From Khorezm to the Ferghana Valley – the entire Great Silk Road

Arrival at the airport. Go through check-in and boarding formalities. Take off Dinner and night on board.

Arrival at the airport. Go through check-in and boarding formalities. Take off Dinner and night on board.

Arrival in Tashkent. Welcome at the airport by the guide and driver. Rest after your long flight. Start Tashkent city tour: the old town and the Kukeldash madrasa, the picturesque Tchorsu market... Visit the Museum of Applied Arts with its rich collections of Russian art, icons, ceramics and royal costumes. In the afternoon, continued visits to the Abdul Kasim Madrasa currently occupied by artisans, the Amir Temur (Tamerlan) square where local artists are presented and the Tashkent metro. Overnight in Tashkent.

(235 km, 4 hours’ drive) Breakfast in Tashkent. In the morning transfer to Tashkent station to take the train to the Ferghana Valley at 8:05 a.m., Arrival in Kokand at 12:09 p.m. Kokand is a strategic city, which has long been the subject of conflicts. It became part of Uzbekistan in 1922. The palace of the last khan of Kokand, built in 1870. It had a large enclosure, pierced with twelve gates, bearing the name of the towns to which they led. After lunch, visit the palace of Khoudayar Khan. Lunch in Kokand, explore Kokand market, visit to the Narbutabey Madrasa. It was one of the rare schools to welcome students during the Soviet occupation. Continue with Modari Khan Mausoleum and the Jami Mosque. Dinner and overnight in Kokand.

Breakfast. Road to the town Richton famous throughout the Ferghana Valley for the quality of its traditional pottery. Rishtan, renowned for its ceramics made from local red clay, and decorated with natural blue and green pigments, which will then glazed. Road to Margilan. Margilan, an important stopover town on the Silk Road from the 11th century as a pioneer of sericulture. A visit to the Yodgorlik textile factory, ‘souvenir’ in Uzbek, will teach you everything about silk! Yodgorlik perpetuates traditional manufacturing methods - from unwinding the threads from the boiled cocoon to dyeing and weaving. Margilan, the silk city of the valley. Lunch at Margilan. Arrival at the city of Ferghana. Check in to hotel. Walk in Al-Fergani Park. Dinner and overnight in Fergana.

Breakfast. Return road to Tashkent. Transfer to the local airport to take the flight to Nukus at 6:40 p.m. Dinner and night in Noukous. Night in Nukus.

Breakfast. Drive to Moynak, known as “the cemetery of ships”. After picnic lunch, you take the road towards Noukous. On the road, you visit the Mizdakhan complex. This immense necropolis, more than two thousand years old, shelters mainly Muslim tombs, but also Nestorian tombs since crosses were found engraved on certain constructions. Most of the mausoleums are in ruins, some are renovated. The Mazlimkhan Mausoleum, built in the 14th century, is half buried underground. Its interior dome is entirely covered with blue majolica. its walls are decorated with chiseled and azure blue glazed bricks. Return to Nukus. Dinner and night in Noukous.

After breakfast, visit the Savitski Museum and have lunch. Drive to Khiva, on the way stop to take photos or approach closer to Tchilpyk Kala – the Tower of Silence. This round construction has a diameter of approximately 70 meters and a height of 15 meters. The “Tower of Silence” has a history: - human corpses were exposed to the sun, so that birds of prey would deflesh them. Then we take the road towards the fortresses, arriving at Toprak Kala, lunch and discovery of the fortresses: Toprak Kala - the most impressive fortress in the region, which extends over one and a half hectares and is located in the middle of desert fields. The construction dates from the 1st century BC. B.C. to the 4th century A.D. It was the capital of ancient Khorezm. Visit the Ayaz Kala Fortress. Dinner and night in Khiva.

The whole day is devoted to visiting the museum city, the inner city, hidden behind high brick walls: Ichan-Kala, Ota Darvosa, Mohammed-Amin Khan's madrasah and its Kalta Minor minaret (19th century), etc. Folk dance in the Allakoulikhan madrasa. The Djuma mosque and its minaret, the Avesto museum, the Islam Khodja medersa and minaret, the mausoleum of Pakhlavon Makhmoud, the silk carpet workshop, the wood engraving workshop etc. Khiva is undoubtedly the most intact of the cities that dot the Silk Road in Central Asia.

Breakfast at the hotel. Free morning. In the afternoon transfer to the station. Road to Bukhara. Arrival in Bukhara in the evening. Transfer to the hotel. Night in Bukhara.

The whole day is devoted to discovering the old part of Bukhara. Most of Bukhara's centers of interest are concentrated in the old town of Shakhristan and can be visited on foot. First of all, the Ismaïl Samani mausoleum (9th-10th century), the oldest building in the city and one of the most beautiful jewels of Uzbekistan, then the Tchachma Ayoub mausoleum (12th-14th century), the Bola Khaouz complex (18th century) and the Ark Citadel. The symbol of the Emirate of Bukhara stands in all its majesty on Reghistan Square and recalls the terror of the Manguit era. Home of the lords of Bukhara, the Ark is as old as Bukhara itself. Folk dance in the Nadir Divan Begui Madrasa.

After breakfast, you set off to explore the surroundings of Bukhara. The sacred site of Bakhaoudin Nakshbandi (16th century) where one of the founders and one of the most revered saints of Sufic Islam is buried, then you visit the summer residence of the last emir “Setora-i-Mokhi Khosa” (19th century). Continuation of the visit by the Chor Minor Madrasa (early 19th century), one of the most attractive and strange buildings in Bukhara. Free time to stroll through the streets of the old town or enjoy the magnificent hammam of Bukhara (14th century).

You leave at 7:00 a.m. towards the village of Abou-Abdulloh-Guijdovani – Guijdovan (70 km) which is made famous by its fine ceramics. On the way, visit the small town of Nourata where you can climb the hill of Alexander the Great, and visit the Nomozgokh mosque and the sacred source “Tchachma”. Lunch with a local in Nourata. Arrival at the yurt camp around 3:00 p.m. Arrival at the edge of Lake Aydar, continuation along the banks of the lake to observe the birdlife that colonizes the banks (pelicans, cormorants, condors, etc.). Camel ride in the steppe. Free time to watch the sunset in the desert. Evening rocked by the songs of a Kazakh akin. Night in the yurt.

Duration of the walk according to your wishes Height difference + and - 400 m 2h30 hour by car After breakfast, around 8:30 a.m., departure for the village of Asraf, a very beautiful Tajik village on the banks of a river and surrounded by lush orchards. Arrival in Asraf around 10:00 a.m. You will go to the small Asraf school, which has 3 classes. You will be able to meet the teacher and students and give them books or school supplies that they frequently need (Silk Road Explorer takes care of their purchases). Good atmosphere guaranteed! (Depending on the season, the school may be closed.) Lunch with the locals. Hiking in the Nourata nature reserve. From the heights, one can observe the plains of the Kyzylkoum desert and Lake Aydarkul. We start the trek along the village and enter the walnut garden. Visit to an archaeological site where Arabic writing still survives. We can observe different endemic plants. The valley is ideal for bird watching and has a very varied flora. There is the possibility of seeing wild sheep. We climb a hill to admire the view of the village. Dinner and night at a local’s home.  

At 9 a.m., departure to Samarkand. Discovery of the capital of the Temurid Empire. Visit Registan Square, the most grandiose complex in Central Asia and one of the most beautiful in Islam. It was the nerve center of Tamerlane's capital, where six arteries met under the dome of a bazaar. It is made up of three magnificent madrassahs: Oulougbeg, Cher-Dor, Tilla-Kari. Dinner in a restaurant and overnight in Samarkand.

The whole day is devoted to discovering the capital of the empire of Timur or Tamerlane. The crossroads of the different Silk Roads, that of the west towards Persia, that of the east towards China, and that of the south towards India. Alexander the Great, Genghis Kan were its conquerors and Tamerlane made it his capital. Its domes and blue mosaic still captivate travelers today. Visit to the Ouloug Bek observatory, the Chakhi Zinda necropolis, a silk carpet workshop (suzani). Dinner in a restaurant and overnight in Samarkand.

Transfer: 285 km by high-speed train (2h15 journey) In the morning, continuation of the visit with the Syab market and the Bibi Khanoum mosque. In the afternoon, visit the paper and carpet factories. Free time. Around 4 p.m. transfer to the station to take the Tacheknt – Samarkand high-speed train. Arrival in Tashkent at 7:15 p.m.

Transfer to the airport for your return flight.