Discover Central Asia

(Kyrgyzstan - Uzbekistan - Turkmenistan)

(18 days /17 nights)

Istanbul (or Moscow) - Bishkek - Сhoktol (Issykkul) - Kochkor - Songkul lake - Bishkek - Osh - Andijan - Ferghana-Margelan - Kokand - Tashkent - Samarkand - Shahrisabz - Samarkand - Bukhara - Khiva - Dashoguz - Konya Urgench - Darvaza - Ashgabat - Istanbul (or Moscow)

Highlights and advantages:

• Crossing Central Asia in the footsteps of explorers Silk Road;
• Discover historical monuments of Central Asia;
• Discover the real time social life of the countries of Central Asia;

Day 1 / Sunday
Istanbul - Bishkek - Сhoktal (Issykkul) TK 346
Flight to Bishkek via Istanbul. Meeting with guide and transfer to hotel. Having rest. Breakfast. Visit the capital of Kyrgyzstan by Place Dostyk, The Opera, Dubovy Park, the National Museum and the largest market in Bishkek - Osh bazaar. Lunch. Departure for Issykkul Lake (1600 m. Alt.). Visit the Burana Tower on the road. Arrival to Сhoktal and transfer to hotel. Dinner. Overnight at hotel.

Day 2 / Monday
Chotkal - Kotchkor
Breakfast. It is time to enjoy the lake (possibility of swimming, walking). Lunch. Drive to Kotchkor. Arrival and accommodation in an inhabitant. Diner and overnight in homestay.

Day 3 / Tuesday
�Kotchkor – Song Kul�
Breakfast. Departure to Song Kul Lake via the pass Kalmak Achu (3448m alt.) to meet the nomadic herders. Arrival and accommodation in the yurt. Lunch. It is time to enjoy nature and the lake (possibility to walk, meet shepherds, and attend presentations equestrian games). Diner. Night in a yurt.

Day 4 / Wednesday
Song kul - Bishkek - Osh
Breakfast. Drive to Bishkek through beautiful landscapes. Lunch. Arrival and transfer to the airport. Flight to Osh. Dinner. Overnight at hotel.

Day 5 / Thursday
Osh - Andijan - Fergana
Breakfast. Drive to Fergana. Crossing Uzbek-Kyrgyz border and customs formality in the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border. We pass through Andijan city. Arrival in the city Andijan. City tour by the city bazaar oriental. Lunch. Continuing the road and arrived in Fergana in the afternoon. Accommodation in the hotel. Dinner. Overnight in hotel.

Day 6 / Friday
Fergana - Margelan - Rishtan - Kokand - Tashkent
Breakfast. Drive to Tashkent via Margelan and Kokand. Margelan visit the silk factory is unique in the country, visit the weaver workshop and the procedure of weaving fabric famous atlas, silk carpets. In Rishtan stop off at a famous ceramist to visit his studio. Arrival in Kokand. Lunch in a Tchaykhana. Visit the palace of Khoudayar Khan, the royal cemetery and the Friday Mosque of Kokand to 99 columns. Following the road through the pass Kamchik (2300 m alt, 3 pax by taxi for groups). Arrival and transfer to hotel. Diner. Overnight at hotel.

Day 7 / Saturday
Tashkent
Breakfast. Visit to Tashkent by Chorsu bazaar, Complex Khast- Imam. Lunch. We wonder through the Place of Independence, Square of Amir Timour, and the metro in Tashkent. Diner. Overnight at hotel.

Day 8 / Sunday
Tashkent - Samarkand
Breakfast. Transfer to the station at 07:00. The fast-speed Afrosyab train will be at 08:00. Arrival to Samarkand at 10h10 and transfer to the hotel. Visit the mausoleum Gur Emir and the Registan madrasah of Ulugbek, Sher Dor madrasa, madrasa Tillya Kari. Lunch. Visit the mosque of Bibi Khanum, the Siyab bazaar and Shakhi Zinda necropolis. Dinner. Overnight at hotel.

Day 9 / Monday
Samarkand - Shahrisabz – Samarkand (80 km)
Breakfast. Drive to Shahrisabz by the pass (taxi, 3 persons per car). The road through the mountains of minerals landscapes. Arrival and singtseeing tour by Ak-Saray palace of Timour, the bazaar, and the complex Dor-ut-Tilovat and Dor-us-Siyodat. Lunch. Back to Samarkand. Free time to discovery the city. Dinner. Overnight at hotel.

Day 10 / Tuesday
Samarkand - Bukhara
Breakfast. Visit the Ulug-bek observatory and the workshop paper (Samarkand silk paper production by old-time technology). Transfer to the Rail Station at 10:30. Departure by train to Bukhara at 11:30. Lunch (free, there must be something to eat in the train). Arrival in Bukhara at 15:10 and transfer to the hotel. Free time for the first glimpse of the city. Dinner. Overnight at hotel.

Day 11 / Wednesday
Bukhara
Breakfast. Take a walking sightseeing tour with a guide in historic center of Bukhara which has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site: Bolo-Khauz mosque, Samani dynasty mausoleum, Kalyan Ensemble and legendary Ark fortress madrasah of Ulugbek and madrasah of Abdulazizkhan. Lunch. One of the oldest monuments in Bukhara Magoki- Attari mosque, and Lyabi Hauz Complex with Nadir Devan Begi madrassah, the madrassah Koukaldash, the Khanaka and Tim (trade dome), Tim Abdullakhan. Dinner. Overnight at hotel.

Day 12 / Thursday
Bukhara
Breakfast. Visit Bakhouddin Naqshbandi was the great Sufi of Central Asia, the summer palace of the emir of Bukhara Sitorai-Mohi-Khosa and the small Chor Minor madrassah. Lunch. Free time to stroll and discovery real time Bukhara. Dinner. Overnight at hotel.

Day 13 / Friday
Bukhara - Khiva
Breakfast. Drive to Khiva (450 km). The road passes through the desert of Kum Kizyl and sand dunes. Lunch in a Tchaykhana. Later afternoon arrival in Khiva and transfer to hotel. Dinner. Overnight at hotel.

Day 14 / Saturday
Khiva
Breakfast. Visit architectural monuments, including the truncated minaret Kalta Minar, the Mohamed Aminkhan madrasas. Lunch. Visit Kunya-Ark, Said Alauddin Mausoleum, Mukhammad Rakhimkhan madrasah, Pakhlavan Makhmud Mausoleum, minaret of Islam-Khoja, Tash- Khovli, the Palace and the Harem Khan, Juma mosque. Dinner. Overnight at hotel.

Day 15 / Sunday
Khiva - Dashoguz (via Shovot) - Kunya Urgench - Darwaza
Breakfast. Leaving for Turkmenistan. Crossing the Uzbek-Turkmen border at Chovot. Drive to Kunya Urgench. Visit the mausoleum of Najmidin Kubro and historic park. Lunch. Drive to Darwaza. Arrival and accommodation in tent. See the flames of a crater, the night where we share a night with the villager nomad in the desert. Picnic, overnight in tents.

Day 16 / Monday
Darwaza - Ashgabat
Breakfast. Drive to Ashgabat via Jerbent village. Arrival at the hotel. Lunch. City tour. Dinner. Overnight at hotel.

Day 17 / Tuesday
Ashgabat - Nisa - Ashgabat
Breakfast. Departure for Nissa. Visit the National Museum of History and Ethnography of Turkmenistan and archaeological site of the ancient Nisa. Lunch. Free time for visit Ashgabat. Dinner. Overnight at hotel.

Day 18 / Wednesday
Ashgabat – Istanbul TK 1351 TK 1821
Transfer to the airport and flight to Istanbul at 05h10 on flight TK 323.