Silk Road Cities of Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan

Day 01: Arrive Almaty (Kazakhstan)
Meeting on arrival assistance and transfer to Hotel Grand Voyage
Welcome dinner at local restaurant at Kok Tyube panorama point
Overnight

Day 02: Almaty/Shymkent – KC969 – 1925/2050 hrs
Full day sightseeing tour of Almaty – we shall start our visit with Panfilov Park, Holy
Ascension Cathedral of Zhenkov is one of the oldest Orthodox Church of the region,
Later visit Kazakhstan Musical Instruments museum. Later we shall proceed to visit the Zeelyoni or Green bazaar – see great varieties of daily products being sold.
Afterwards we shall visit State Museum of History – the Golden Room and all sections.
Lunch at local restaurant
Later continue visit the Grand City Mosque, the famous Medeo with its wonderful
Alpine surroundings, Later visit local market exploring souvenirs and other things being sold
Later transfer to airport for flight to Shymkent
On arrival we shall proceed to a local restaurant for dinner
Later transfer to Hotel
Overnight

Day 03: Shymkent/Turkestan/Shymkent – 340 kms
Shymkent/Tashkent – 124 kms (Uzbekistan)
Morning we shall depart for Turkestan more known for the shrine of Hoja Ahmed Yassawi.

Hoja Ahmed Yassawi was the 11th /12th century mystic and Turkic poet of the area
Is greatly revered in Central Asia. He was the mystic Saint of Hanafi belief was educated in mysticism under Arslan Baba and later moved to Bukhara for further studies when he became the chief murshid of Nakshbandiyya order. Later he came back to Turkestan to spread the message of Islam among the nomadic Turkic tribes where Islam of introduced only couple of centuries ago but did not make its headway in the remote parts of the steppes. He was the spiritual mentor of Tamerlane.
There is a grand complex of Ahmed Yassawi in the finest of Central Asian Architecture.

We shall visit the Yassawi complex with all sections – the central complex and main dome of the shrine is similar to Tamerlane’s tomb.
Lunch at local restaurant
Later depart via Otrar ruins – the city which was destroyed by Genghiz Khan’s army.
Continue to Shymkent and bypassing the town we shall proceed to border point to enter into Uzbekistan after the border formalities
Proceed to Tashkent city and on arrival transfer to Hotel Ramada
Dinner and overnight

Day 04: Tashkent/Bukhara – Train – 0730/1117 hrs
Morning depart for Bukhara by train is an interesting train journey passing through beautiful landscape. On arrival transfer to Hotel Asia or similar
Later in the afternoon we shall start our walking tour of Bukhara
We shall visit Lyabikhauz – the city pond and earnest place of local folks gathering over a cup of tea., madrassah Nadirkhon Devanbegi and later visit the Sarai to see the local handicrafts under the auspicious of UNDP, the first cupola, Mogaki Attari mosque – a mosque with traces of a fire temple, a Buddhist temple and the lately the mosque – worth seeing are decors with many regional influences. Later visit the second cupola – the covered bazaar known as tilpak frushan – the hat sellers market.
Later visit madrassahs of Aziz Khan and Ulugbek and afterwards we shall see the grand minaret known as Poi Kalon and the Mosque nearby is one of grandest of pre-Mongol period monuments.
We shall later proceed to the house of miniaturist Davlat known for his paintings and his Sufi thoughts in his work – we shall visit his home workshop

Bukhara:
As is more known as the “Bukhara-i-Sharif” the sacred Bukhara, was seat of the largest of Khanate whose influence marked deep impression on the political history of the region that capitulated her rivals into the controversy of a greater regional control – the Imperial Russia and the British Indian Empire both tried vow the nervous emir whose hereditary empire was at the brink of collapse. (read the Great Game)
The history of Bukhara dates back to 5ht century BC when it was part of the Great Achaemenian Empire the begins the successive invaders and rulers devastating the great oasis. The oldest part of Bukhara more popularly known as Varaksha was the seat of the last of the heathen Turks when their last ruler Bukhar Khudat was slain by the invading Arabs establishing their rule into the first of Central Asia soil. Bukhara’s chequered history keeps changing with the passage of time. It was an important town on the Great Silk Road as the caravans traversed across the Oxus river before heading for Merve. The region was Bukhara was infact the meeting point of various cultures –
the Zoroastrian Persians, Buddhists and the local Turkic tribes mostly with animistic or shamanist beliefs. A critical eye on its buildings and monuments will reveal you the influence of various cultures

Uzbek Cooking session:
We shall visit a local house to see Uzbek wife cooking pilaf and to see the local cuisine being cooked. For those interested in the cooking of Uzbek pilaf are invited to take part in the cooking of pilaf, baking of bread and samsa. This will be a local traditional cooking and hospitality session evening light dinner at hotel
Overnight

Day 05: Bukhara
Morning visit Ark Fortress, Balakhauz mosque, mausoleum of Ismail Samanid and Chasma Ayub
Afternoon excursion to Sitora-i-Mokhikhosa – the summer residence of the last emir of Bukhara – see wonderful Imperial Russian collections sent as political gifts to the emir – beautiful Russian chandeliers, cut glass mirrors, furtniture and wonderful China ware. The other important part is to see the exhibit of suzzane embroidery – traditional needle point work very common among the nomadic tribes and designs keep changing with the environment and habitat.
We shall then see the see the “palace of miracles” – the shrine of famous Sufi Saint
Bakhauddin Nakshbandi – revered through out Central Asia and India. Also see the graves of former rulers of Shaybanid dynasty.
Dinner and overnight

Day 06: Bukhara/Samarkand – 268 kms
Morning depart for Samarkand enroute we shall visit the shrine of Imam al-Bukhari.
We shall see the whole complex – later continue to Samarkand and on arrival transfer to Hotel Grand Samarkand or similar
Lunch at local restaurant
Afternoon visit Registan Square – see the three beautiful madrassahs. Later we shall visit Gur Emir, the mausoleum of Tamerlane
Dinner at local restaurant
Overnight

Day 07: Samarkand/Tashkent – Train – 1800/2010 hrs
Sightseeing tour to include: Bibi Khanum mosque, Siyob, the Silk Road bazaar and Shakhi-Zinda necropolis, Afrosiab Museum on the ancient site of Samarkand, Ulugbek’s Observatory – free time till departure for Tashkent
Evening transfer to railway station for train to Tashkent
On arrival transfer to local restaurant for Dinner – later transfer to Hotel Ramada or similar
Overnight

Day 08: Tashkent/Almaty – KC128 – 1420/1645 hrs (Kazakhstan)
Morning sightseeing tour of Tashkent – we shall visit Hast Imam Complex, Barak Khana seminary, Tilla Shaikh archives – see the oldest Osman period Holy Quran.
Later proceed to Chosu Bazaar, Kukeldash madrassah, Friendship Square, Mustaqlik Maidoni and museum of Applied Arts
Lunch at local restaurant
Later transfer to airport for flight to Almaty – on arrival transfer to Hotel
Dinner at local restaurant
Overnight

Day 09: Almaty/Departure
We shall make full day excursion to Charyn Canyon – the beautiful rock formations is worth seeing with wonderful mountain scenery around
Picnic Lunch
We shall make short walk in the canyons
Later return to Almaty – on arrival free till departure
Dinner at local restaurant
Transfer to airport for your flight to Kuala Lumpur
Assistance on departure

Silk Road Cities of Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan