Uzbekistan & Turkmenistan Adventure

Travel into desert landscapes heavy with romance and mysticism on this adventure through Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Walk in the shadows of ancient, blue-tiled buildings in Samarkand, sleep in a yurt under thousands of desert stars and spend an evening at a home stay with a family in the Nuratau Mountains. Watch the sun set over Technicolour minarets in Khiva, learn about life in a desert settlement in Yerbent and revel in the eastern-futurism of Ashgabat. Step off the beaten track and onto the ancient Silk Road in this revelatory tour through ancient lands.

Activities

• Bukhara - Ismail Samani Mausoleum
• Bukhara - Ark Fortress
• Bukhara - Bolo Hauz Mosque
• Bukhara - Magoki Attori Mosque
• Bukhara - Kalon Minaret & Mosque
• Bukhara - Ulugbek Madrasa
• Bukhara - Lyabi-Hauz Plaza
• Gijduvan - Ceramics workshop
• Nuratau - village visit
• Nuratau Mountains - Plov cooking demonstration & dinner
• Samarkand - Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum
• Samarkand - Registan
• Samarkand - Shakh-I-Zinda
• Samarkand - Bibi-Khanym Mosque
• Tashkent - Chorsu Bazaar
• Tashkent - City tour
• Tashkent - Amir Timur Square
• Tashkent - Chorsu Bazaar
• Tashkent - Khast Imom Complex & Moyie Mubarek Library Museum
• Tashkent - Amir Timur Square
• Tashkent - City tour
• Tashkent - Metro tour
• Khiva - Islom Hoja Minaret & Medressa
• Khiva - Juma Mosque
• Khiva - Tosh-Hovli Palace
• Khiva - Pahlavon Mahmud Mausoleum
• Khiva - Kuhna Ark
• Darvaza - "Door to Hell" Crater
• Yerbent - Village visit
• Ashgabat - National Museum of Turkmenistan
• Ashgabat - Nisa ruins
• Ashgabat - Anau ruins
• Ashgabat - Independence Monument
• Ashgabat - Neutrality Arch
• Ashgabat - Turkmenbashy Ruhi Mosque & Family Mausoleum of the First President of Turkmenistan
• Ashgabat - Ertugrul Gazi Mosque
• Ashgabat - Akhal-Teke horse Hippodrome
• Mary - Abiverd ruins
• Merv - Big & Small Kizkala
• Merv - Erk Kala & Gayur Kala
• Merv - Sultan Sanjar Mausoleum

Highlights

• This incredible journey takes you through parts of Central Asia that few people can find on a map, let alone have considered travelling to.
• The much-photographed Registan in Samarkand is one of the true pinnacles of Islamic architecture. You'll be wowed by the scale, grandeur and beauty of the monuments to iconic figures such as Tamerlane and the Persia-influenced madressas, mosques and mausoleums.
• Spend an evening in the isolated Kyzylkum Desert, warming yourself by the fire and sleeping in a yurt.
• Get to really know the stories and people of Uzbekistan while sharing home-cooked meals with local families, including a home stay in the remote Nuratau Mountains.
• Spend time in World Heritage-listed Bukhara, a 6th-century-BC city that's drenched in history and home to the formidable Ark of Bukhara.
• Steeped in Silk Road history and immortalised in many great tales, the UNESCO-protected town of Khiva is as photogenic as it is legendary.
• Explore the sprawling ruins of Mary, Merv and other ancient kingdoms and contemplate the remnants of empires that once ruled these vast lands.
• Witness the eternal flames of the Darvaza Crater, aka the 'Door to Hell' as you camp nearby – one of the strangest, most mesmerising geological oddities on earth.
• Ashgabat rose from the devastation of an earthquake in 1948 and has enjoyed a surreal and futuristic makeover - witness its often bizarre, but certainly memorable architecture on a city tour.