Overnight International Flight to Almaty

At the appropriate time, you will be met at the airport and taken to your hotel in Almaty. Along the way, you will be able to sightsee around the city before enjoying dinner at a local restaurant.

The leafy city of Almaty, with a backdrop of the snowcapped Zailiysky Alatau, has always been among the more appealing Russian creations in Central Asia. Today, Almaty's new-rich have expensive suburban apartments, large SUVs, glitzy shopping malls, Western-style coffee lounges, expensive restaurants, dance-till-dawn nightclubs and new ski resorts to help them enjoy life to the fullest.

The sightseeing of Almaty includes the main square, historical museum, Panfilov's Park with orthodox cathedral and instrumental museum, green bazaar and Kok Tobe hill.
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At the appropriate time, you will be picked up from your hotel and taken to the airport for your flight to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Upon arrival to Bishkek, you will be met at the airport and transferred to your hotel. At midday we start sightseeing of the capital, visiting several highlights including the Usman Koran Book Museum, the highlight of the Old City. The Koran is considered to be the oldest and holiest in the world from the VII century. Next, stop by the Monument of "Courage", dedicated to the victims of the earthquake in 1966, after which Tashkent was wholly reconstructed. From there, visit Mustakillik Square, formally known as "Red Squire" with its Lenin Statue. Today is a new modern main square of Tashkent with official governmental buildings.

Next up is the Navoi Theatre of Opera and Balley, a big icon of the city that Japanese architects completed construction of in 1947. Following the theater, see the Applied Arts Museum, a very beautiful house of the Russian diplomat with precious samples of the Uzbek arts. From here, visit the Tashkent Metro with its impressive stations before walking the Chorsu bazaar, a very oriental and colorful shopping place for the locals with stalls of fruits and vegetables. Enjoy dinner at a local restaurant before returning to the hotel.
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At the appropriate time, you will be picked up from your hotel and taken to the airport for our flight to Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

After some rest we start the first half day city tour of Tashkent: the Monument of Courage - this is the monument dedicated to the victims of the earthquake in 1966, after which Tashkent was wholly reconstructed. Tashkent Metro is unique in Central Asia with its impressive stations. It was completed in 1977.

Sprawling Tashkent is Central Asia's hub and the place where everything in Uzbekistan happens. It's one part newly built national capital, thick with the institutions of power, and one part leafy Soviet city, and yet another part sleepy Uzbek town, where traditionally clad farmers cart their wares through a maze of mud-walled houses to the grinding crowds of the bazaar.
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After breakfast we visit today the Usman Koran Book Museum is the highlight of the Old City. The book is considered to be the oldest and holiest in the world from the VII century. The Mustakillik Square - former "Red Squire" with its Lenin Statue, today is a new modern main square of Tashkent with official governmental buildings. The Applied Arts Museum is a very beautiful house of the Russian diplomat with precious samples of the Uzbek arts. Chorsu bazaar is a very oriental and colorful shopping place for the locals with stalls of fruits and vegetables.

At the appropriate time, you will be transferred to the train station for your speed train to Samarkand.

Upon arrival to Samarkand, you will be met at the train station and taken to your hotel in Samarkand.
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We dedicate the whole day for the exploration of the city: the Registan Square (XV-XVIIc) the official center of Timur Empire, consists of 3 grandiose madrasahs of Ulugbek, Sher Dor & Tillya Kari. Visit the Gur Amir mausoleum (XV c), Timurids dynastic burial vault. This is a unique monument of Architecture with blue ribbed tessellated dome. Next up is Shahi Zinda necropolis (XIV-XV) a complex of more than 20 unique buildings of different ages. To finish the program, we visit the Ulugbek's Observatory (XV c)1st observatory in orient with a 30m sextant built by Ulugbek to make exact astronomical catalogue. The museum of Afrosiab is a handout of the past history of Samarkand with its impressive wall painting.

Tonight you will enjoy a home made meal in a local Uzbek family home. Witness them create traditional dishes, and maybe even help out, too!
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At the appropriate time, you will be transferred from your hotel to the Tajikistan border. After crossing formalities, you will meet your local guide on the other side.

Upon arrival to Penjikent, you will enjoy a tour of the city, including visits to the Rudaki Museum, the local Bazaar and mosque. Next, drive to the ruins of ancient Penjikent located within 5-minute drive from modern Penjikent. Penjikent was a major Sogdian city dating back to the 5th century and was destroyed by Arab conquerors in the 8th century.

In the morning we drive to the mountains to see one of the famous "Seven Lakes", the beautiful Marguzor Lake. After some light walking in the surrounding area, you will transfer to the border. After crossing formalities, you will meet your local guide on the other side.


At the appropriate time, you will transfer to your hotel in Samarkand. Along the way, you will visit the Bibi Khanym mosque, the biggest construction of Timur the Great. Then visit the famous Oriental Bazar, "Siab". After lunch, head over to the Silk Paper Factory to learn about this extraordinary spot of the city where the antique method of paper production is used.
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At the appropriate time, you will be picked up from your hotel and taken to the train station for your speed train to Bukhara.

Upon arrival to Bukhara, you will be met at the train station and transferred to your hotel in Bukhara.

Then, you will proceed with Bukhara Spice and Silk Festival in which the goal of this festival is to preserve existing cultural heritage in Uzbekistan, with all its specific characteristics and artistic skills. The event also supports local artisans and their crafts in fields such as gold embroidery, hand weaving, wood carving, carpet weaving, construction, and other fine arts.
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The festival program includes performances from traditional bands from different regions of Uzbekistan as well as traditional games and sports, master classes, tasting sessions featuring ploy at Palov Sayli, and a fashion show from young Uzbek designers. A beautiful parade will open the festival and take you back to the Bukhara of centuries ago, when caravans loaded with silk and spices traveled from China to Europe, through mountain passes and empty deserts, stopping only in blooming valleys.

For sports lovers, the demonstrations at the Ark Fortress are a must, and the evening programs of shows and performances are a great way to rewind after a busy day. Silk and Spices is also a great place to buy souvenirs, as the finest artisans from around Uzbekistan will be at the festival.
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At the appropriate time, you will depart for Khiva by coach through the Kyzyl-Kum desert. For centuries it has marked the northern limits of Transoxiana and the edge of the boundless nomadic steppe. You will see Amu Darya one of the two second rivers of Central Asia, separating the Kyzyl Kum from the Kara Kum of Turkmenistan. Typical steppe astrakhans sheep are seen a lot.

Dating back more than 2,500 years, Khiva was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1990. Learn about Amin Khan Madrasah and Kalta Minor, the first buildings of the city, built in the 1850's and have served since Soviet times as the main hotel of the region. Witness Djuma mosque (X-XVII c) a cathedral mosque whose roof lies on 212 wooden columns with unique acoustics and original technical ideas of natural lighting. See Kunya ark (XVII c), an inner fortress with administrative buildings, gunpowder works, law courts, and a mosque.

Next is Pakhlavan Makhmud Maosoleum (XIV - XIX c), the most remarkable architectural and memorial complex in Khiva with ornate tile work. From here, visit Islam Khodja minaret and madrassah (1908) - at 45 m high, this is the highest minaret in Khiva with the observation area high above the city. Follow your guide to Tosh Havli, known simply as Harem. This is a very particular place of the city where khans had lived with their four official wives and forty concubines. In the afternoon visit the Panoramic Tower of the old city from where you can see fantastic views and special atmosphere. It is a must stop. ...read less

At the appropriate time, you will transfer to the border. After crossing formalities, you will meet your local guide on the other side in Turkmenistan. After stopping by Dashoguz for lunch, continue to Kunya-Urgench, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kunya-Urgench is situated in north-western Turkmenistan, on the left bank of the Amu Daria River. Urgench was the capital of the Khorezm region, part of the Achaemenid Empire. The old town contains a series of monuments mainly from the 11th to 16th centuries, including a mosque, the gates of a caravanserai, fortresses, mausoleums and a 60-m high minaret. The monuments testify to outstanding achievements in architecture and craftsmanship whose influence reached Iran and Afghanistan, and later the architecture of the Mogul Empire of 16th-century India.

At the appropriate time, you will be taken to the airport for your flight to Ashgabat where you will be met at the airport and taken to your hotel.
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After breakfast at your hotel, embark on a city tour of the capital of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, founded in 1881. The city is located 25 km. north of the border with Iran, in the Kopet Dag foothills. By official statistics for 2013, its population is nearly 1,000,000 people.

The city's name Ashgabat comes from a Persian word "eshg" which means love and "abad", translated as populated, well-maintained. To date, Ashgabat is not just the capital of Turkmenistan, but also the largest industrial, scientific and cultural center of the country.

Visit the National History Museum, the Nissa fortress and Independence Parks, the Arch of Neutrality, the National Memorial Complex with Earthquake and WWII monuments, the "Bagt Koshgi" Wedding Palace with nice viewpoint and some other points of interest. Lunch will be at local restaurant before an afternoon at leisure. Dinner and overnight at your hotel.
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At the appropriate time, you will be met at your hotel and transferred to the airport for your flight home.