages for centuries, the higher slopes with the summer pastures used by pastoral communities for sheep and cattle grazing from May through September.
- 3
Melon and Fruit Orchards
The melon and fruit orchards around Namangan — the northern valley's reputation for producing some of the finest melons in Central Asia, the varieties of Fergana melon ranging from the small round yellow varieties to the large elongated green-white types, the melon harvest in August filling the bazaars with the intensely sweet fruit.
- 4
Silk Cocoon Village
A silk cocoon production village in the Namangan district — the houses with their silkworm rearing rooms during the brief cocoon season in May-June, the mulberry leaves brought in baskets to feed the silkworms on their bamboo frames, the cocoons collected and sold to the silk filature for processing, the seasonal income important to the village economy.
- 5
Mountain Spring Hiking
Mountain spring hiking in the Chatkal foothills above Namangan — the trails following the watercourses up into the hills where springs emerge from the limestone, the walnut tree groves providing shade on the approach, the views back over the populated valley floor from the cooler foothill terrain.
- 6
Tobacco Growing Villages
The tobacco growing villages of the northern Fergana Valley — the crop that became a specialty of some Namangan district villages in the Soviet period, the cured tobacco leaves sold to the processing facilities, the tobacco cultivation representing one of the agricultural diversifications from the cotton monoculture that has characterized the Namangan area.