THE FASCINATING MONUMENTS OF THE SILK ROAD (15 days)

Trip Description

Accomodation

Stay program

• day 1

  Paris to Fergana via Istanbul

  

  Flight to Istanbul at 17:55-22:25 with Turkish Airlines. Then, flight to Fergana at 01:10-08:05, also with Turkish Airlines. Dinner and overnight on board.

• day 2

  Fergana - Margilan - Fergana (60 km)

  

  Arrival in Fergana at 08:05 by Turkish Airlines. Welcome by your driver outside the airport. Transfer and check-in at the hotel. Breakfast. REST UNTIL NOON at the hotel. Lunch at your leisure. Stroll in the city's national park, which is named after Akhmed al Ferganiy, a great mathematician of the 9th century. Drive to Margilan. Free visit of the city's typical market and the silk factory, unique in the country. Visit the weaving workshop to discover the procedure of weaving the famous atlas fabric, silk carpet weaving, cocoons and winding, as well as the Khanakha mosque and the city's central market. Return to Fergana. Dinner at your leisure. Overnight at the hotel.

• day 3

  Fergana - Richtan - Kokand - Tashkent (300 km)

  

  Breakfast. Continuation on the road to Richtan and free visit of the Richtan ceramics workshop. You will discover the secret and technique of the famous blue ceramics of this city, the palace of Khoudoyor Khan, the Friday mosque, and the royal cemetery. Free lunch. Road to Tashkent. This afternoon, you will cross the Tian Shan mountains, with a stop by the roadside and at the summit to take beautiful photos. Arrival and check-in at the hotel. Free dinner. Overnight at the hotel.

• day 4

  Tashkent

  

  Breakfast. Free visit (on foot) of the old town with the large Chorsu market, the Khasti Imam complex, the Barak Khan madrasa dating from the 16th century where precious books are kept, the Quran of Osman (7th c.), and the Tellia Cheikh mosque facing it, as well as the Kafal Shashi mausoleum. Lunch at leisure. In the afternoon, visit to the Museum of Applied Arts, the new Minor mosque, and the metro (Alisher Navoiy, Paxtakor, Kosmonautes). Dinner at leisure. Overnight at the hotel.

• day 5

  Tashkent - Urgench - Ayazkala - Khiva HY-53 (180 km)

  

  Breakfast. Transfer to the airport to take the flight at 06:45-08:15 by HY-53 Tashkent – Urgench. Arrival in Urgench, welcome by your driver. Drive through the Kyzyl Kum desert towards the ancient fortresses of Khorezm. Around Ayazkala, archaeologists have actually discovered the remains of more than 40 citadel-cities, but only the remains of the two best-preserved cities are visited. Lunch under the yurt. After crossing the Amu Darya, you will successively discover the fortresses of Kyzylkala, Toprakala, seat of the Khorezm dynasties, then the Ayazkala fortresses with its two ruined fortresses. Drive to Khiva, arrival and check-in at the hotel. Dinner at leisure. Overnight at the hotel.

• day 6

  Khiva

  

  Breakfast. Free visit (on foot) through the entrance gate of the fortress "Ata darvaza" (Itchan Qala – inner city). The architectural monuments of the fort were erected during the 10th-18th centuries and are preserved in good condition to this day. You will successively visit the truncated minaret Kalta Minar, the Mohamed Aminkhan madrasa, the king's seat and the old palace Kounya Ark, the Mohamed Rahimkhan madrasa, the mausoleum of Saïd Alouddin, the mausoleum of Pahlavan Mahmud, and the Islamkhodja minaret. Lunch at your leisure. Continuation of visits with the Jouma mosque, the Caravanserai, the Toch Khavli palace, and the Khan's Harem. Dinner at your leisure. Overnight at the hotel.

• day 7

  Khiva - Bukhara (by regular train)

  

  Breakfast. Drive to Gijduvan, famous for its school of ceramicists. Visit to the ceramicists' workshop. Continue the journey to Nurata, across the great Kyzyl-Kum desert. Arrival in Nurata and discovery of the city: the sacred fish pond, the mosque, and the remains of the Sogdian citadel. After a free lunch, you will head to the shores of Lake Aydarkul, with the possibility, for those who wish, to swim in the lake's waters. Departure for Yangigazgan, gathering place of the nomadic peoples of the Kyzyl-Kum desert. Installation in the yurt camp. Then, camel ride in the desert and meeting with a family of nomadic camel breeders. In a magical place, you will watch the sunset before heading to your accommodation set up in the middle of the desert: a real Kazakh yurt where you will spend the night. Traditional dinner accompanied by vodka and Kazakh songs around the fire. Night under the yurt.

• day 8

  Bukhara

  

  Breakfast. You will start the self-guided tour (on foot) with the mausoleum of Ismail Samani, the city's vegetable and dried fruit market, then you will see the mausoleum of Chachma Ayoub, one of the most venerated monuments in the city. The Bolo Khaouz mosque, built in the 18th century, the Reghistan square for the visit of the Ark Citadel, the oldest building in Bukhara. Lunch at your leisure. Then, visit of the Ulug Beg madrasa (1417), built by the astronomer prince of Samarkand, and the Abdul Aziz Khan madrasa (1654), which faces the previous one. You will also visit the Magoki-Attari mosque, in the heart of the city. You will admire the Poyi Kalyan complex, the Mir Arab madrasa (1535) and the Grand Mosque, built in 1514. Dinner at your leisure. Overnight at the hotel.

• day 9

  Bukhara and its surroundings (40 km)

  

  Breakfast. Free visit (on foot) of the outskirts of the city of Bukhara. You will go to the Bakhouddin Naqshbandi complex, who was the great Sufi of Central Asia, then to the summer palace of the Emir of Bukhara - Sitoraï Mohi-Khossa. You will also visit the small Chor Minor madrasa (1807), with its four minarets topped with blue-turquoise domes. Free lunch. In the afternoon, visit the Bukhara puppets and the synagogue, then free time for personal discovery. Optional: dinner with a show of dances, traditional songs, and a fashion show in the Nadir Devanbegui madrasa. Overnight at the hotel.

• day 10

  Bukhara - Nurata - Yanguigazgan, 270 km

  

  Breakfast. Drive to Nourata. On the way, you visit the water reservoir (Sardoba) and the ruins of the 12th-century Caravanserai, Rabbati Malik, as well as the rock engravings located right by the roadside. Arrival in Nourata. Lunch at your leisure. Free visit of the city of Nourata, where you will find the ruins of an ancient fortress built at the time of the Greek conquest (Alexander the Great). You will also visit the Nourata complex, which includes two mosques and a sacred, healing spring whose water is very rich in various natural minerals. You continue towards the village of Yanguigazgan, the village of Kazakh shepherds. Drive to Yanguigazgan. Arrival and accommodation in a yurt. Possibility of a walk in the desert on foot or a camel ride. Dinner accompanied by vodka and songs from a Kazakh shepherd, then overnight in the yurt.

• day 11

  Yanguigazgan - Mayintepa - Samarkand (260 km)

  

  Breakfast. Free visit (on foot) of the Samarkand parchment workshop (produced in the ancestral way from mulberry bark), the silk carpet factory, and the Ulugh Beg observatory. Lunch at your leisure. Free visit (on foot) of the Afrosiab museum with its frescoes dating from the 7th and 8th centuries, as well as the churches: Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian. Then, free time for personal discovery. Transfer to the station for the "Afrosiyob" high-speed train at 17:00 or 18:00. Arrival in Tashkent at 19:10 or 20:10, meet your driver. Dinner at your leisure. Transfer to the hotel. Overnight at the hotel.

• day 12

  Samarkand

  

  Breakfast. Free (on foot) French-speaking visit of Samarkand: you will start your visit with the Bibi Khanoum mosque, the city's central market "Siyob", the mausoleum of our first president Islam Karimov, and the Shakhi Zinda necropolis, where each mausoleum is covered with a fully decorated turquoise blue dome, dating from the 11th – 15th centuries. Free lunch. The rest of the free visits includes the Samarkand parchment workshop (produced in the ancestral way from mulberry bark), the silk carpet factory, the Ulugh Beg observatory, and the Afrosiab museum with its frescoes dating from the 7th and 8th centuries. Optional: musical show and presentation of historical costumes in Samarkand. Free dinner. Overnight at the hotel.

• day 13

  Samarcande - Chakhrisabz - Samarcande (220 km)

  

  Breakfast. Departure by car for Chakrisabz, the birthplace of Tamerlane. Free visit of the gate of the White Palace – Ak Sarail of Tamerlane, the Dorout Tilovat complex, which consists of the mausoleums of Chamsiddin Koulol and Gumbazi Saidon, the Kok Gumbaz mosque, as well as the second Dorus Siyadat complex, including the Hazrati Imam mosque and the mausoleum of Jahangir Sultan, the eldest son of Timur. Free lunch. This afternoon, you will discover the most beautiful landscape in the country by crossing the Pamir mountains, with a stop to take beautiful photos. Return to Samarkand. Free dinner. Overnight at the hotel.

• day 14

  Samarkand

  

  Breakfast. Free visit (on foot) with the Gur Emir mausoleum and the Registan ensemble, including the Ulugh Beg madrasa (15th century), the Sher Dor madrasa (17th century), and the Tillya Kari madrasa (17th century). Lunch at your leisure. Visit of the churches: Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian, as well as the Samarkand regional museum and the former house of a Jew. Then, free time for personal discovery. Dinner at your leisure. Overnight at the hotel.

• day 15

  Samarkand to Paris via Istanbul

  

  Breakfast. Then transfer to the international airport for the flight to Istanbul at 05:40-08:50 with Turkish Airlines. Then, flight to Paris at 10:05-12:45 with Turkish Airlines. Formalities and customs control.