Discover the treasures of historic Silk Road, one of the world’s ancient trade routes which connected East and West. Walk in the tracks of Marco Polo and experience ancient cultural connections, explore the routes of the camels, listen to the stories, see fascinating ruins, sacred temples and spectacular mountains!

Destination: China - Kyrgyzstan - Uzbekistan - Tajikistan - Turkmenistan
Route: Beijing - Xian - Dunhuang - Turpan - Urumgi - Kashgar - Son-kul - Bishkek-Tashkent-Samarkand-Penjikent-Bukhara-Mary-Ashgabad-Dashoguz-Urgench-Tashkent
Duration: 28 days / 27 nights

2010 Small Group Tours:
April 10-May 07, 2010

Land Cost: $9,100-$9,499
Single supplement: $ 2,399

Day 1. Beijing
Arrive in Beijing. Our escort guide will meet us and take us to the hotel. Free afternoon. Dinner.

Day 2 Beijing
Full-day sightseeing tour: Tian'anmen Square, the largest city square in the world; the Forbidden City; and the Temple of Heaven, a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design where the ancient emperors used to pray for the God's bless of the whole nation.

Day 3 Beijing
Visit the Great Wall, one of the great wonders in the world and the symbol of China; Ming Tomb (an underground palace for a Ming-dynasty emperor’s afterlife); and Sacred road. Enjoy a famous Peking Duck Banquet for dinner.

Day 4 Beijing /Xian
Visit Hutongs by rickshaw. Hutongs, the unique street design in Beijing, are crisscrossing old narrow paths with courtyard houses built on each side. Take afternoon flight to Xi’an where we will be transferred to the hotel. Free time at leisure.

Day 5 Xian
After breakfast, we will visit the Terracotta Warriors, one of the most amazing sites of China. These 6,000 life-size warriors and horses were first discovered in 1974 and are one of the most significant archaeological excavations of the 20th century. After lunch, we will explore the City Wall and then walk the old streets of the Muslim area and the Grand Mosque.

Day 6 Xian - Dunhuang
We will be transferred to the airport for the flight to Dunhuang. In this Fascinating Silk Road City today we will see the Crescent Moon and the Echoing-Sand Dunes.

Day 7 Dunhuang–Turpan
In the morning, we will discover Mogao Caves, one of the four most famous grottoes in China. It has a total of 492 grottoes, 45,000 square-meters of murals, and 2,400 painted statues, and more than 250 residential caves remain. This afternoon you will visit the Museum and the local market. You will be transferred to the railway station to take overnight train to Turpan.

Day 8 Turpan
We will take a tour of the town featuring the Old City, the Bazaar, City Mosque, the Grape Valley, Jiaohe Ruins and Karez underground irrigation channels. This evening, we will enjoy Uygur folk group’s performance.

Day 9 Turpan
Turfan was formerly Buddhist until its conversion to Islam in the 8th Century. We will enjoy a full-day tour to the Flaming Mountains, Bazeklik Buddhist Caves, Astana Tombs, Gao-chang, and other places of archaeological interest.

Day 10 Turpan - Urumqi
Sightseeing day drive to Urumqi. We will visit Xinjiang Regional Museum upon arrival. After lunch, you will explore Nanshan Pastureland, which is situated in the valley of Mt. Tianshan. Pine and dragon-spruce trees cover the mountain slopes, while nomadic Kazakh herdsmen live, with their flocks of horses, cattle, and sheep in the clay-brick houses and white yurts dotting the green pastureland in the valleys. We’ll visit with local Kazak families to experience the traditional ways of life in these parts.

Day 11 Urumqi–Kashgar.
Today we shall take a flight to Kashgar. We begin our tour with colorful Kashgar bazaar which is one of the biggest in Central Asia. Then we shall visit Id Kah Mosque and the Mausoleum of Abakh Hodja.

Day 12 Kashgar.-Tash Rabat
Sightseeing Day drive to Kyrgyzstan, a nation that still embraces nomadic traditions. Border formalities. We cross the breathtaking Torugart Pass (3752 m) and drive to Tash Rabat, a beautifully preserved caravanserai of the 14th century which a popular stop during the Silk Road. Overnight Stay in a Yurt Camp, in the traditional dwellings of the Kyrgyz people.

Day 13 Tash-Rabat – Son-Kul.
Breakfast. Drive to Son-Kul Lake via Naryn city (280 km, 5 hrs). Stop for lunch in Naryn and visit Muslim Mosque and Art Gallery. Then drive to Son-Kul Lake, unique alpine lake (3016 m a.s.l.). Traditional food for dinner and overnight in yurts (5-6 people in one yurt).

Day 14 Son-Kul-Bishkek.
After breakfast in the morning, we will enjoy walking around the lake and horseback riding. Then we will drive to Bishkek (400 km) through Kochkor, a small, exotic town, where you may enjoy a demonstration of traditional carpet making. We will also have an opportunity to see Burana tower, which is left from ancient city Balasagyn (XI - XIII). Arrival in Bishkek and accommodation at the hotel.

Day 15 Bishkek-Tashkent.
We will get a true taste of everyday life in Bishkek. We begin the sightseeing tour at Ala-Too Square, then visit the Natural History Museum, Victory Square and colorful Kyrgyz bazaar. Afternoon flight to Tashkent. Accommodation in Tashkent Palace.

Day 16 Tashkent (Uzbekistan)
Visit the Applied and Decorative Art Museum of Uzbekistan to gain a greater understanding of traditional art, stroll through old Tashkent neighborhoods, Kukeldash Medreseh and the “Chorsu” bazaar with its circular indoor-outdoor marketplace crowded with stalls selling innumerable products including spices, nuts, flowers, fruits, vegetables and handicraft items. See Amur Temur and Independence Squares.

Day 17 Tashkent - Samarkand
Sightseeing drive to Samarkand (300 km), a UNESCO world heritage site more than 2500 years old, Stop near the "gate" of Amur Temur where two mountain ranges meet.
Sightseeing tour to Registan Square, the main attraction of Samarkand and an impressive place for the world’s finest old and modern music festivals and holidays. Marvel at the sparkling mosaics and fine Islamic architecture. See the Observatory of Ulugbek (XVth c), whose discoveries greatly advanced knowledge in the fields of science and astronomy. Dinner at Hotel Afrasiyab.

Day 18 Samarkand - Penjikent (Tajikistan) - Samarkand
Early morning drive to Penjikent (“5 Villages”). Cross the border into Tajikistan to discover the ruins of the ancient Sogdian city of Penjikent, one of the most important cultural and economic centers of its time.
Drive to the Fann Mountains to experience the incredible natural beauty of north-west Tajikistan. Revel in the fresh air, surrounded by snow-capped peaks and aquamarine lakes. Return to Samarkand.

Day 19 Samarkand - Bukhara
Half day excursion in Samarkand: Guri Amir Mausoleum, Bibi-Khanum mosque, local bazaar. Afternoon departure to Bukhara via Malik Chol desert. Opportunity to photograph old Caravanserai gate “Rabota-Malik” from the XII th century. Accommodation.

Day 20: Bukhara.
Explore holy city of Bukhara, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This morning we'll explore the city's highlights, including Labi Khaus Complex ("the complex around the pond"), an ancient Chaykhana (tea house). Tour the trade domes (XVI c) of money changers, hat sellers, silk, carpets, puppets and jewelry. See the Magoki Attari site - originally a Zoroastrian temple, the Abdulazizkhan Madreseh with its sandali (old-fashioned home heating), Poi-Kalon Ensemble with the greatest minaret of Central Asia. Enjoy a theatrical national costume show at the house of Fayzullo Khodjaev. Visit the Ark (winter residence of local rulers from the first century) , Bolo Khaus Complex and Ismail Samoniy Mosque. Dinner and Folklore show featuring local dancers, singers and fashion.

Day 21 Bukhara
Visit Mohi Khosa Palace (summer residence of local rulers with national traditional dress), the Chor Minor Complex built in the Indian style. After lunch travel to peaceful villages of Bukhara where you will discover ancient sight Chor Bakr.

Day 22 Bukhara - Mary ( Turkmenistan)
Drive to Farab (Turkmenistan). After customs and border formalities continue sightseeing day drive to Mary through the Kara Kum desert (black sands). Accommodation.

Day 23 Mary - Merv - Ashgabat
Drive to ancient Merv and explore the ruins of this mythical city. Actually a complex of five walled cities, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Known in the past as Margiana, it belonged to the Achaemenian Empire in the VI th century BC, until the invasion by Alexander the Great. Explore the Mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar and the medieval Gyz-Gala fortress. Drive from Mary to Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. Arrival. Dinner at the hotel.

Day 24 Ashgabat
Sightseeing tour in this modern city: Independence Square - surrounded by extravagant palaces and ministry buildings, and the National Museum with its fine collection of historic artifacts and relics. Tour the Carpet Museum, rich with the history of Turkmen carpet weaving, the "Spiritual Temple of Turkmen Nation” mosque in Kiptchak.

Day 25 Ashgabat – Kunya – Urgench - Khiva
Flight from Ashgabat to Dashoguz. Arrival. Transfer to Kunya-Urgench, one of the most ancient cities of Central Asia. After this city’s almost complete annihilation by Genghis Khan more than 800 years ago, the city was rebuilt and grew into an important trading center. Travel to the border crossing point of the city between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Drive to the hotel in Urgench.

Day 26 Khiva
Sightseeing tour in Khiva - the fairy-tale city of the Silk Road. Drive to Khiva (35 km.). Uzbekistan’s “Living Museum” was the former capital of the Khanate and legend says that it was founded by Shem, the son of Noah. Excursion to Ichan Kala (Old City), surrounded by high walls of air-dried bricks and decorated with delicate majolica tile: delight in the Ata –Darvaza (West Gate, XVII – XVIII c.), Kalta Minar (XIX c.), After lunch at the national restaurant continue with sightseeing at the Medreseh Mohammad Amin (XIX c.), Kunya Ark (XVII-XIX c.), Pahlavan Mahmud Mausoleum (XVIII-XIX c) with proverbs embossed on its tiles, Medreseh Khodja Islam with minaret, Tash Hauli Palace and harem (XIX c.), Karavan Saray Caravanserai ( traditional inn for travelling merchants), (XIX c.) and Juma Mosque (XI-XII c.) with its 200 wooden pillars. Dinner with panoramic view of Khiva in moonlight. Transfer back to the hotel.

Day 27 Urgench - Tashkent
Transfer to the airport. Flight to Tashkent. Accommodation.
Sightseeing tour: Earthquake Memorial, Abul Kasim complex with handicraft centers, Museum of Amir Temur. Walk down main boulevard where everything is on show or sale. Ride by Metro.

Day 28 Tashkent. Departure from Tashkent International airport.

This tour program includes: