Overview
The famous 5-Stans of the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan all share the Persian suffix ‘’-stan’’, meaning ‘’land of’’.
Central Asia, with a population of about 72 million, has close ties to nomads and the Silk Road. From high passes and mountains to vast deserts of Central Asia and stunning rivers and lakes, be prepared to experience the cultural and historical elements of the 5-Stans over an intensive journey of Central Asia over 11 epic days.
Start | Almaty |
Finish | Tashkent – Baku |
Style | Comfort |
Theme | Explorer |
Code | Roxana5 |
Physical rating | ⚫〇〇〇〇 |
Ages | Min 8 |
Group size | Min 4, Max 12 |
Highlights
Features in Main Tour price
Arrival in Almaty airpot
Transfer to the hotel for check in at 14:00 pm
Highlights of this morning tour include Panfilov Park, Zenkov Cathedral, Republic Square, The National History Museum. the Central square and Medeo gorge. Finally enjoy a cable car ride to Kok Tube hill and end your first day on a high note!
Today we are departing Almaty at 9:00 am to drive to Bishkek on a newly built highway (250 km, 4 h). Enjoy the scenic landscape and the drive. Once in Bishkek, drop off luggages at the hotel and get ready for our afternoon sightseeing tour. The tour takes about 3-4 hours which entails impressive Soviet urban design and architecture locations. To name a few, Oak park, Ala Too square, the Statue of Manas, the National Museum of Fine Arts, the Philharmonic Hall and the Victory Monument are to name a few.
Shuttle Transfer to the airport for your flight to Osh after breakfast. Upon arrival, meet your local tour guide. Enjoy an Osh city tour including visiting the local bazaar and Sulaiman Too, along with Cave museum.
In the morning, your shuttle transfer will take you to the Kyzyl Bel border. Meet your local Tajik guide and drive to Khujand city, the second largest city of Tajikistan. You will get to visit the Central Mosque in the centre of the city. As well , the Cultural Palace of Tajikistan, Sughd, where the first president of Tajikistan was once elected. Enjoy your overnight stay at your hotel.
After Breakfast, we are driving towards Penjikent via pass Shahriston (3 378m).
The city of Penjikent, meaning ‘’five villages’’ used to be referred to as the ‘’Central Asian Pompeii’’ as it was a superbly fortified, well organised city with a palace, two temples, markets, rich dwellings and clay statues of ancient gods. Today the tourists can see the remains of the dwellings and the citadel with the palace as well as the fire worshipers’ church.
At the end of the tour, your driver takes you to the Uzbek border, Jartepa. Once in Uzbekistan, you are transferred to your hotel for an overnight rest and relax.
Today, we have a full day sightseeing tour of Samarkand. Visiting the spectacular Registan Square and the golden dome mosque, followed by the Gur Emir Mausoleum, the remains of the largest mosque ever built in Central Asia, the Bibi Khanum Mosque, and finally the Siyab local bazaar.
After lunch, we continue with our tour. Shahi – Zinda necropolises is a holy cemetery with graves of Temured’s dynasty. Then we get to visit the remarkable construction of the 15th century, the Observatory of Ulugbek for astronomical studies.
After dinner, we are scheduled to get the speed train to Bukhara at 21:00 pm.
Once breakfast is served, we shall commence our 3 hour morning tour in Bukhara. We are visiting the Ismael Samani mausoleum, vault of Bukhara rulers’ dynasty, Chashma-Ayub mausoleums followed by wandering through the old city. Once in the old city, we can check out the Poli-Kalon ensemble including Minaret, Mosque, functioning Madrassah of Mini-Arab, Amir-Alim-Khan Madrassah, Taqi (trading domes), Kukeldash Madrassah, Lyab-i-Hauz, Magoki Attari and many more historical sites around. A visit to Registan ensemble, Ark Fortress and Bolo-Hauz complex are on the agenda.
We are then transferred to the Turkmenistan border to drive to Mary (300 km – 5hrs) via Turkmenabat and the Floating Bridge (900 meters) over the greatest river of Central Asia. En-route, we shall stop by the natural dunes of Garagum Desert where you can enjoy their grandiosity and take photos. Once in Mary, you can rest up or choose to go on a walking tour within the central part of Mary City to check out the Regional Mosque of Mary Province, the Central theatre of Mary, The convention and conference centre ‘’ Ruhiyet Koshgi’’, the Central Park and monuments of Mollanepes, a national classic poet.
Enjoy dinner at a local resturant.
We catch a morning flight to Dashoguz (Boeing 717-200). Upon arrival, we drive for 120 km to Koneurgench, the capital of Khorezmshahs. We shall cover a sightseeing tour of Koneurgench which includes the Old City. In the old city checkout the Portal of Caravansaray, Mamun Minaret, II Arsalan Mausoleum, Sultan Tekesh Mausoleum, Academy of Horezm, Kutlug Timur Minaret which is one of the tallest minarets in Central Asia, Turabek Hanum Mausoleum, Najm Ed Din Kubra & Soltan Ali mausoleum. Once done with the city sightseeing, we head back on the road towards Dashoguz.
After lunch, we have 15km of drive to border pass of Dashoguz-Shavat. Once in Uzbekistan Border, meet your local guide and head to the hotel for rest and overnight stay.
Today, we are wandering through the city of Khiva and visiting the oldest part of this city, Kunya-Ark fortress. Other highlights of the morning walking tour include the Mukhammad Amin Khan Madrassah, Mukhammad Rahimkhan Madrasa, Kalta Minor, Jami Mosque, Tash-Khovli Palace, Pakhlavan Makhmud Mausoleum, and Minaret of Islam Khodja.
After dinner, we are heading to Urgench airport for our evening flight to Tashkent.
After breakfast, our half day city tour in Tashkent includes a few historical places such as Khastimam Complex, Kukeldash Madrassah and Chorsu bazaar. We will have a short stroll through the new part of the city to check out Mustaqillik and Amir Temur square.
Our flight to Baku is scheduled for 13:40 for arrival at 15:35 pm.
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