14 days tour through the fabulous cities of the Silk Road for Groups

14 days tour through the fabulous cities of the Silk Road for Groups

Oriental Samarkand and „noble“ Bukhara, the mythical town of Khiva and welcoming Tashkent – these wonderful pearls of Uzbekistan reveal their mysteries and teach you not just their history and culture, but also the old customs and traditions together with Uzbekistan’s hospitable cuisine! Besides these highlights, you will also see the beautiful Fergana Valley, famous for the cultivation of fruit and vegetables, silk and traditional ceramics. It will be a special experience to spend the night in a yurt in a desert camp in the middle of nowhere – without electricity and comfort, far away from the hectic life of the large towns. Become part of Uzbek culture and centuries-old traditions and enjoy the peace and quiet of the mountains.

Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival-Tashkent

Stop At: Tashkent TV tower, 109, Amir Temur Str., Tashkent Uzbekistan
After your arrival at midnight in Tashkent you will be greeted by the tour guide who will take you to your hotel where you can rest. Late breakfast will be served for you in the hotel. Towards midday, you will make a tour of modern Tashkent. In the old town, you will then visit the historical complex Khasti Imam. On the large square, you will see the Tilla-Shaysh-Mosque, the Barakkhan-Madrasa, the Kaffal Shashi Mausoleum and the library in which the oldest version of the Koran is kept. Then we go to Chorsu Bazaar, which was already well-known in the Middle Ages and which stood at the crossroads of the caravansary processions of the Great Silk Road. You can wander around the pedestrian area with its many street traders and cafés and take the only Underground Train of Middle Asia which has impressively decorated stations. Dinner in a local restaurant.
Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at Navruz Hotel

Day 2: Tashkent – Kokand – Rishtan – Fergana

Stop At: Fergana Province, Fergana Province
After breakfast in the hotel we will take a train through the impressive Kamchik-Pass (2.268 m) to Kokand. In the Fergana Valley you will have a different coach drivers for two days. In Kokand you will discover the splendid Islamic buildings – the Palace of Khudoyar-Khan and the imposing Juma-Mosque. On to Rishtan to visit a ceramics workshop in which the potter will tell you about the process of producing ceramics and give you a demonstration. Dinner in the hotel. One overnight stay in Fergana.
Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at Grand Fergana Hotel

Day 3: Fergana – Margilan – Tashkent

Stop At: Fergana, Fergana, Fergana Province
To get to know the town, you will make a tour through the avenue-like streets of Fergana, and visit ……..Then on through different landscapes to Margilan. Here you will visit the largest Silk Factory, the “Yodgorlik”, where you will learn the individual steps in the making of silk. In the afternoon we will again drive in cars over the mountain pass back to Tashkent. Dinner in a local restaurant. One overnight stay in Tashkent.
Duration: 5 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at Navruz Hotel

Day 4: Tashkent – Nukus – Muynak – Nukus

Stop At: Ships Cemetery, Muynak Uzbekistan
You take the morning flight to Nukus (1255 Km, 2h 45 min). On arrival, trip to the former fishing village Muynak (220 km, 3 h), which is on what was once the banks of the Aral Lake. In Muynak you can see the former port with abandoned boats in the sand - "Ship Cemetery". Then you will visit the local museum with art exhibitions showing the history of the Aral Lake. Picnic lunch. In the afternoon return trip to Nukus. On the way, you will stop at the archaeological Complex Mizdakhan. Here you will visit the most important gravesites in the region. Overnight stay in Nukus. Dinner in a typical local restaurant. One overnight stays in Nukus.
Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
• Lunch
Accommodation included: Overnight at Jipek Joli Hotel

Day 5: Nukus – Ayaz Kala – Toprak Kala – Khiva

Stop At: Ayaz-Kala, Ellikqala District of Karakalpakstan Uzbekistan
After breakfast you will visit the Savitski-Art Museum, which lies in the autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan on Uzbekistan territory and which has a unique collection of classical Russian Vanguard Art. On to Khiva, on the way visiting Ayaz Kala – an impressive ancient mud fortress. In the Kyzylkum Desert, on the slope of the eastern foothills of the Sultanuvaystag, are the enormous ruins of one of the largest fortresses of the old Khorezm – Ayaz Kala. According to archaeological excavations, the Ayaz Kala fortress stems from the 2nd century BC. It was part of a system of border fortresses which stretched from east to west and defended the oasis Khiva from the desert side. Lunch in the yurts. Then we will visit the other mud fortress Toprak Kala (ancient capital of Khorezm, 2nd century AD). Arrival in the oasis town - Khiva in the afternoon.
For dinner, we will have typical meal of this region – „Shivitoshi“, which can be translated as „green noodles“. As the noodle dough is made with dill juice, the noodles are green. Two overnight stays in Khiva.

Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
• Lunch
Accommodation included: Overnight at Erkin Palace Hotel

Day 6: Khiva

Stop At: Itchan Kala, Khiva Uzbekistan
A highlight of your trip! The mud streets and the two-wheeled donkey carts which can still be seen today give you an idea of the unchanged way of life since the Middle Ages. Admire in the historic centre the Oriental ornaments and turquoise tiles of the finely decorated buildings, and you will see why the old town of Khiva “Ichan Kala” is rightfully called an “Open Air Museum”. Kuhna Ark, once residence of the Khans of Khiva, Juma Mosque – a Friday mosque, known for its very artistically decorated 212 wooden columns. Pakhlavon-Makhmud-Mausoleum, Madrasa and Minaret of Islam Khodja– the wise Vizier of Khan Muhammad Rakhim Khan and the Tash-Hovli-Palace. Splendid dinner in the summer palace of the „Toza-Bog“ Khans. Let the magical impressions of the day sink in.
Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at Erkin Palace Hotel

Day 7: Khiva – Bukhara

Stop At: Bukhara, Bukhara, Bukhara Province
Trip through the half-desert Kizilkum («Red Sand») and steppe to Bukhara. Picnic lunch on the way in an Uzbek «Roadhouse» tea room. Arrival in Bukhara, check in to the hotel. Then you have time to explore on your own. Dinner in a local restaurant. Two overnight stays in Bukhara.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
• Lunch
Accommodation included: Overnight at Komil Boutique Hotel

Day 8: Bukhara

Stop At: Ark of Bukhara, Afrosiab St, Bukhara Uzbekistan
We start our sightseeing with the mausoleum of Ismail Samani and then visit the mausoleum Chashmai Ayub. Then we make a town tour on foot. Bukhoroi sharif (noble Bukhara) is a town with impressive trading dome buildings, active mosques and madrasas and has been declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. You will feel transported to the world of One Thousand and One Nights. It is most impressive that still today active teaching and learning takes place in the mosques and madrasas, such as the medrasa Miri Arab and Minaret and Kalon Mosque. You can admire the «classic» architectural complexes Lyabi Hauz with market domes and several mosques, medrasas and the dervish monastery - Chanaka in the town centre and will understand the honorary title «the noble one». On the way you will also visit market dome buildings such as Toqi Zargaron, Toqi Telpak furushon and Toqi Saraffon. In the afternoon we will visit the Jewish quarter and go to a Synagogue which is over 400 years old. Then we will visit a Dolls‘ Workshop.
Dinner today in an old Jewish house with a Bukhara family. The Susani embroiderer Abdurahman will tell us about Bukhara embroidery. Today you will try Emirs Plov.

Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at Komil Boutique Hotel

Day 9: Bukhara – Nurata – Yurt Camp

Stop At: Nuratau Mountains, near lake Aydakul, Jizzakh Uzbekistan
In the house of the merchant Khodjaev, which is today a museum, you can see how wealthy merchants and traders lived in Bukhara one hundred years ago. Then we will visit the summer residence of the last Bukhara Emir – Sitorai Mokhi Hossa. «The place where the moon and stars meet» is the name of the palace in the original Persian. As is known, Bukhara is one of the seven holy towns of the Islamic world. In the afternoon, we leave Bukhara and drive towards the yurt settlement in the Kizilkum Desert (230 Km, 4 h*). You will stop briefly in Nurata in order to visit a local mosque and the holy spring. Then on to the Nurata Pass, you can see petroglyphs. Arrival towards evening in the yurt settlement. In the yurts, it is possible to sleep up to 2-6 participants – or exceptionally even 8 people. After dinner, an Akyn (folksinger) will sing Uzbek songs around the campfire. One overnight stays in the yurts.


Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at Yurt Camp

Day 10: Yurt settlement – Aydarkul-Lake – Samarkand

Stop At: Samarkand, Samarkand, Samarqand Province
After breakfast, we go on a camel ride to the nearby village of Dungalak (1.5 km, 30 min). If so desired, you can prepare traditional Uzbek bread together with the locals and see how these are baked in mud ovens. Then you take a walk through the village and see what everyday life is like for the locals. Towards lunch time drive to the Aydarkul Desert Lake. Lunch by the lake.
In the afternoon, drive to Samarkand. On the way we will make a brief stop at the ruins of an old caravansaray and «Sardoba» (reservoir). Both these sights date from the 11th to the 14th century and bear witness to the many caravansaries which passed through that way on the Silk Road.
Samarkand – the pearl of the Orient, over 2750 years old, was considered in the Middle Ages to be one of the most beautiful towns in the world and still today it has lost none of its fascinations. Dinner in a local restaurant. Three overnight stays in Samarkand.

Duration: 5 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at Ideal Hotel

Day 11: Samarkand

Stop At: Samarkand, Samarkand, Samarqand Province
In Samarkand the Tales from One Thousand and One Nights begin again for you… it is one of the oldest towns in the world and was at the same time the hub of the famous Silk Road. In the Afrosiyob Museum, you can get a clear idea of old Samarkand. Then you will visit one of the greatest pilgrimage sites of the Islamic world – the Grave Complex of Saint Daniel and the Shahi-Sinda Complex, a marvellous collection of different mausoleums decorated in Timur style with majolica and mosaic tiles. After a break, we will go to a Silk Paper Manufacturer which has been revived by the brothers Mukhtarov. Thanks to them, the production of paper according to Samarkand Technology has come alive again. It is interesting that the entire production is done by hand, and the guests can watch.
Then we will visit Ulugbek`s Observatory, once the greatest research centre in Central Asia. Ulugbek, the grandson of Amir Timur, will introduce himself to you with the sextant of the observatory which was only discovered in 1908. Dinner with a local family.

Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at Ideal Hotel

Day 12: Samarkand

Stop At: Samarkand, Samarkand, Samarqand Province
During your town tour, you will not fail to be impressed by the palace-like mausoleum of the ruler Amir Timur, the Gur-Emir-Mausoleum. Today you can enjoy the highlight of your trip – Registan-Square with three impressive, enormous and richly decorated medrasas. Tashkent Street, with its many souvenir shops, leads you to the once largest mosque of Central Asia – the Bibi-Khanum-Mosque. Timur wanted to demonstrate his unlimited technical and financial capabilities by building the most beautiful mosque of the Eastern world. You are encouraged during your walk through the Bazaar to try raisins, apricots and nuts. Enjoy the colourful hustle and bustle of the friendly locals. Towards the evening you attend a theatricalised presentation of historical Oriental costumes in the „El Merosi“ Theatre. This theatre shows costumes of the people`s of Central Asia at different eras – from ancient times to the 19th century – the times of the Massages, Achaemenids, Anakhita, Sogdians and Timurids. Dinner in the restaurant „Samarkand“, where you can see first hand the culture of the country and the people.
Duration: 5 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at Ideal Hotel

Day 13: Samarkand – Shakhrisabz – Samarkand – Tashkent

Stop At: Shahrisabz, Uzbekistan
Today you will make an excursion to Shakhrisabz – to the birthplace of the great Timur. Drive with private cars over the mountain pass. Photo-stops on the way. You can see the remains of Timur’s summer palace Ak Saray, which took 20 years to build; the Jahongir-Mausoleum for Timur’s eldest son who died in a riding accident. You will also see the Kuk-Gumbaz-Mosque, which is visible from afar with its blue dome and which has unbelievable acoustics. Return to Samarkand in the afternoon.
At 17:00 transfer to the station. Departure at 18:00 on the fast train “Afrosiyob” to Tashkent (300 km). Arrival at 20:10. Dinner in a local restaurant. One overnight stays in Tashkent.

Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at Navruz Hotel

Day 14: Tashkent-Return flight

Stop At: Tashkent, Tashkent, Tashkent Province
After an early breakfast, you will be driven to Tashkent Airport for your flight home.
Duration: 2 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
No accommodation included on this day.