498346898 - touroperator of city tours.
You most probably remember the famous Oriental tales and the impression they made on you. Blue domes, Aladdin with his lamp and genie inside it, brave Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, the countless treasures of Simsim cave, splendid shah’s palaces, beautiful peris and terrible daevas… They made many of us feel most intense joy and fear, vividly imagine their exotic settings, and want to find ourselves inside them, visiting the mysterious Oriental lands they came from - the lands of magic and adventure.
If you have ever dreamed of getting to the Orient, it is possible with Central Asia Travel now! You will see five Central Asia countries with their most valued Oriental heritage and natural beauties: old khans’ palaces, minarets, madrasahs and mosques, colorful bazaars, majestic mountains, fertile valleys… You will have a chance to meet the hospitable and open-hearted local people who still follow their extremely attractive centuries-old traditions. You will also see the legacy of the Soviet times and the affects of the modern civilization, which peculiarly mixed with the traditional Oriental values…
Best time to travel: May - September
Tour program:
| Day 1. | Arrival in Ashgabat. |
| Day 2. | Ashgabat - Mary (by air) - Merv - Mary. |
| Day 3. | Mary - Ashgabat (by air). |
| Day 4. | Ashgabat - Dashkhovuz (by air) - Kunya-Urgench - Turkmen-Uzbek border - Khiva. |
| Day 5. | Khiva. |
| Day 6. | Khiva - Bukhara. |
| Day 7. | Bukhara. |
| Day 8. | Bukhara. |
| Day 9. | Bukhara - Samarkand. |
| Day 10. | Samarkand. |
| Day 11. | Samarkand - Uzbek-Tajik border - Penjikent. |
| Day 12. | Penjkent - Dushanbe. |
| Day 13. | Dushanbe. |
| Day 14. | Dushanbe - Blue Lake - Kalai-Khumb. |
| Day 15. | Kalai-Khumb - Khorog (170 km, 6 hours). |
| Day 16. | Khorog. Excursion. |
| Day 17. | Khorog - Jelondi - Lake Bukunkul. |
| Day 18. | Lake Bulunkul - Murgab. |
| Day 19. | Murgab - Lake Karakul. |
| Day 20. | Lake Karakul - Tajik-Kyrgyz border (9 a.m.) - Yurt camp under Lenin Peak. |
| Day 21. | Yurt camp under Lenin Peak. |
| Day 22. | Yurt camp under Lenin Peak. |
| Day 23. | Yurt camp under Lenin Peak - Osh (260 km, 7.5 hours). |
| Day 24. | Osh. Excursion - Bishkek (by air). |
| Day 25. | Bishkek - Issyk-Kul Lake (280 km, 4-5 hours). |
| Day 26. | Issyk-Kul Lake. |
| Day 27. | Issyk-Kul Lake - Bishkek (280 km, 4-5 hours). |
| Day 28. | Bishkek - Almaty (by air). |
| Day 29. | Almaty. Excursion (Medeo). |
| Day 30. | Almaty. (Charyn). |
| Day 31. | Almaty - Astana (by air). |
| Day 32. | Astana. |
| Day 33. | Astana. Departure. |
The cost tour includes:
| • | Accommodation at the hotels on twin/double share with breakfast: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| • | Excursion program to the base monuments with guide; | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| • | Entry fees to the base monuments of each city; | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| • | The cost of Mary - Ashgabat, Ashgabat - Dashkhovuz, Osh - Bishkek, Bishkek - Almaty, Almaty - Astana domestic air flights; | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| • | All transport services during the tour, including airport-hotel-airport transfers; | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| • | Visa support for Turkmenistan. |
The cost of the tour does not include:
| • | Iternational air fare; |
| • | Visa fee; |
| • | Medical insurance; |
| • | Photo and video shooting at museums and monuments. |
Additional Information:
Necessery documents.
In order to make this tour you need to get a visa to the following countries:
| • | Uzbekistan - double-entry; |
| • | Tajikistan - single-entry; |
| • | Kyrgyzstan - single-entry. |
The list of necessary documents for the visas depends on the country where you live. The citizens of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan (for 60 days at most) and Kazakhstan can enter Uzbekistan without entry visas, since Uzbekistan has visa-free regime agreements with these CIS countries, except Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. The general requirements for obtaining visas and the list of necessary documents are here. Please contact our managers for more information.
General recommendations:
- If possible all necessary documents to enter/exit all countries of the tour must be prepared before your arrival to the starting point of the tour;
- Your passport must be valid for at least 3 months after the supposed ending date of the tour.
Transport.
You are supposed to use the following types of transport en route:
Plane - 5 air flights within Central Asia: (Ashgabat - Mary - Ashgabat, Ashgabat - Dashkhovuz, Osh - Bishkek, Bishkek - Almaty, Almaty - Astana). The airfares are included in the price of the tour.
Car/Minibus/Bus (depending on the size of the group) will be used in all other cases en route. This type of transportation is also included into the price of the tour. This vehicle will be used for all the journeys of the tour. The motor-vehicle transportation is included in the price of the tour.
Accommodation en route.
There are two supposed types of accommodation for this tour:
Hotels - we choose the most comfortably located and proven hotels to accommodate our travelers. Below you will find the list of the recommended hotels, however, due to seasonal conditions and group size the list is subject to change.
Yurts and guest houses - you will have to spend some of the nights during the tour in yourts and guest houses, since they are most comfortable and cost reasonably. Electricity and other necessary amenities are provided in them.
Detailed tour description:
Day 1. Arrival in Ashgabat.
You have finally landed at Ashgabat airport. Ashgabat (also Ashkhabad, meaning ‘City of Love’ in Persian) is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan, with the population of around 1 million. After checking in the hotel you are going to see the sights: Independence Park, Ashgabat National Museum of History, the most beautiful local mosques and other buildings, and the ancient settlement site Old Nisa, located at a distance of 18 km northwest of Ashgabat…
Nisa, which was founded in the 3rd c BCE, is probably the most impressive of the sights. It was one of the first capitals of the Parthian Kingdom. Later the town was renamed Mithradatkirt (‘fortress of Mithradates’) by Mithridates I of Parthia (reigned in 171 - 138 BCE). During the times of the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire the town went into decline; it was ransacked and deserted. In the Middle Ages Nisa revived as one of the trade centers of the Great Silk Road, but after the Mongols plundered the region in the 13th c, it was left by its residents forever. In the 1820s Nisa was only ruins. The excavations at the site in the 20th c revealed substantial buildings, mausoleums, shrines, fortifications, as well as many Parthian inscriptions and looted treasuries. Among the artifacts were a lot of Hellenistic art works, ivory rhytons (horn-shaped drinking vessels), and coins decorated with ancient Iranian figures or classical mythological scenes. The ruins of Nisa fortress was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2007.
You are seeing the sights of Ashgabat on Day 3 as well.
Day 2. Ashgabat - Mary (by air) - Merv - Mary.
In the morning you are flying to Mary (pronounced Mur-ree), another city in Turkmenistan. This city in Karakum Desert has little to recommend to a tourist; it is just an industrial centre of the local natural gas and cotton industries, built in the Soviet times. However, at a distance of 30 km from Mary lie the remains of the ancient town of Merv, which in corrupted form gave its name to the modern city. It is Merv you are heading for to discover another gem of the ancient Orient.
Merv (also Merw or Marw) dates back to as far as the 3rd millennium BCE. It was mentioned in Zend-Avesta (commentaries on the Avesta) and in Behistun inscriptions (515 BCE) of the Persian king Darius Hystaspis. A major oasis-city on the historical Silk Road, Merv was for centuries a provincial center or a capital of many kingdoms, khanates and empires. It was originally populated with Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Manichaeans, and East Syrian Christians. Under the Arabs in the 7th c the city served as a base for Muslim expansion into Central Asia, and became an important centre of Islamic learning in the 12th c. It is claimed that Merv was the world’s largest city in the 12th c. Destroyed by the Mongols in the 13th c, the city was rebuilt in the 15th c, but it never regained its power…
The site of ancient Merv is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Merv consists of four discrete walled parts, each constructed in different times. These parts date back to the four important periods of Merv"s history. Various other ancient buildings are scattered between and around these parts. All of them are now preserved as Ancient Merv Archaeological Park. Today’s Merv is also an Islamic pilgrimage destination. Some of its archeological monuments are considered Islamic shrines. When you visit the site, which is 60 square km in area, you will see mausoleums, ruins of ancient palaces, temples and a lot more.
Back in Mary you are also visiting the local history museum.
Day 3. Mary - Ashgabat (by air).
After you land back in Ashgabat, you will go on seeing the sights of the city and have time for good rest.
Day 4. Ashgabat - Dashkhovuz (by air) - Kunya-Urgench - Turkmen-Uzbek border - Khiva.
After breakfast you are flying to Dashkhovuz, another city in Turkmenistan (also Dashhowuz, Dashoguz, Tashauz). You are going to see the site of Kunya-Urgench located at a distance of 100 km from Dashkhovuz. Kunay-Urgench (also known as Old Urgench or Urganj) is the site of the ancient town of Urgench, the 12th-century capital of Khwarezm. Since 1999 the government of Turkmenistan and UN Development Programme have been carrying out the project of cultural development in the area, and since 2005 the ruins of Kunya-Urgench have been protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Old Urgench was one of the greatest Silk Road cities. The 12th and early 13th c were the golden age of it. It was one of the largest and most important Central Asian cities then. In the 13th c Genghis Khan’s hordes razed it to the ground in one of the bloodiest massacres in human history. The city revived soon, but the sudden change of the Amu-Darya"s course and another destruction in the 1370s by Tamerlane forced the residents to leave the city forever.
Among the archeological monuments of the site stand out four surviving mausoleums of the 12th and 14th c, a vast medieval necropolis, and an impressive minaret of the 11th с - the tallest brick minaret prior to the construction of the Minaret of Jam.
After the excursion around the site you are going through Turkmen-Uzbek border to Khiva where you are checking in at a cozy hotel.
Day 5. Khiva.
You are going on an amazing excursion around one of the most impressive Central Asian historical cities called ‘the museum under the open sky’. Khiva has a lot to fascinate any tourist. Its historical part Ichan-Kala is not just a number of discrete surviving architectural monuments; it is a surviving traditional Oriental town - an artifact town. Ichan Kala in Khiva was the first site in Uzbekistan to be included in UNESCO World Heritage List in 1991.
Khiva was first mentioned by Muslim travelers in the 10th c, although archaeologists assert that the city has existed since the 3rd c BCE and even earlier. In 1997 Khiva celebrated its 2500th birthday. According to a legend, Khiva grew from the settlement that was built around the well dug by order of Sim, biblical Noah’s son. Kheyvak, the name of the well, was what the name Khiva came from. This well is still in Ichan-Kala, and you can see it!
Khiva was the last capital of Khwarezm, after Old Urgench, and another culturally and economically important center on the Silk Roads to the Mediterranean and Iran then. In the 16th c Khiva became the capital of the Khiva Khanate and one of the most important Islamic centers. From 1873 to 1919 the Khiva Khanate was a quasi-independent protectorate of the Russian Empire and later became part of the USSR as Khwarezm People’s Soviet Republic, for a time, and then a part of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic.
Ichan Kala is encircled by brick crenellated walls whose foundations are believed to have been laid in the 10th c. The walls themselves date back to the late 17th c. Behind them there are over 50 architectural monuments and 250 old houses; most of them date back to the 18th - 19th c. When you are in Ichan-Kala, you will be given a lot of interesting information on what you are seeing around. The large blue tower in the central Ichan-Kala square, for example, is an unfinished minaret. The khan who was building it died, and the succeeding khan did not complete it because he thought that the minaret would overlook his harem and the muezzin would be able to see his wives. Ichan-Kala’s Djuma Mosque, which was built in the 10th c and rebuilt in 1788 - 1789, is famed for its hypostyle hall, which still has 112 wooden pillars of the previous 10th-century structure. Among the buildings stand out Kunya-Ark Fortress, and the complex of Pakhlavan Mahmud, the famous Khiva’s poet and powerful knight who became a local saint after death. It is also Tash-Khauli Palace and Muhammadaminkhan Madrasah housing a hotel, a currency exchange office, a travel agency, an air ticket office and a café today. You may want to get to the top of Akshish-Bobo Fortress to have an amazing view of the whole Ichan-Kala, or just walk about the city, contemplating…
We recommend that you also visit Khiva’s bazaar where they sell traditional Khiva’s carpets, suzane tapestries, robes, embroidered scull-caps and an abundance of smaller souvenirs.
Day 6. Khiva - Bukhara (440 km, 7-8 hours).
You are setting out on a long and impressive journey to Bukhara through the Kyzyl-Kum Desert along the Amudarya River, which a proper tourist visit to Uzbekistan should certainly include.
Bukhara is one of the world’s oldest cities. It is over 2500 year old, and it seems to emanate the breath of history. In the Middle Ages the city was a large political and religious center. It is one of the seven holy cities of Islam. Bukhara boasts a large number of old mosques of different architectural styles. There are, of course, a lot of madrasahs, minarets and mausoleums, as well. The historic center of Bukhara is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
After you arrive in Bukhara, you will check in at a hotel and have a good rest after the journey.
Day 7. Bukhara.
After breakfast you are going on a 6-hour guided excursion round Bukhara. First you are visiting Samanid Mausoleum. This outstanding architectural monument, protected by UNESCO, was built between 892 and 943 as the resting-place of Ismail Samani - a powerful and influential emir of the Persian Samanid dynasty, which ruled in Central Asia and held the city in the 9th - 10th c. The monument marks a new era in the evolution of Central Asian architecture, which revived after the Arab conquest of the region. The architects continued to use the ancient tradition of baked brick construction, but to a much higher standard than had been seen before. The construction and artistic details of the brickwork are still enormously impressive; they show the traditional style of pre-Islamic culture. The building survived thanks to the wit of the local people: threatened by Genghis Khan hordes, which destroyed everything on their way, they covered the mausoleum and many other buildings with earth, which saved them from destruction. The mausoleum of Pakistan"s founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah-Mazar-e-Quaid is modeled on Samanid Mausoleum in Bukhara.
Next sight is Chashma-Ayub Mausoleum, located near Samanid Mausoleum. Chashma-Ayub means ‘Job’s sping’ in Persian. According to a legend, biblical Job (Ayub) once visited the place during a severe drought in the area and opened a spring with a blow of his staff. The water of the spring is still pure and is considered to be healing. The mausoleum was built during the reign of Tamerlane in the 15th с by master builders the ruler had brought from Khwarezm, and so the building features a Khwarezm-style conical dome, which was uncommon in Bukhara.
Ark, the impressive Bukhara citadel of the 6th - 7th с you are seeing next, is the place the city grew from. It is hard to imagine that 100 years ago they still beheaded criminals on the square before the citadel by order of Bukhara Emir, and the dungeons of the citadel were full of inmates suffering from poisonous insects… Ark was built around the 5th c. In addition to being a military structure, Ark had what was essentially an early town. The citadel was also a residence of various royal courts. It was used as a fortress until it fell to Russia in 1920. Currently the ruins of Ark are a tourist attraction and house museums covering its history.
Then you are going to see Po-i-Kalan Complex of the 12th - 16th c - an example of the typical Central Asian architectural layout, according to which edifices had to face each other and have a square or a street between them. The complex boasts the famous Kalyan Minaret - a circular-pillar brick tower, narrowing upwards, 45.6 meters in height. It is also known as Tower of Death, since for centuries criminals were executed by being tossed off the top of it. There are a lot of legends about this grand minaret, so it will be especially interesting to listen to the guide here.
You are also visiting Ulugbek Madrasah. Ulugbek, Tamerlan’s grandson, was the famous mathematician and astronomer, ‘a scientist on the throne’. The madrasah was built by his order in 1417. Across from it stands Abdullaziz-khan Madrasah. It has more decoration, probably because it was built later.
Then comes Lab-i Hauz Complex (1568-1622). Lab-i Hauz means ‘by the pond’ in Persian. It is the name of the area surrounding one of the few remaining hauz ponds in Bukhara. Until the Soviet period there were many such ponds - the city"s main source of water. However, they were notorious for spreading disease and were buried in the 1920s and 1930s. Lyab-i Hauz pond survived because it is the centerpiece of a magnificent architectural complex. The complex consists of Kukeldash Madrasah (1568-1569), a khanaka monastery and hospice for Sufi travelers (1622) and Nadir Divan-Begi Madrasah (1622). The pond creates pleasant coolness in the area of the complex in hot summers, so it is worth staying in one of the teahouses around it to relax. You can also take a look at the statue of Hajji Nasreddin on his donkey here. Nasreddin is the legendary medieval Central Asian populist wise man, remembered for his funny stories and anecdotes.
You are also seeing Bukhara’s unique medieval domed shopping arcades, which are still used for retail. They offer an abundance of souvenirs and other traditional merchandise there: garments, old Bukhara coins, jewelry…
Day 8. Bukhara.
After breakfast you are going on another excursion. This time you are visiting Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa (‘the palace of a moon-like star’), the summer residence of Bukahra khans, built in the 19th c. The sight is located outside Bukhara, but it is not far. It will take you 15 - 20 min to get there.
The palace is a unique mixture of Asian, Russian and European architectural styles, since its Bukhara builders had been learning the secrets of country residence construction in Russia. Today the residence houses a museum. It has over 1000 exhibits of palace furniture, utensils, Chinese and Japanese porcelain items. One of the parlors features a collection of the 19th-century national dress made by the best Bukhara gold embroiderers. The park around the residence was restored to have its original layout; it is now looking the same as it was during the last khan’s rule.
You are also visiting Bakhauddin Nakshbandi Complex. The saint sheikh Bakhauddin Nakshbandi, Tamerlan’s spiritual teacher and the founder of the Sufi brotherhood Nakshbandiya, is revered in the whole Islamic world. Three pilgrimages to his tomb are equal to a small hajj to Mecca. His brotherhood exerted the principle of voluntary poverty. He thought that people had to learn to be content with only what they earned with their hands, which would give them independence and freedom of thought and actions. For the next several centuries after Bakhouddin Nakshbandi death (1389) they built a number of very impressive edifices around his tomb. The wall of his mausoleum has a wish stone, and near the pool there is an old dry mulberry tree trunk you should walk around a few times to make a wish too…
When you are back in Bukhara, we recommend that you visit its carpet and gold bazaars.
Day 9. Bukhara - Samarkand (300 km, 4-5 hours).
As you arrive in Samarkand, you will check in at the hotel and have a good rest.
You are now in one of the most famous and oldest Oriental cities. Known as Maracanda in the 4th c BCE, it was the capital of Sogdiana and was captured by Alexander the Great in 329 BCE. The city was later ruled by several dynasties before it became the capital of Tamerlane’s empire in the 14th c. Tamerlane made Samarkand the most important economic and cultural centre in Central Asia. Geographers and poets once called Samarkand ‘Rome of the Orient’ and even ‘Eden of the Orient’… Today’s Samarkand, the second-largest city in Uzbekistan, consists of an old city dating from the medieval times and a new section built after the Russian conquest of the area in the 19th c. The historic city with its finest monuments of Central Asian architecture from the 14th to the 20th c was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2001.
Day 10. Samarkand.
After breakfast an exciting excursion awaits you. First you are going to Registan, the central city’s square. It is the most spectacular Central Asian square with fascinating architectural monuments. Though the word registan means ‘a sandy place’, you will hardly see any sand there now. Late in the 19th с the square was cobbled, but earlier, they say, sand was probably there to soak the blood of the executed criminals… Registan was initially a craft and trade center where the six roads running from the city walls met. Thanks to the convenient location of the place, it later became the main square of the city.
On the three sides of the square stand the grand buildings of Ulugbek Madrasah (1417 - 1420), Sher-Dor Madrasah (1619 - 1636) and Tilla-Kari Madrasah (1647 - 1660) (a madrasah is a Muslim college or university). All of them boast stunning mosaics and almost all the other types of Central Asian interior and exterior decoration at its best.
Ulugbek, Tamerlane’s grandson, began the construction of the first madrasah in the square in 1417. After it was completed in 1420, the square became a center of science. Over 100 students began to live and study in this medieval Islamic university. The other two madrasahs, built in the 17th c, are as well grand and splendidly decorated, but in terms of their architectural and decorative merits, they are still inferior to Ulugbek Madrasah, their eldest sibling.
Sher-Dor Madrasah (‘a madrasah with tigers’) takes after Ulughbek Madrasah in design, but its portal bears fabulous catlike animals with suns on their backs - a symbol of authority. Between the animals there is a large swastika and an Arabic inscription, which says ‘God is almighty’. Tilla-Kari Madrasah (‘a gilded madrasah’) on the northern side of the square has a mosque besides madrasah facilities. The gilded interior decoration inside the mosque of this edifice is what you should never miss.
Then you are going to Gur-Emir Mausoleum, the mausoleum of Tamerlane and the family crypt of the Timurid Dynasty. It contains the tombs of Tamerlane, his two sons, two grandsons, and his teacher. Gur-Emir (’tomb of the king’) is the precursor of the famous Humayun"s Tomb in Delhi and Taj Mahal in Agra, built by Timur"s descendants, the ruling Mughal dynasty of North India. During the reign of Ulugbek they placed a solid block of dark green jade over the grave of Tamerlane. The inscription on it says that anyone who would disturb the ruler would suffer of die. And it turned out to be true! A few days after the crypt was opened by Soviet archeologists on June 19, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the USSR. Tamerlane’s remains were reburied with full Islamic burial rites in November 1942, at the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad…
Near Gur-Emir Mausoleum stands Rukhabad Mausoleum - a small mausoleum of the 14th с that is said to contain some of the hair of Muhammad the Prophet. Behind Gur-Emir Mausoleum is another structure - Ak-Sarai Mausoleum of the 15th c. It has not been restored yet and so its old look is a strong attraction as well.
Then you are going Bibi-Khanym Mosque (15th c) - one of the biggest mosques in the Islamic world. According to Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo, a Spanish ambassador to Samarkand in Tamerlane’s times, the mosque was built by order of Tamerlane in honor of his senior wife’s mother by 200 best architects and 500 workers brought from all the corners of his empire, and 90 elephants. They also say that Bibi-Khanym, the favorite wife of Tamerlane, ordered to build the mosque by herself to please her husband after his victorious campaign in India.
The next point of interest is the surviving part of Ulugbek Observatory (15th c). It still has a section of the mural sextant, once the world’s largest, which Ulugbek, Tamerlane’s grandson, an astronomer, mathematician and patron of arts, used to compile his world-famous star catalogue, the best between those of Ptolemy and Brahe. Ulugbek’s discoveries greatly advanced knowledge in the field of astronomy and mathematics.
Shakh-i-Zinda Necropolis (12th - 15th c) you are going next is a complex of more than 20 mausoleums with 44 tombs; most of them are of Tamerlan’s relatives, military and clergy aristocracy. The main of them is the mausoleum of Kusam ibn Abbas, the cousin of Muhammad the Prophet. Shakh-i-Zinda means ‘living king’. According to a legend, Kusam ibn Abbas came to Samarkand with Arab conquerors to preach Islam. He was beheaded for faith in the city, but took his head and went down to a deep well where he remains alive.
Near Shakh-i-Zinda Necropolis stands Khazrat-Khyzr Mosque, one of oldest Samarkand’s architectural monuments. It was destroyed by Genghis Khan’s hordes and restored in the 19th c. From the hill the mosque stands on you can have an impressive view of Shakh-i-Zinda Necropolis, the city bazaar and distant mountains.
We recommend that after the excursions you walk about the evening city. They say you should see Samarkand twice: when the sun shines and when the moon lights.
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