To see during this tour: Khiva, Bukhara, Chakhrisabz and Samarkand… Warm encounters with the population. Historical sites listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The numerous tastings to discover Uzbek gastronomy. Local oriental markets. An evening of dancing and singing in the old Madrasa Nadir Divan Begi.
Departures year-round
Guaranteed from 4 passengers: $3789.00 per person *
(*land only)
INCLUDED
Meeting at the airport and train station
Domestic flight Tashkent – Nukus
Accommodation as indicated in the itinerary (shared double room basis)
Early check inn on the first day
Full board
Transportation for transfers according to the program
English-speaking guide
Guided tours and entrances to monuments according to the program
Train tickets Samarkand – Tashkent
One bottle of water per person per day
Khiva-Bukhara train tickets
Folklore dance show in Bukhara
EXCLUDED
International flights
All services not mentioned in the program
Meals not mentioned as (B = breakfast, L = lunch, D = dinner)
Your personal expenses
The fee for photos taken in the monuments (to be paid on site, at entry)
Insurance
Tips for drivers and guide
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Destination
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Departure
full pension
1
Day 1: Montreal - Tashkent
Summon participants to the airport. Go through check-in and boarding formalities. Take off Dinner and night on board.
2
Day 2: Tashkent
Summon participants to the airport. Go through check-in and boarding formalities. Take off Dinner and night on board.
3
Day 3: Tashkent
Arrival at Tashkent airport. Welcome by your guide and driver. Transfer to the hotel. A little rest after the flight.
Breakfast at the hotel. Panoramic discovery of the capital of Uzbekistan. Visit the old city: Khasti Imam square with the Barak-Khan madrasa, the Kaffal Chochiy mausoleum and the Tilla Chaykh mosque. Breakfast in a local restaurant. Visit to the Tchor Sou market.
4
Day 4: Tashkent – Sukok (60 km) – Tashkent – Nukus (By plane, 1h40)
Breakfast, then drive to the village of Sukok (60 km). Walk in the village and the national park. A beautiful, easy hike (2 hours) (elevation difference +/- 300m) on the small mountains of Tchotkol (alt. 1800m), to the hidden Tchachma spring, crossing small rivers, moor and pine forest. Return to the village until lunch awaits you in a local tchaikhana (tea house) and drive to Tashkent. Transfer to Tashkent airport to take the flight (1h40 flight) to Nukus. Arrival at Nukus. Installation at the hotel. Night in Nukus.
5
Day 5: Nukus – Moynak – Mizdakhkan – Nukus (By car, 5 hours round trip) (200 km)
Breakfast at the hotel and drive to Moynak – an ancient port which is 200 km away and from Nukus where you can see the ship cemetery. To get there we cross areas formerly used to be the Aral Sea. Arrival at Moynak. Visit to the Aral Museum. Free time to admire the abandoned boats. Lunch with locals in Moynak. Return route via Mizdakhkan. Mizdakhkan is an ancient ancient site transformed into a cemetery and former ancient fortress of the Khorezm civilization (200 ha) which played a very important role on the Silk Road. It was one of the sacred cities of Zoroastrianism, currently transformed into a cemetery where you can visit the sunken mausoleum of Mazlumkhan Soulou (14th century) and the ruins of the mausoleum of Khalfa Eradjape (12th century). According to legend, the end of the world will come when the last brick of this mausoleum falls. You can also visit Gavour Kala which is opposite. Gavour Kala was another ancient fortress whose excavations were carried out in the 60s by Tolstow-famous Russian archaeologist. Road to Nukus. Arrived at the hotel.
6
Day 6: Nukus – Toprak Kala – Khiva (250 km) (4h)
Breakfast at the hotel and visit one of the most remarkable museums in the world, created by Igor Savitskiy. This pearl in the desert or, as the French magazine Télérama recently called it, "The Louvre of the Steppes" is located in Nukus, the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan. The collection of the Savitsky Museum has more than 90,000 objects, including the collection of the Russian avant-garde, visual arts of Uzbekistan, folk applied art of Karakalpakstan, art of ancient Khorezm. Lunch in town and road to Touprak kala, an exceptional monument of Khorezm culture (1st - 6th centuries). Its size and the genius of its architectural design make Toprak-Kala one of the most emblematic monuments of Khorezm civilization. This fortress protected the ancient capital of the Khorezm kingdom from nomadic incursions. Discovery of the ancient citadel and continuation of the road to Khiva. Arrival in Khiva late in the afternoon. Installation at the hotel. Walk and dinner in town.
7
Day 7: Khiva
Breakfast at the hotel. Discovery of Khiva. The whole day is devoted to visiting the open-air museum city:
Visits to Ichan-Kala, Ota Darvosa, the central square of the ancient city: the medarsa of Mohammed-Amin Khan and its Kalta Minor minaret (19th century), Kunya Ark (17th century). Lunch in an old madrasa which has been transformed into a restaurant.
Continuation of visits: the Pakhlavan Mahmoud complex (14th-19th century), the Islam Khodja madrasa and its minaret (1908), the Djouma mosque (10th-18th century), Kosh Darvoza, Tach Haoulie and Allah Square kouli-Khan (18th-19th century).
Night stroll in the city of “A Thousand and One Nights”. Night in Khiva.
8
Day 8: Khiva - Bukhara
Breakfast at the hotel. Continuation of visits to Khiva: The Tach Khaouli palace, the beautiful residence of the Khan. Let's also visit the Khan's Harem. Free time until 1:00 p.m. Lunch in a restaurant. Transfer to the station to take the train to Bukhara. Departure at 4:00 p.m. Picnic dinner on the train. Arrival in Bukhara at 10:00 p.m. Transfer and installation at the hotel. Night in Bukhara.
Day can be modified depending on train availability
9
Day 9: Bukhara
The whole day is devoted to discovering the old part of Bukhara: the Ismaïl Samani mausoleum (9th-10th centuries), the Tchachma Ayoub mausoleum (12th-14th centuries), the Bola Khaouz complex (18th centuries), the Citadel of 'Ark (1st – 4th centuries), the Poï-Kalian complex (15th-16th centuries) which consists of the Kalon mosque, the Kalon minaret and the Miri Arab madrasa.
Lunch in a family restaurant where we get to know traditional embroidery as they are specialized in craft activity.
Continuewith Madrassah of Ulugbek and Abdoulaziz Khan (15th-17th centuries), Liab-i-Khouz, the central pool surrounded by madrassahs, Khanaka and caravanserails. Dinner and overnight in Bukhara.
In the evening, a small folk concert awaits you in the Nadir Divan Beghi Madrasa.
10
Day 10: Bukhara
After breakfast, discovery of the surroundings of Bukhara: the summer residence of the last emir “Setora-i-Mokhi Khosa”, the sacred site of Bakhoudin Nakshbandi.
Lunch with a miniaturist where you will learn about the making of tissue paper and miniatures – traditional paintings.
Then visit the Tchor Minor madrassah and stroll through the alleys of the ancient makhallas. Free time in the afternoon. Dinner and overnight in Bukhara.
11
Day 11: Bukhara – Vobkent – Guijduvan – Rabati Malik – Nourata – Yurt camp (250 km)
You leave at 8:00 a.m. towards Vobkent which is 30 km from Bukhara where we visit a 12th century minaret. Then, we continue the road to Guijdova which is made famous by its fine ceramics. We visit the house of a ceramicist family. Continuation of the road towards Rabati Malik – remains of a caravanserai dating from the 11th century. which is called royal caravanserai. Opposite the caravanserai we visit a sardoba - a water reservoir which, at the time, protected the lives of caravanners.
Road to Nourata. Arrival at Nourata. Lunch with the locals. Visit the historic site of the city where there is a source with sacred fish around which there are 2 16th century mosques. A little time for what wants to climb on the remains of a fortress from the time of Alexander the Great (IV century BC)
Road to the Kyzyl Koum desert. Installation at the yurt camp. (installation 4 people per yurt, toilet and shower outside)
Free time to take a short camel ride and watch a beautiful sunset. After dinner, a small solo concert awaits us around the campfire. Night in the yurt.
12
Day 12: Yurt camp – Lake Aydarkoul – Samarkand (280 km 4h)
Breakfast. Optional walk in the desert (around 2 hours) to Lake Aydarkoul. Aydarkoul is an artificial salt water lake 160 km long and 34 km wide. Depending on the season you can see a lot of birds. There is the possibility of swimming at the lake depending on the weather conditions (mid-April – end of September) Picnic on the terrace by the water. Drive to Samarkand. Arrival in Samarkand. Installation at the hotel.
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Day 13: Samarkand
Breakfast at the hotel. 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. Discovery of the Gour Emir mausoleum, the dynastic tomb of Tamerlane's family, where the conqueror of the world, Tamerlane, is himself buried. Then the Bibi Khanoum mosque, the Siyab city bazaar (closed on Mondays), famous for its pancakes and dried fruits. Visit to the Afrosiab museum. Dinner and overnight in Samarkand.
14
Day 14: Samarkand – Shakhrisabz – Samarkand (90 km) (2 hours by car)
Early breakfast before departure at 8 a.m. towards Chakhrisabz (90 km). Shakhrisabz is the birthplace of Timur or Tamerlan. We take small cars or minivain to be able to cross the pass (1700m) and admire the beautiful landscapes. You will discover the ruins of the White Palace - Ak Saray (14th century.), the mosque of Khazrati Imam, the Dorut Tyllawat complex (the Abode of Reflection), Dorus Saodat (the Abode of Power), the Gumbazi Saidon mausoleum ( 15C) and the Kouk Goumbaz mosque (15C). Lunch in town then return to Samarkand (90 km). Arrival in Samarkand late in the afternoon. Dinner in a restaurant and overnight in Samarkand. After dinner we go to Réghistan Square at night (outside) which is wonderfully lighted up.
15
Day 15: Samarkand – Tashkent (320 km) (2h10 by TGV)
Breakfast. Visit the Shakh-I-Zinda necropolis, a collection comprising more than 20 mausoleums from various periods and undoubtedly the most sacred site in Samarkand. The ensemble concentrates all the architectural experiences of the 14th and 15th centuries in an apotheosis of ceramic art. Continuation of the visit to the Saint Daniel mausoleum and the observatory of the famous Oulougbeg, the astronomer prince and grandson of Tamerlane. Unparalleled in the known world at the time (15th century), its instruments allowed very precise measurements and made Samarkand the capital of star observation. Around 4 p.m. transfer to the station to take the Tashkent – Samarkand high-speed train. Arrival in Tashkent at 7:15 p.m. Dinner and night in Tashkent.
16
Day 16: Tashkent – Europe
Breakfast and transfer to the airport to take the return flight
End of our services.