UZBEKISTAN is probably not a country that many Keighley people will be particularly familiar with.

But one man from the town is striving to put the Central Asian nation firmly on the tourism map.

Ryan Ettenfield "ended up" in Uzbekistan whilst travelling, and settled there after meeting his now-wife.

And after realising how little information was available for visitors to the country, he has launched a travel website – tourcentralasia.com.

"I was travelling for six months before the Covid pandemic and ended up in Uzbekistan," says Ryan, 35.

"Initially I was here for a few months as I couldn't manage to book a flight out, but meantime I met Nilufar, and now we're married with a three-month-old baby.

"The website was inspired by a lack of up-to-date resources for tourism in Uzbekistan.

"My friends and family came out to our wedding here last year, so I quickly put together some guides about things to do and places to go.

"The website focuses only on Uzbekistan at the moment, but we plan to include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and even hermit country Turkmenistan – if a couple of Keighley friends and I can manage to get a visa to visit!

"We don't offer tourist services, but instead write informational articles, which make money from advertising."

Ryan grew up in Keighley, attending the former Bronte Middle School and Oakbank.

He also spent a year teaching maths at Oakbank.

Ryan adds: "In the future we'll possibly start our own travel agency, but for now if any travellers from Keighley manage to make it out here we'll personally show them around!

"The website is a part of a larger digital agency that I'm developing, purplebaguette.com, which offers services such as web design and content creation for local and online businesses."

Ryan has compiled a list of facts about Uzbekistan, which has a population of 36 million. Its capital is Tashkent.

* As a former Silk Road country, Uzbekistan is famous for its bazaars, mosques and mausoleums

* Uzbekistan is located in Central Asia and borders five countries, including Kazakhstan and Afghanistan

* Despite its border with Afghanistan, it's deemed safe to visit by major Western governments (Ryan has written an article on safety in the country, visit tourcentralasia.com/uzbekistan/is-uzbekistan-safe-for-tourists)

* Uzbekistan is one of only two double-landlocked countries in the world, meaning that every country around it is also landlocked. The other double-landlocked nation is Liechtenstein