Uzbekistan Tours
No doubts that Uzbekistan as a tourist destination is one of the most popular in Central Asia. It seems like obscure to visit it, but it is becoming more and more visited by lots of tourists each year. Well-preserved architecture from the Golden Age of Islam religion is what makes it so popular. The history of the country goes back to the 1 millennia BC when world-known dynasties of Sogdia, Bactria and Khorezm grew and flourished. The famous cities from the ancient times are Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva, Shakrisabz, Margilan, Karshi, Tashkent and many others.
During your tours in Uzbekistan today you can feel the atmosphere of dreamy medieval deserts, stretched with a row of camels loaded with precious goods, making over stops in busy cities. Mix of cultures and people resulted in a big variety of customs and traditions preserved nowadays that you can observe during our tours. You can learn crafts of how to make paper, silk carpets and pottery like many centuries ago by making visits workshops in towns. You can taste the most famous pilaf in Central Asian region prepared on fire with meat, rice, carrots and dried fruits. You can participate in different cultural events and enjoy different shows and master classes.
Thus, Uzbekistan is a country that must be visited if you come to Central Asia. Also, we are ready to extend your tour to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan and build up a wonderful Silk Road Tour. Come and enjoy Central Asia with us!
Exploration tour of Kazakhstan
Itinerary title: Exploration tour of Kazakhstan
Days of tour: 6
Day 1: Almaty
After arrival at the airport, you will meet your Kazakh driver and he will take to Almaty. Today you will have a sightseeing tour of the city. The tour includes visits of Almaty Museum, Park of 28 Panfilov Guardsmen. This park is one of the oldest in Almaty. Here you can also see the beautiful wooden building Zenkov Cathedral. The essential part of the tour is visit of the Green Bazaar. This large, two-level market has a true flavour of Central Asia. In the afternoon we will go to the highest mountain skating rink in the world and the dam- to the Medeu Gorge. The territory of this area is at an altitude of 1690 meters above the sea level. Brief walk around with a chance to take your mountain-view pictures and breath the fresh pine-tree air, then you will take a cable car to Shymbulak ski resort area. Then the trip route will take us to Shymbulak ski resort area by a cable car. Next destination is the top of Kok-Tobe hill, where the tallest TV tower in the world is located and where you will get by the picturesque winding mountain road on the park eco-cars. In Kok-Tobe Park you will admire the magnificent panorama of the city from the special observation deck. Then we will take the famous Almaty cableway and have a ride from the top of the hill to the center of the city. The night will be spent in night train from Almaty to Taraz.
Day 2: Almaty – Taraz – Sairam – Shymkent
Upon arrival to Taraz, you will be met by your driver at the railway station and he will take you to Taraz. It is one of the oldest cities in Kazakhstan. This day you will get acquainted with sightseeing. Firstly, you will visit History Museum, then Karakhan and Dautbek Mausoleum, Tekturmas Historical Complex, Akyrtas antient palace complex. You will continue the tour to Sairam district of Shymkent (160 km). There you will have sightseeing at Ibrahim-Ata Mausoleum, Karashash-Ana Mausoleum, and medieval minaret. Sairam is located at the edge of Shymkent, at the place of former Ispidzhab - one of the largest centers of the Great Silk Road in the Middle Ages. This place is also known as the birthplace of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi. He was the great enlightener of XII century. You will also visit Mausoleums of his father and mother, Ibrahim-Ata and Karashash-Ana , which are also located here. Then you will be transferred to Shymkent city and spend the night in the hotel.
Day 3: Shymkent – Otrar Settlement – Turkestan – Shymkent
Today after driving 220 kilometers we will get to Otrar Settlement. There we will visit Khoja Ahmed Yasawi’s teacher and spiritual mentor’s Mausoleum. This will be the part of visiting the archeological sites. After driving 70 kilometers we will get to famous Turkestan. Turkestan was founded around 500 AD at the crossroads of caravan routes from Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva in northern Kazakhstan. The city was known as the spiritual and political center of the Turkic-speaking people in the XVI-XVIII centuries, and was the capital of the Kazakh Khanate. A sightseeing tour allows you to visit the following attractions: "Azret-Sultan" historical and architectural complex, Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, Necropolis, Hammam, Hilvet underground mosque. Then we will have a transfer to Shymkent city. For overnight you will stay in the hotel.
Day 4: Shymkent – Aksu-Zhabagly Reserve – Shymkent
After breakfast we will drive to Aksu-Zhabagly Reserve, where we will drive 125 kilometers and visit Aksu Canyon. Aksu-Zhabagly is located at the spurs of the Western Tien-Shan Mountains at an altitude from 1000 to 4280 meters above sea level and considered as the oldest natural reserve in Kazakhstan. Semi-deserts substitute dry motley grass of steppes, luxurious plots of meadows give way to thickets of creeping juniper. Here high-altitude zones are represented. Patchwork of colorful alpine flowers adorns the base of rigorous peaks with dazzling snow and bluish tongues of glaciers. The reserve is a rich treasury of rare, endangered and endemic species of animals and plants. It is home for argali and ibex, deer and roe deer, lynx and snow leopards, wolves, foxes, bears, porcupines and ermines. Bearded vultures, griffons and golden eagles are flying high in the sky. You will have an unforgettable moment for your whole life. After that we will return to Shymkent where you will spend the night in the hotel.
Day 5: Shymkent
After having breakfast at the hotel, we will start our amazing tour in Shymkent city, in the third megapolis of Kazakhstan by its population and the first one in terms of occupied space. The city since ancient times ran along one of the branches of the Great Silk Road along with the most famous cities of medieval Kazakhstan and Central Asia. This entire day is dedicated to sightseeing tour of Shymkent. It includes visiting Walk of Fame, Monument "Jer Ana", Ordabasy Square, Park “20th Anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan”, Obelisk of Glory, Eternal Fire to the Fallen in WWII, Dendropark, regional historical – museum, visiting the ruins of the citadel of ancient Shymkent, walking on pedestrian street "Arbat". Then you will come to the hotel and spend the night there.
Day 6: Chernyaevka
After having breakfast at the hotel, you will be transferred from Shymkent to Zhibek Zholy (Chernyaevka) border, where your tour in Kazakhstan will come to the end.