Uzbekistan: Sentyab Ridge Loop
Ўзбекистон: Хребта Сентяб

The Sentyab Ridge Loop offers fine landscapes and a fair bit of cultural interest in an easy-half day package great for casual hikers or as a warm up to more challenging routes in the village.

Total Km: 9km
Total Days: 1
Elevation Gain/Loss: 508m+ / 508m-
Start Point: Sentyab Village
End Point: Sentyab Village
GPS Files

The Sentyab Ridge Loop follows shepherd trails in a long climbing loop around the ridge that rises above the village to the west, with the potential to add-on a visit to a neighboring village in the Sop valley.

This route is not particularly physically challenging and takes very little skill to navigate, so it’s a great choice for inexperienced hikers or as a warm up to something longer. It’s particularly suited as an afternoon walk on the day of your arrival to Sentyab, to get a feel for the local terrain and then spend some time wandering the village streets on the way back.

It’s worth noting that this village is known variously as Sentob or Sentyab – you may see both online, but they’re the same place, and it also serves as the starting point of both the Fazilman Lake Loop and the Kadvan Valley Ruins treks that we’ve written about elsewhere.

The Sentyab Ridge Loop trail starts in the village center, where you have a chance to fill up water at the village spring if necessary – there are no other sources of running water throughout the route, so take what you need for the day from here. From the spring, cross the main village road along a dirt track that turns towards the small ridge to the north, climbing the path that rises about halfway up the hill and then turns towards an obvious saddle to the northwest. Views along here open up first over the village of Sentyab itself and then across the village to the ridge on the far side of the valley – already a lovely start to the day’s walk.

It’s quick going – after around 2km and 170m of vertical elevation gain you’ll arrive at the 801m saddle, where one path drops to the west to the Sop valley and eponymous village while another turns to the south to alternate between climbing the ridge and following along the curve of its flanks.

As the trail follows around the hillside in a generally southwesterly direction, views continually open up further down the Sop valley, first to the village and then beyond to the desert and Aydar Kol lake. Continue in this manner until the curve of the hillside comes to a small sub-ridge that juts out to the southwest from the main run – climb to the obvious viewpoint atop here for the best views of both Sop and of the mountains due south of here.

Afterwards, follow the lay of the sub-ridge back towards the top of the main ridge and backtrack about 100m to the north to an obvious high point for a 360 panoramic view of the Sop and Sentyab valleys and surrounding peaks. It’s possible to cut from here back down to the saddle and return to Sentyab if you’ve had enough, but otherwise keep following the track to several higher viewpoints.

From here the trail follows the ridge itself for just over 1km, with excellent views along the way to both side. Don’t be so distracted by the landscapes, though, that you miss out on the flora and fauna of the area. There’s lots of bird life and occasional wildlife, plenty of hardy mountain flowers that bloom even in these dry conditions, and a fair few shepherds up here watching over their flocks as they graze. Even this high removed from the village, this landscape is an integral part of life in Sentyab.

Eventually the ridge grows quite steep and the trail curves around its flank to the west then south, pulling a bit closer to the mountains opposite before looping back around to a saddle on the far side and a small shepherds’ hut, where it joins the route to Fazilman Lake. If you’ll not be attempting that walk, it’s worth pushing a little further up the opposite hillside to climb the last 100m or so to two more viewpoints at 1067m and 1115m, both of which offer nice views up the Kadvan Valley and of the imposing face of Shakhrisurkh Peak.

Returning to the saddle and shepherds’ hut, look for the faint trail that begins to switchback down the rocky hillside to the southwest and eventually links up with the obvious dirt trail on the hillside below, navigating carefully across a handful of rocky outcrops where you may not find good purchase. The trail drops around 368m over 2km to rejoin the main village road just beside the small village shop – pick up snacks or drinks here if you need, and knock on the door of the next house over if nobody answers at the shop.

It’s possible from here to return to your guesthouse and call it a day, but if there’s daylight left consider spending some time wandering the smaller streets of the village and especially through the forested paths along the river, which are both lovely to experience and a great place to meet locals as they go about their days.

Alternate Options for Sentyab Ridge Loop

It would only add a few hours to include a visit to Sop village into the Sentyab Ridge Loop – simply drop down from the first pass all the way to Sop, and then retrace your steps to rejoin the main route. More ambitiously, this could make a good sunrise hike to see the sun come up over the opposite ridge, and could conceivably serve as the first leg of the Fazilman Lake Loop trek if you left in the morning prepared with all the food and water you needed for the day.

Good To Know

There are no entrance fees to the Sentyab Loop hike and no special equipment necessary – though it can be quite hot even in late spring so be sure to pack a hat and sunscreen. Water is available from a small clean spring in the village at the start of the hike, but given the amount of people and livestock in the area you’ll absolutely want to bring a purification system if you plan to rely on this water.

We traveled throughout the region with Ruslan of Nurata Tours, and were happy with the service and prices they offered. Our friend Shivya of The Shooting Star visited the Nuratau region with Responsible Tourism, another local operator, and also reported being fairly pleased with the experience.

Getting to the Sentyab Ridge Loop

As with most destinations in Uzbekistan’s Nuratau Mountains, getting to the village of Sentyab is possible on infrequent share taxis do run towards Jizzakh, but given the possible time wasted on waiting for it most visitors would be best off visiting with a local tour operator to combine the village with others in the Nuratau region.

Where to Stay and Eat

We noted at least six guesthouses in Sentyab – see the GPS file linked above for the locations. We like Komil’s guesthouse for location, comfort, hospitality, and food. If you want to book online, the large hotel-like Manzarahoi is currently the only choice in town. Otherwise, just rock up and see who has a bed available – Sentyab is popular among tourists to the Nuratau mountains, but it’s still rare that you’ll show up to the village and every place will be booked up full. All guesthouses can prepare meals for guests, or with advance notice for drop-in visitors as well.