2024
Tour itinerary can be seen below.
• Arrive at Ashgabat, Turkmenistan's capital, early morning and transfer to the hotel. Day spent at leisure. Overnight in Ashgabat.
• Visit the square and parks to see the vast, marbled monuments, statues and Ertuğrul Gazi Mosque.
• Explore the Turkmenbashi Ruhy Mosque and mausoleum.
• In the afternoon, drive to the fiery Darvaza gas crater. En route, we stop for supplies in the desert village of Erbent. Then we go off-road through the desert. Finally arriving at Darvaza early evening while the light is fading. With the setting sun and glow from the crater, you can see for miles in every direction
• Our guide will set up camp in tents safely away from the crater before cooking dinner. Take this time to relax and enjoy the massive campfire-like aura of Darvaza.
• After a bite to eat, we drive north to Konye Urgench—a UNESCO World Heritage Site containing the remains of the Achaemenid empire’s capital Khwarazm.
• Drive onwards to Dashoguz, check into our hotel and tour the city in the afternoon.
• Take the rest of the evening at leisure.
• Bid farewell to Turkmenistan and say hello to Uzbekistan. In the morning, we cross the border into this fascinating nation.
• Our Uzbek guide will meet us before we drive to Khiva and check into our hotel.
• After lunch and some free time, we take a walking tour of the city, visiting the legendary Ichan Kala fortress—this ancient site was the last resting place for caravans about to cross the desert to Persia. It contains minarets, a madrassah, mosques and mausoleums.
• After a group dinner, there will be free time to explore more of the city.
• After some morning free time, we depart on a seven-hour drive across the desert to Bukhara. It’s a long ride, but we’ll have a packed lunch for the journey and stop at a Chai Khanah (an Uzbek tea house) early afternoon for tea and kebabs.
• On arrival to Bukhara, we check into our hotel.
• After dinner, we can enjoy the atmosphere around the Lyab-i Hauz pool.
• Half-day sightseeing tour of Bukhara, visiting Samanids mausoleum, Ark fortress, Polkalon complex, trading domes, the Lyabi Hauz complex and Chor Minor.
• After lunch, free time to explore the city’s Jewish quarter and covered shopping areas.
• Overnight in Bukhara.
• Free time in the morning, then we drive five or six hours to the ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand.
• Tour Samarkand, seeing the Registan square, Gur Emir Mausoleum, Slab bazaar, Ulugbek observatory, Afrasiab museum wall paintings and the Meros handicraft centre.
• Free time in the morning to explore more of Samarkand and its surroundings.
• Dinner, then departure on the 22:00 overnight train to Termez.
• Arrive in Termez at 9:30, leave our luggage at the hotel, and start a full day tour of the city. We will visit the archaeological museum, Sultan Saadat complex, Kirk Kiz hanaka and Fayaztepa Buddhist monastery.
• Have a farewell dinner with our Uzbek guide, then spend the evening at leisure.
• At 9:00, we depart for the Sariosiyo border crossing, passing into the mountainous country of Tajikistan. We will meet our Tajik guides here.
• En route to Dushanbe, we stop at Hisor to visit the fortress. This ancient stronghold is over 2,500 years old.
• We also visit the nearby 16th century Kunha Medrassah, the Museum of Tajik Life and the mausoleum of the Sufi Saint, Mahdumi Azam.
• On arrival in Dushanbe, we will visit the Museum of National Antiquities before checking into our hotel and spending the rest of the evening at leisure.
• Today is a free day in Dushanbe.
• Drive to Khujand in the morning, passing through the 5 km long Anzob Tunnel, a.k.a. The Tunnel of Death—a vital roadway which connects Tajikistan’s two largest cities.
• Arrive at the emerald-coloured Iskanderkul Lake. Take the rest of the day to swim, hike to the waterfall, or go on speed boat rides around the lake for roughly $10 per person.
• After our lake day, we’ll head to the next valley to spend the night at a local homestay.
• Drive to Khujand after breakfast.
• In Khujand, we visit the Shikh Muslihiddin mosque, the Oriental bazaar (the biggest in Central Asia), the Arbob palace and the Lenin monument.
• Check into our hotel and have dinner at a local restaurant before spending the rest of the evening at leisure.
• In the morning, drive to the border and cross into Kyrgyzstan, then onward to Osh.
• Arrive in Osh and check into our hotel.
• Spend the rest of the evening at leisure.
• Take a morning tour of Osh before starting the scenic drive north.
• Stop at a motel halfway to Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital.
• Continue our drive through the beautiful scenery of Kyrgyzstan and arrive in Bishkek in the afternoon.
• Evening at leisure and overnight in the capital.
• A well-earned rest day.
• Spend the day as you wish, perhaps checking out the Soviet architecture and monuments of the capital.
• Leave Bishkek for Issyk-Kul. Along the way, we visit the Burana Tower.
• Our drive continues up into the mountains before we finally get to Issyk-Kul, the tenth-largest lake in the world.
• Enjoy a swim in this massive body of water.
• Overnight stay at Jeti-Oguz Gorge in a yurt camp.
• Free morning at the yurt camp. Various excursions can be arranged for you, such as hiking or horse riding.
• Drive to Karakol for lunch and take a short tour of the city’s Chinese-style mosque and orthodox church.
• Overnight in Karakol.
• Depart Karakol and head to the Kazakh border.
• After crossing, we head to Charyin Canyon, taking the thirty to forty-minute walk into and out of the canyon.
• Chance to paddle in the Charyn River before continuing the drive to Almaty, Kazakhstan.
• Overnight in Almaty.
• Tour Almaty, taking in sights such as the Ascension Cathedral, the ice rink, WWII monuments and the city’s squares, plus the quirky Beatles statue.
• Overnight in Almaty.
• Tour ends.
• Checkout from the hotel is at 12:00.