Tuesday August 20th – Ashgabat

• Meet your local and YPT guides at Ashgabat International Airport.
• Driving tour of Ashgabat’s main sites including Independence Park and Independence Monument, the Monument to the Constitution, the Arch of Neutrality, Lenin Park, Ertogrul Ghazi Mosque and the Alem Centre which is the complex that is home to the Wheel of Enlightenment, the largest indoor ferris wheel. And YES, for just $1, you can even take a ride!
• Stop for lunch at Berkarar Shopping Centre, where you can go ice-skating, play in the games centre, ride a miniature double-decker bus, and even have a cappuccino in a hipster face (don’t get your hopes up too much about the cappuccino, it is still from a machine which has a “cappuccino” button).
• Visit the university bookshop where you can find books written by and about the president, Ashgabat and Turkmenistan in English. They also have postcards and posters, and if you’re lucky they might even have a copy of the Ruhnama, the book written by Turkmenbashy.
• Continue on to Nisa, a UNESCO site which was once the capital of the Parthian Empire.
• Visit Anau on the eastern outskirts of Ashgabat and see the remains of Anau Fortress and Sheikh Jemaladdin Mosque which was destroyed in the 1948 earthquake.
• Return to Ashgabat in the late afternoon.
• Night tour of Ashgabat. With the white marble buildings lit up by brightly coloured neon lights, Ashgabat is a truly spectacular place after dark.
• We’ll make a stop at the Palace of Happiness in the foothills of the Kopetdag Mountains, from where you can get a fantastic panorama of the whole city.
• And another stop at the Altyn Asyr Sowda Merkezi, a new shopping centre in Independence Park which is in the shape of a pyramid, and the outside of which is covered in fountains and colourful lights. We’ll enjoy dinner at the Minara restaurant on the fifth floor, from which you’ll get 360 degree views of the city lights, whilst enjoying a nice cold draught beer.
• Overnight in Ashgabat.

Wednesday August 21st – Ashgabat, Gates of Hell

• Drive to Kipchak to see the resplendent Turkmenbashy Mosque, where Turkmenbashy is buried beside his mother, father and two brothers in their white marble mausoleum.
• Continue on to Kow Ata, in the outskirts of Ashgabat. This natural underground thermal spring is said to have many medical attributes, but is also used by locals as a swimming hole and makes for a very fun and relaxing swim. Admission included.
• After a revitalising swim in the lake, we’ll enjoy lunch at one of the shashlik restaurants just outside the entrance to the cave. Approximately $3-6 pp.

• In the afternoon, drive 250km to Darvaza (The Gates of Hell) in 4WD’s.
• Visit two other craters – one full of mud, one full of water.
• Traverse the sand dunes of the Karakum Desert to get to Darvaza.
• Watch the sunset over the fiery crater and experience dusk turn to dark at this breathtaking site.
• Set up tents near the Gates of Hell and camp near the fiery crater.

Thursday August 22nd  – Ashgabat

• Drive back to Ashgabat.
• Free time in the afternoon.
• Catch the overnight train to Turkmenbashy.

Friday August 23rd – Yangykala Canyon, Avaza, Ashgabat

• Arrive early in the morning at Turkmenbashy train station.
• Head straight into the desert to Yangykala Canyon. Most Turkmens don’t even know that this place exists, but once you’ve been there you’ll start calling the Grand Canyon the “Pretty Good Canyon”. In 4×4’s, we’ll drive over the canyon walls, through the canyon itself, and up the other side, to an excellent vantage point from where you will be able to see all the shapes and colours of this spectacular natural phenomenon.
• We will take a packed lunch with us so we can enjoy it at the canyons. You can either buy yourself something at the bazaar on the way, or we can organise a lunch box for approximately $7 pp.
• Return to Turkmenbashy and take a driving tour of the beach resort of Avaza. Although the facilities are extravagant and the buildings futuristic, the town is somehow best described as a ghost town.
• Fly to Ashgabat.

• Overnight in Ashgabat.

Saturday August 24th – Turkmenabat, cross the border to Uzbekistan, Bukhara

• Fly to Turkmenabat in the morning.
• Visit the Lebap Regional Museum. This museum is home to a fascinating array of taxidermy, dioramas, and huge models and murals of the surrounding area. Not to mention some very informative displays about the wheat production and oil production of Turkmenistan.
• Cross the border into Uzbekistan and drive to Bukhara.
• Overnight in Bukhara.

Sunday August 25th – Bukhara

• Explore the main sites of Bukhara.
• We’ll visit the Samanid Dynasty Mausoleum, Lyabi Hauz Square, Bolo-Hauz Mosque, the elegant blue-tiled Ulughbek Madrassa (Islamic school), the summer palace of Bukhara’s last Emir and much more.
• On your way in and out of town you won’t  be able to miss a huge structure that looks like a giant ark. Known as the Ancient Ark Fortress, this was the Palace of Bukhara’s Emirs, and parts of it are still open for us to visit.
• Folklore Show in Nodir Devon Begi Madrassah in the evening.
• Spend the night Bukhara.

Monday August 26th – Bukhara, Samarqand

• In the morning, enjoy some free time in Bukhara to look around anything you’d like to re-visit, or just relax.
• Drive to Samarqand in the afternoon.
• Arrive in Samarqand in the early evening and we’ll make our first stop for some wine tasting at the Khovrenko Winery, a small local wine factory with adjoining museum (admission not included).
• Dinner at a local restaurant (included in the tour cost).

Tuesday August 27th – Samarqand

• Explore the main sites of Samarqand.
• Once known as the “Pearl of the Muslim World”, Samarqand is a city synonymous with the Silk Road, full of towering minarets, shimmering domes and home to a splendid technicolour bazaar, which you will have time to wander around and discover for yourself.
• The highlight of your tour around Samarqand is likely to be the famous and spectacular Registan Square which is flanked by three beautifully decorated, sparkling blue mosaic madrassas. Once the city’s commercial centre, Registan Square is modern Samarkand’s centre piece and a pride of the Silk Road.
• We’ll also pay visits to Biki Khanum Mosque, Siyab Bazaar, the grave of St. Daniel which is said to grow a foot in length every ten years, and the Afrasiyab Museum –  a museum dedicated to the history of Samarqand, especially since the time of Alexander the Great’s Conquest.
• Visit Romanenko Fashion Show House, a place that is difficult to describe. This small suburban house has been transformed into a completely unique textile workshop where thirty men and women redesign ancient Central Asian clothing into colourful, modern designs.
• Free time in the evening.

Wednesday August 28th – Samarqand, Tashkent

• Drive to Tashkent, Uzbekistan’s capital city.
• Despite certain likenesses between Tashkent and Ashgabat, with their wide boulevards, artificially manicured lawns and pristine facades in front of crumbling buildings, Tashkent is a vibrant capital city with lots to do.
• We’ll take several rides on the Tashkent Metro while we’re there, one of only two metro systems in Central Asia (the other one being in Almaty). As with most Soviet built metros, the stations are unnecessarily lavish, but Tashkent’s are particularly ornately decorated. Unfortunately the stations are considered as military installations and it is illegal to take photos inside them.
• Having whetted our appetite by riding the metro, we’ll visit the Museum of Railway Techniques’. This outdoor museum is full of all sorts of old locomotives, and they don’t mind us climbing all over them. We can even take a little train ride around the train museum. You don’t have to be a train lover to enjoy this charming museum.
• After dinner we can explore the central park of Tashkent and might even stumble across a winter amusement park.

Thursday August 29th – Tashkent

• Away from the grand avenues, we’ll explore the narrow lanes and mud brick houses and madrassahs of the old town, before visiting the huge Chorsu Bazaar, an incredible open-air complex.
• Visit the Tashkent TV Tower for fabulous views of the city.
• Not only does it have great views of the city, but if you’ve ever wondered about all the tv towers of the world, this is the place to find out about them. Several metre high models of the tallest tv towers flank the entrance to the building, and when you reach the top, smaller models of the rest of them line the walls.
• You’ll most likely have tried plov by now, but nothing will prepare you for the Plov Centre. This gigantic hall, decorated as if for a wedding in the 1980’s, is set up for large numbers of people to eat plov in. Mixed and cooked just outside by an army of Uzbek women, it is some pretty good plov, but more than that, it is an exceptionally unique experience.
• Visit Tashkent Land, Central Asia’s answer to Disneyland.
• With it’s faded welcome sign, crumbling gift shop and creaky rides, this is definitely a step back in time. Most tourists don’t make it to this gem of Soviet infrastructure, but we just can’t resist it. If you’re really game you can try out the “Boomerang” rollercoaster, or if you’d like something a bit more relaxing you can take a ride on the “African tour”, a boat trip through the jungle land.
• Fly to Bishkek in the evening and spend the night in Bishkek.

Friday August 30th – Bishkek

• We’ll spend our first day doing a walking tour of Bishkek, beginning with the Frunze Museum, dedicated to Mikhail Frunze, whom the city of Bishkek used to be named after (and why the airport code is still FRU!).
• Marking our way to past Victory Square, the circus and Tsum, we’ll visit the Lenin Statue – not quite in its original position, but still in the centre of the city.
• Our next stop will be Ala-Too Square, home to the National Museum of Kyrgyzstan and a large Kyrgyz flag. Although this flag isn’t quite as famous as neighbouring Tajikistan and Turkmenistan who have the world’s second and fifth tallest flagpoles, it is still impressive and every hour, on the hour, there’s a changing of the guards. The National Museum itself, which is especially unique because of the spectacular Soviet murals that cover the ceilings of the three storey museum, is unfortunately currently closed for reconstruction, but hopefully it will open again at some point soon.
• We’ll continue on to Osh Bazaar, passing on the way the White House.
• Experience some of Bishkek’s rapidly gentrifying nightlife, maybe at Save the Ales or Burger House.

Saturday August 31st – Bishkek, Independence Day

• Bishkek will come alive today with people from all over Kyrgyzstan coming for the Independence Day celebrations taking place all over the city.
• Celebrations will begin in the centre of the city, in Ala-Too Square, with performances of traditional music and dance from many backgrounds, including Kyrgyz, Russian, Ukrainian, Dungan, Caucasian and of course some classic Central Asian pop.
• Some years there is also a military parade with a whole host of helicopters, light aircraft, missiles, tanks, soldiers etc. And of course there will be the every-inspiring Presidential Speech.
• In the afternoon you can have some free time to explore the city, or enjoy the atmosphere in the square. You may even like to attend a concert in the Bishkek Philharmonic Concert Hall (not included in tour price).
• In the evening, when all the official celebrations are over, Ala Too Square becomes a giant dance floor, local pop stars take to the stage and Kyrgyzstan’s youth continue the party well into the evening.
• And to top it all off, like any good celebration, there’ll be a fireworks show to end the night.

Sunday September 1st – Bishkek, Kok Boru Horse Games, Cholpon Ata Petroglyphs, Karakol

• Leaving Bishkek we’ll drive towards Issik Kol, the world’s second biggest alpine lake and tenth biggest lake.
• Our first stop will be to see a game of Kok Boru – a local game played on horseback, where the aim is to get a newly decapitated goat into the other team’s goal. They’ll also demonstrate other horseback sports such as shirtless wrestling.
• If you’re game you can even have a go yourself, whether it’s just seeing whether you can pick up the dead goat, or getting on a horse and actually trying to play.
• Our next stop will be in Cholpon Ata, on the northern side of the lake, where we’ll make a small detour into the mountains to visit the open-air petroglyph gallery.
• Arrive in Karakol after about 5-6 hours of driving. Have dinner and spend the night in a homestay.

Monday September 2nd – Karakol, Valley of the Flowers,  Jetty Ögüz Gorge, Kyzyl Suu

• After breakfast, we’ll take a tour of the town, with stops at the Dungan Mosque, shaped like a Chinese pagoda and the Russian Orthodox Chuch.
• Visit the museum of N.M.Prjevalskii, a renowned Russian explorer of the 1800’s.
• Leaving Karakol, we’ll begin the three hour drive towards Son Kol.
• Stop at the Kyzyl Suu Soviet Health Resort, which although being a bit tired, is still functioning. There may be an opportunity to get a massage or take a dip in the pool (not included in tour price), but even if not you can enjoy taking a step back in time.
• We’ll take a walk through the beautiful Kök-Zhaik area, which means “Valley of Flowers”, named for the poppies that are strewn all over the valley.
• Our next stop will be Jetty Ögüz Gorge, which translates directly into English as “Seven Bulls” Gorge. The name comes from the 35km wall of seven intimidating red-brown cliffs that resemble angry bulls.
• There will be several opportunities throughout the day to go on short hikes to viewing areas.
• Spend the night in a mountain hut at Kyzyl Suu.

Tuesday September 3rd – Institute of Glaciers Foundation, Issik Kol

• After breakfast with our host family, we’ll explore the nearby Soviet Meteorology Station and the Institute of Glaciers Foundation.
• Beginning our descent back down the mountains, stop and have a dip at a small natural hot spring, right on the edge of the glacial river.
• Leaving the mountains behind us, drive through the villages in the valley to Issik Kol Lake.
• Meet our host family and spend the night in their yurt near the edge of Issik Kol Lake, the second largest alpine lake in the world.
• Take a walk to the nearby old camp ground where the Soviet Young Pioneers held camps and retreats right up until the fall of the USSR, but now lies abandoned and overgrown. Assuming the local security guard lets us in, you can explore the dorms, industrial kitchens, shower block, theatre, and whatever else you can find.

Wednesday September 4th – Issik Kol Lake, Son Kol Lake

• Before beginning the day, if you’d like to help clean up Kyrgyzstan’s beaches a little, we’ll take some bin bags down and spend an hour or so collecting rubbish from the shore of the lake. This isn’t compulsory!
• Just 100m from our yurt camp, we’ll have the opportunity to visit a fascinating old Soviet heavy water factory. Opened in 1955, needless to say, the experiment was a disaster from the beginning. Enduring almost 30 years of issues and failures though, Manufacturing Workshop Number 7 wasn’t closed until 1982. Now it lies abandoned as a relic of one of the USSR’s many failed projects.
• Begin the four hour drive to Son Kol Lake, a spectacular example of Kyrgyzstan’s natural beauty. Set high in the mountains, the lake itself is in the middle of a fertile plateau, dotted with horses, sheep and yurts.
• Stop in the town of Kochkor where we’ll visit the market, take a short walk through the streets, and have lunch in a homestay.
• Tonight we’ll stay in a yurt again, this time near the edge of Son Kol Lake.
• Depending on how early we arrive, you’ll have the opportunity to go horse riding, or just take a walk around the area (not included in tour price).

Thursday September 5th – Son Kol Lake, Naryn, Tash Rabat

• After breakfast we’ll farewell those not continuing to Xinjiang, and leave Son Kol and start driving towards the Chinese border.
• On the way, we’ll stop in Naryn for lunch.
• After a five hour drive, we’ll arrive in Tash Rabat, a truly spectacular 15th century Caravanserai located in the pristine, and extremely isolated south eastern corner of Kyrgyzstan. Some suggest it may have actually been a Buddhist temple but all we know is (he’s called the stig) you certainly won’t have problems getting “people-free” pictures here, as we most likely will be the only ones there.
• Spend the night in a yurt.
• Drive to Tash Rabat and spend the night in a yurt.

Friday September 6th – Tash Rabat, Chinese border, Kashgar

• Leave Tash Rabat first thing in the morning and arrive at the Chinese Border.
• Arrive in Kashgar.
• Meet at the hostel in Kashgar at 2pm and get to know your guide and fellow travellers!
• Stop by People’s Square and the largest statue of Chairman Mao in China!
• Walking tour through the windy lanes of the old town and the Id Kah Mosque
• Dinner of Uyghur fried rice and mutton.
• Check out the night markets and street food.
• Overnight in Kashgar.

Saturday September 7th – Afaq Khoja, Grand Bazaar, Kashgar

• Head out of town to the beautiful tomb of Afaq Khoja: a 17th century mausoleum of this important Uyghur figure.
• Lunch of Xinjiang noodles.
• Browse the bustling Grand Bazaar, which depending on how you measure it, is the biggest in Asia.
• Check out Kashgar’s old town, or what’s left of it, to get a glimpse into what life in the area used to be like
• Dinner and overnight in Kashgar

Sunday September 8th – Kashgar, Yarkand

• Wake up nice and early to begin our drive out to the smaller Uygur oasis towns that line the Taklamakan Desert
• We’ll make a short stop on the way in Yengisar to see the handcrafted Uyghur knife factories.
• Then we get to Yengisar and we’ll take a stroll around the Altun Mosque complex, surrounding cemeteries and the Old Town of this Uyghur town, inhabited completely by Uyghur people.
• Lunch of Xinjiang noodles.
• In the afternoon we’ll head out into the desert for some strolling around or a quick camel trek (optional)
• Drive back to Kashgar and we go looking for what makes a Saturday night in far west China!
• Dinner and overnight.

Monday September 9th – Kashgar, train to Kuqa

• Leisurely start to the morning, but soon after breakfast we’ll head out to Kashgar’s famous livestock market, where the locals come to trade in cows, sheep and of course camels.
• Quick lunch in Kashgar
• We stock up on supplies and then catch the 8 hour train to Kuqa, passing some stunning desert scenery on the way
• Check into our hotel and get some well deserved BBQ and cold beers
• Overnight in Kuqa

Tuesday September 10th – Kuqa, Kizil Thousand Buddha Caves, Overnight train to Turpan

• Head out to the Kizil Thousand Buddha Caves, one of the best reminders of the pre-Islamic Buddhist history of the whole region
• Grab lunch out of town
• Head to Subashi Buddhist ancient town, a remarkably unique place which will be a trip highlight.
• Return to Kuqa for dinner and to stock up on some more supplies for the train
• Catch the overnight train to Turpan, which takes about eight hours.

Wednesday September 11th – Turpan, Yarkhoto, Tuyoq

• Arriving in the morning, we’ll check in to our hotel in Turpan.
• Turpan is China’s “death valley”, being the lowest and hottest part of the country at 142m below sea level.
• Visit the Yarkhoto ruins, the site of a 1600-year-old well-preserved ancient town.
• Leaving the town, we’ll visit the holy village of Tuyoq, a traditional mud-walled Uyghur village beneath the Flaming Mountains.
• Drive back to Turpan
• Farewell dinner in Turpan, expect barbecue, maybe a whole plate of chicken and plenty of Xinjiang beer to wash it down!
• Overnight in Turpan

Thursday September 12th – Turpan, Urumqi, End of Tour

• Catch the fast train back to Urumqi, which takes under two hours.
• Arrive in Urumqi where the tour concludes.
• YPT can help with onward transfer for your flights home.

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