GOLDEN TRIANGLE THROUGH THE DESERTS AND VILLAGES OF UZBEKISTAN AND TURKMENISTAN 2025
Samarkand,Uzbekistan
Duration
15 Days 14 Nights TripTour Code
TP7292Description
Day 1: Tashkent Day 2: Tashkent - Nukus - Muynak - Ustyurt - Aral Sea Day 3: Sudochie - Kungrad - Mizdahkan - Gyaur Kala - Nukus Day 4: Nukus - Khiva Day 5: Khiva Day 6: Khiva - Shavat - Dashoguz Border - Kunya Urgench - Gas Crater Day 7: Darvaza - Ashgabat Day 8: Ashgabat - Nokhur - Kow Ata - Gokdepe - Ashgabat Day 9: Ashgabat - Seyitjemaleddin Mosque - Abiverd - Mary Day 10: Mary - Merw - Farap Day 11: Bukhara Day 12: Bukhara - Shakhrisabz - Samarkand Day 13: Samarkand Day 14: Samarkand - Tashkent Day 15: Tashkent - Homeland
Highlights
- No highlights available.
Included
- -Accommodation in Double/ Twin rooms in hotels with breakfast; - Tent stay in Darwaza – 1 night; - Barbeque dinner and Breakfast at the Darvaza. -Stay in a yurt camp in Aral Sea including breakfast, lunch and dinner; - All transfers and transport services; - English speaking escort guide; -Air ticket for domestic flight Tashkent-Nukus (economy class); -Fast train ticket to “Afrasiab” Samarkand-Tashkent (economy class) - Letter of invitation for Turkmenistan
Not Included
- -Early check-in=40 $ per person -Cost of Turkmen visa & border fees= approx. 70-100 $ per pax; -Hotel charges for additional services; -Personal insurance and any items not mentioned above. -Any other activities during the whole tour. Tips for the guides and drivers. -Half board=225 $ per person (12 d.) -Full board= 350 $ per person (12 d.) - Entrance fee according to the program.
Itinerary
Day 1
- Arrival in the morning, transfer to the hotel for early check‐in.
- After breakfast, we begin the tour visiting the capital with the ancient mosques and madrasas (Islamic academies), It continues with the complex of Hazrat Imams, which includes the Barak Khan madrassah (XVI century), the old mosque Djami (Friday) still in the work, and the mausoleum of Kaffal Chachi ‐ the tomb of a great philosopher, poet and teacher of Islam lived in the tenth century.
- Then we will stop at the bazaar Charsu, the city's most famous farmer's market and a great place to meet many locals coming from the surrounding countryside dressed in traditional costumes.
- Finally, panoramic tour of the modern city: The Independence Square, the square of Amir Temur, the Theatre Square, Tashkent City square.
- Dinner at a local restaurant.
- Overnight in Tashkent.
Day 2
- After breakfast flight to Nukus (1 h.
- 45 min).
- Arrive in Nukus and transfer to Aral Sea.
- Stop in Muynak to see “Cemetery of ships”, the former port with abandoned ships in the sand, and visit Local History Museum (might be closed without prior notice).
- Lunch at the guesthouse.
- Continue driving on the boundless Ustyurt Plateau.
- You will reach the Aral Sea in the late afternoon.
- Stop to take pictures of beautiful canyons and the collapsed land.
- Arrive in a yurt Camp.
- Camp-style dinner.
- Overnight in the yurt.
Day 3
- Early wake up to take pictures of sun rise.
- After breakfast visit the settlement Kurgancha Kala dating back to the 13th century.
- Pass via Kungrad district, which used to be one of the trading centers on the Silk Road.
- On the way, see remains of a lighthouse; pass by the ruins of abandoned settlement Urga.
- Photo stop at Lake Sudochie.
- Have a picnic lunch on the way? After lunch head back to Nukus.
- On the way to Nukus, stop at Mizdakhan memorial complex and Gyaur-Kala Fortress.
- Arrive in Nukus.
- Overnight in the hotel.
Day 4
- Breakfast at the hotel.
- Visit the Savitsky Karakalpakstan Art Museum.
- The museum hosts the world's second largest collection of Russian avant-garde art and exposition of Karakalpak applied arts items.
- Have a short drive around center of Nukus: see statue of Karakalpak poet Berdakh, Nukus City Hall, and Drama Theatre.
- Transfer to Khiva.
- On the way visit the ruins archaeological monuments and fortresses of Ancient Khorezm: Chilpyk Zoroastrian dakhma, Djanbas Kala, Ayaz-Kala and Toprak-Kala – the capital of Khorezm dating back to the 3rd century A.D.
- Overnight in Khiva.
Day 5
- Breakfast at the hotel.
- You will see palaces with the rich mosaic, unique beautiful minarets, madrasahs and mosques such as: Kalta-Minor Minaret (1855), Medrese of Mukhamad Amin-Khan (XIX), Kunya-Ark Fortress (1868-1888), Mausoleum of Pahlavan Makhmud (XVII-XIX), Mausoleum of Said Alautdin (XIV), Minaret and Mosque of Khodja-Islam (1908-1910), Medrese of Shergazi-Khan (1718-1720).
- Continuation of the fascinating excursion.
- Karavan-Saray (XVIII), Tim of Ala-Kulikhan (XIX), Medrese of Abdulla-Khan (1865), Palvan-Darvaza Gate (XIX), Tosh-Khowli Palace (Harem) (1830-1836), Nurullabay palace.
- Dinner.
- Overnight in Khiva.
Day 6
- After breakfast drive to Turkmenistan border point Shavat-Dashoguz (60 km, 1 h.).
- Go through border formalities on both checkpoints.
- Cross
- 5 km neutral zone (transportation may not be available).
- Meet the tourists at the border in the morning at 09:00 (You should be at the Uzbekistan border at 08:30).
- Drive to Kunya Urgench (
- 5h).
- Sightseeing tour in Kunya Urgench: visit Portal of Caravansaray, Mamun Minaret, II Arslan Mausoleum, Sultan Tekesh Mausoleum, Academy of Horezm, Kutlug Timur Minaret, Turabek Hanum Mausoleum.
- Afternoon drive to Darwaza burning Gas Crater (6h, 300km) The Crater is also called as "The Door to Hell".
- The area is rich in natural gas.
- While drilling in 1971, Soviet geologists tapped into a cavern filled with natural gas.
- The ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leaving a large hole with a diameter of 60 m and 20 m deep.
- To avoid poisonous gas discharge, it was decided to burn it off.
- Geologists had hoped the fire would use all the fuel in a matter of days, but the gas is still burning today.
- In the evening, watch the spectacular and fascinating view of the gas crater.BBQ dinner & overnight at Gas Crater.
Day 7
- BF at the camp.
- Morning drive to Ashgabat (4h, 270km).
- Check in to the hotel.
- Free time.
- After you will have Ashgabat city tour.
- In 2013 the Guinness Book of Records named Ashgabat “white marbled city” – here you can see the biggest number of structures in the world made out of the white marble.
- You will see PresidentialPalace, Ruhyyet Palace, Wedding Palace, modern “Yildyz” Hotel, Ferries Wheel, Constitution Monument, Arch of Neutrality, Monument and park of Independence, Ertogrul Gazy Mosque, Ashgabat Sports and Housing facilities, the Earthquake and victims of WWII Monuments.
- Drive to visit Nissa fortress -the Sanctuary of Parthian Kings.
- UNESCO declared fortress a World Heritage Site in
- Nissa described as one of the first capitals of the Parthians.
- It was founded by Arsaces I (reigned c.
- 250 BC – 211BC), and reputedly the royal necropolis of the Parthian Kings, although it has neither been established that the fortress at Nissa was a royal residence or a mausoleum.
- Drive to visit Turkmenbashy Ruhy Mosque in Kipchak (the largest mosque in Central Asia).
- Overnight in Ashgabat.
Day 8
- BF at hotel.
- Then drive to Nokhur mountain village.
- The village itself fills a small depression valley in the mountains of the Kopet Dag Range, and the houses are built with local boulders cemented with mud.
- Apart from the main street through the middle of the town, the streets are so narrow that they only just fit a car between the high stone retaining walls on each side.The Nohkuri people who populate this remote mountain village are quite different to other Turkmen tribes.
- They live in a handful of villages in the mountainous border area spanning Turkmenistan and Iran.
- Nokhur is the largest village with just a thousand or maybe two thousand people.
- After drive to Kowata underground lakewhich is located 107 km from Ashgabat.
- The Turkmen name Kow-Ata means "father of caves".
- This underground area seems like a magnificent auditorium: the overall length of the cave is 230 m, its height reaches 20 m, and its width is at some points 57 m.
- The bottom of the cave is covered with lumps of dissolved limestone (stalagmites), and its warm and gushing water is clear and emerald colored.
- The water has a constant temperature of 33-37°C.
- (You should swim in the lake).
- (Lunch yourself).
- Drive to Gokdepe fortress (45 km from Ashgabat) that was attacked in December 1880 by Russian Empire Army.
- The siege of Gokdepe lasted 23 days, after which the city was taken by storm.
- Visit Geokdepe Mosque (Saparmyrat Hajy) that was built in 1995 to commemorate the defeat and is noted for its mint-turquoise blue colored roof and white marble structure.
- Later drive to visit Horse Farm to see a national proud of Turkmen people - Akhalteke horses, the nicest horses in the world.
- 5000 years ago, Turkmens begin breed Akhalteke horses.
- The World’s unique breed was never mixed with other breeds.
- Such famous Emperors like Alexander the Great, Darius I desired to own Ahalteke horses.
- There are over 35 beautiful horses in the farm.
- According to superstition belief, every sick person who touches an Ahalteke horse will get well soon.
- Drive to Ashgabat, overnight at hotel.
Day 9
- BF at hotel.
- Drive to visit Carpet Museum, one of the best in Central Asia featuring designs from the Tekke, Yamud, Sarik and Chodor tribes.
- The Turkmen carpet museum is one of the cultural centers of Turkmenistan, where about 2000 carpet exhibits, including rare ones, are exhibited.
- For example, the museum has the smallest carpet to wear keys, as well as the world's largest hand carpet with a total area of 301 m², which was woven in 2001, and in 2003 it was added to the Guinness Book of Records.
- Drive to Seyit Jemaletdin Mosque.
- Among the small number of Timurid-era monuments on the territory of Turkmenistan, the mosque of Seyit Jemaletdin in Anau city.
- According to inscriptions on its facades and interior, it was built when Khoresm was ruled by Abu Kasim Baber Bahadurhan (1446-1457).
- Its construction was financed by his vizir, Muhammed Khudaiot, who chose a site near the grave of his father, Jemaletdin.The ancient settlement Abiverd is one of eight historical reserves of Turkmenistan along with Kunya-Urgench, Nissa, Merv, Dakhistan etc.
- The ruins of Abiverd are located between Ashgabat and Mary.
- Then drive to Mary.
- If time permits, visit local Green bazaar, Mary regional museum, Library for 6000 readers with Observatory on a top, also Old Russian Church, which build in
- Overnight at hotel.
Day 10
- BF at hotel.
- Drive to Merv to explore ancient Merv – “Queen of the world”, was one of the most important capitals of Islam along with Baghdad, Cairo and Damascus.
- Sightseeing of ancient Merv includes Greater Kyz Gala & Lesser Kyz Gala (VI-VII), Complex of Askhabs (VIII-XIV), Erk Gala (VI BC), Gyaur Gala (IV BC), Hoja Yusup Hamadani complex, Sultan Sanjar mausoleum, Muhamed Ibn Zeid mausoleum.
- After sightseeing, drive to Turkmen-Uzbek border Farap border – Alat border 240km, 4-hour drive.
- Border formalities on both sides.
- The driver in Uzbekistan meets you and transfer to the hotel.
- Check-in the hotel and free time for rest.
Day 11
- Breakfast.
- Full day excursion in Bukhara.
- The city tour includes: Ismail Samani Mausoleum, the oldest and most valuable in the country, a masterpiece of medieval architecture, built by Ismail Samani for his father Nasr I.
- The Chashma Ayub Mausoleum.
- We will see the Bolo-Hauz Mosque, the Emirs official place of worship, built in 1718 and located next to the door of the Ark, the center of the city, the official residence of the rulers of Bukhara.
- After lunch visit Poi Kalon minaret and mosque, see Madrassahs Abdulaziz Khan and Ulugbek, Labi-khauz ensemble, the pool and chaikhana of which is the modern centre of traditional Uzbekistan.
- Dinner.
- Overnight in Bukhara.
Day 12
- After breakfast transfer to Shakhrisabz, visititing the ruins of Ak saray palace (The White palace)- Tamerlane’s summer residence (XIV-XV cc.), The Dor us- Saodat complex – “The Khazrat Imam mosque” – a multi-step mosque with a cupola shaped hall and decorated iwans.
- After lunch continue the way to Samarkand.
- (290 km, 4 h.*).
- Arrive in Samarkand and check in the hotel.
- Free time.
- Overnight in Samarkand.
Day 13
- Breakfast.
- Full day excursion in Samarkand.
- Visiting the Mausoleum Guri Emir, the mausoleum of Timur familial with its beautifully fluted dome, Shakhi Zinda necropolis, the magnificent Registan Square with the three Madrasse completely covered with tiles and mosaics of lapis lazuli is one of the most extraordinary monuments of Central Asia with the Ulugbek Madrassa, the Sher Dor Madrassa and Tilla Kari Madrassa, the giant mosque Bibi Khanum built by Timur for his favorite wife.
- After visiting the giant mosque of Bibi Khanum, you ‘ll have lunch at the local restaurant and lead our way to the Siyob Bazaar situated right next to the main gate to the city.
- Dinner.
- Overnight in Samarkand.
Day 14
- After breakfast we will visit the Samarkand silk paper workshops, silk carpets factory and the great leader of Islam, the master of the Hadis and the complex Khodja Akhrar with Devonbeghi Madrassa and Mosque Akhrar.
- After lunch transfer to the railway station to catch the fast train Afrasiab to Tashkent.
- Arriving on Tashkent.
- Transfer to the hotel.
Day 15
- Transfer to the International Tashkent Airport to catch the return flight.
- End of the tour.
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