Holidays In Central Asia

Depart London Heathrow for Almaty

Arrive Almaty and transfer to Hotel Otrar*** for 3 nights

City tour of Almaty (Highlights include the Orthodox Church, Green Bazaar, Museum of National Musical Instruments and Historical Museum.

Day trip to Big Almaty Lake including lunch.

Transfer from Almaty to Bishkek via Tamgaly Tash petroglyphs (170 km from Almaty).

City tour of Biskek. Kyrgyzstan's bustling, young capital lies 800m above sea level in the country's northwest. Only 25km from the Kazak border, Bishkek is fringed to the south by the spectacular Kyrgyzsky Ala-Too mountain range, visible from every part of the city. Bishkek's wide boulevards are lined with oak, elm and sycamore trees, prompting the travel writer, Colin Thuberon, to comment that the city seems to have been built in a forest. This evening is yours to enjoy at leisure - perhaps by trying one of Bishkek's eclectic array of restaurants. Your guide will be happy to make a recommendation.

This morning you will be collected by your guide and driver to make an early start for Cholpon Ata, on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul. Just before the road sweeps east out of the vast plains of the Chui Valley and up to the Lake itself, stop at lonely Burana Tower, 80km from Bishkek. Here lie the remains of the former Karakhanid city of Balgasun. Balgasun was founded in the 10th century by the Sogdians and later became one of the capitals of the Eastern Khanate (the second was Kashgar). Today, all that remains of this once thriving capital is its minaret, a grassy mound covering the ancient citadel and the remains of Karakhanid mausoleums. Burana's enormous minaret (the 'tower') was renovated in Soviet times and from the top offers spectacular views of surrounding mountains and the Chuy Valley.

From the eastern reaches of the Chiu Valley the road rises almost 1000m, crossing through the pass named 'Boom Canyon' to Lake Issyk-Kul. The lake lies 1800m above sea level, is 170km long, 70km wide and surrounded by majestic mountains on all sides - reflected spectacularly in its cool blue waters. After Titicaca, Issyk-Kul is the second largest alpine lake in the world. The region is home to a vast array of flora and fauna including Marco Polo sheep, ibex, wild geese and turkeys, Himalayan snowcocks and wild boar. After a quick lunchstop in the trucking town of Balikchy, continue along the lakeshore to Cholpon-Ata. Slightly reminiscent of Yalta in the Crimea, Cholpon-Ata is a sunny, once-fashionable resort, set against the majestic backdrop of the Kungey Ala-Too Mountains. Here, visit the Issyk-Kul Museum and the famous Cholpon-Ata petroglyphs. The excellent, small museum offers a comprehensive sweep through Kyrgyzstan's history and displays the best collection of historical artifacts relating to Issyk-Kul and the Chui Valley. On exhibit are Scythian jewellery, bronze and clay pots, agricultural implements, balbalii (stone figures used as grave markers) and prehistoric rock carvings. Of particular interest is an exceptional display of Kyrgyz handicrafts, including naturally-dyed, ancient embroideries, felt rugs, woven yurt decorations and traditional costumes.

Scattered over slopes to the north of Cholpon-Ata is an extraordinary collection of ancient rock carvings. Thought to have been created by Sak and Usun Scythians between 500 BC and 100AD, these petroglyphs predate the arrival of Kyrgyz people to Issyk-Kul. Images depicting hunting scenes, ibex, sungods, wolves, horses and snow leopards have been painstakingly chipped out of the sun-scorched red and black rocks. Tonight, stay in a friendly family-run guesthouse in Cholpon Ata itself. The house is a comfortable, traditional Russian-style wooden bungalow with shared outdoor facilities and showers. Dinner will be cooked and served by your hostess.

Spend today exploring Karakol with your guide. This fertile garden town of wooden chocolate-box cottages and shady, poplar-lined avenues is fringed to the east by the Terskey Ala-Too Mountains, which tower dramatically over its low-rise skyline. Sights include the Dungan Mosque. This exotic-looking, incongruous, blue building in central Karakol resembles a Buddhist temple, but is in fact an Islamic place of worship. Completed in 1910, the mosque was built to serve Karakol's community of Dungans (Chinese Muslims who fled persecution in the 1880s). Designed by a Chinese architect, the building is constructed entirely without nails and much of its imagery, including a wheel of fire, reflects the Dungans' pre-Islamic, Buddhist past. From here, head to the Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity. This pretty orange and red-domed, wooden church is built on the site of several previous places of Christian worship. After the town was founded, services were first held here in a yurt. A subsequent stone church, no doubt intended to be more permanent than the quakeproof yurt, was destroyed by an earthquake in 1890.

A further attraction is the Karakol Regional Museum. This small museum, housed in a pretty chocolate-box cottage in central Karakol, was the pre-revolutionary summer home of the Ilina merchant family. Despite its modest size, the museum has several interesting displays (labelled in English, Russian and Kyrgyz), which are worth seeing. Scythian artefacts include enormous bronze pots retrieved from Lake Issyk-Kul, displayed alongside exhibits on petroglyphs in the area. On Sundays and Thursdays the livestock market (mal bazaar in Kyrgyz) attracts an array of thousands of smallholders and nomads from all over the Issyk-Kul region. Jammed tightly together amongst the animals, this huge, jostling swarm of people barter over sheep, pigs and cattle, scatter the crowds by 'test driving' powerful stallions and stock up on feed for their new purchases.

You will return to Bishkek via Bokonbaevo and the North Shore of Lake Issy-Kul. This afternoon you will depart for Bishkek at approximately 5pm, arriving in time for a hot shower, dinner in a restaurant and one last night at the Silk Road Lodge Hotel.

This morning you will be collected early and transferred to the airport for your flight to Tashkent. This flight departs at 07.00 arrives 08.05. Arrive Tashkent, where you will be collected taken on a city tour of Tashkent before transferring to Samarkand Malika Guesthouse for two nights. Transfer to Samarkand takes 3 hours along a well-maintained road, which dips through Kazakstan for 25km. Kazak visa not necessary. 3 nights at Malika

Sightseeing in Samarkand with an English-speaking guide and private car. Included sightseeing here as some of Samarkand's outlying sights (Daniel's Tomb, Ulughbek Observatory etc) are difficult to access independently.

Morning excursion to Shakhrisabz (1 ½ hours away along a winding, but well-maintained road) with private car and English-speaking guide. The unrestored Timurid architecture here provides a wonderful contrast to Samarkand's magnificent, but slightly sterile perfection. Optional stop at the 17th century bathhouse, although with separate bathing days for men and women only one person would be able to partake! Afternoon at leisure

Transfer to Sasha's Yurt Camp (3 hours along an increasingly bumpy road, last 8km off road by jeep). Visit the 1-3,000 year old petroglyphs at Saimuish en route, which depict ibex, dancers, bulls, sungods, camels, dogs and hunters. The petroglyphs are carved onto rocks on the steep slopes of a deep ravine. Some may be inaccessible to the less fit but many are visible from the road beneath. Study shoes are a must. After Saimush, visit Nurata, with its ruined fort (built by Alexander the Great), holy springs swarming with sacred carp and an ingenious irrigation system, bringing water down from the mountains via a series of gradually deepening wells. Overnight in Yurt camp.

Transfer through the desert to Bukhara (3 hours, road is reasonably well maintained), stopping at the bazaar and medressa in the small town of Gizhduvan and the beautiful minaret at Bobkent. The bazaar at Gizhduvan is the best place I found to buy salted apricot stones, a Central Asian delicacy. Afternoon excursion to the summer palace of the last Bukharan emir (who fled to Afghanistan in 1920, one or two members of his harem are still alive and living in Bukhara) and to the mausoleum of Bakhardin Nakhshbandi, founder of many influential Sufi orders. 2 nights at the Sasha and Son Guesthouse.

At leisure in Bukhara.

Transfer by car to Khiva, stopping at the market en route to buy a picnic lunch. The journey takes 5 ½ hours through seemingly never ending desert, although the road is good. It is possible to see desert 'crocodiles', eagles lizards and many unusual, colourful species of bird along the way. Towards the end of the journey the road runs briefly through Turkmen territory and passes the rapidly disappearing Amu Darya river, which once irrigated the whole plain. 2 nights at the Arkanchi Guesthouse, in Khiva's Old Town.

At Leisure in Khiva.

Early transfer to Hojeli border crossing near Kunye Urgench. Arrive Dashoguz and fly to Ashghabad where you will be collected and transferred to the Hotel Nissa for a 2 night stay.

Tour of Ashghabad and surrounding areaYour day begins with an excursion to the remains of the 2nd century BC Parthian fortress of Nissa, ancient seat of the Arshakid kings. Explore its Round Hall, Square Throne Hall, Treasury House and numerous peasant households with their intricate water pipes and khums. Next, visit 15th- century Anau Mosque just outside Ashghabad and the nearby archaeological sites of northern and southern Anau Depe (3-4000 BC). From here, head back into Ashghabad itself, where we will visit the famous Carpet Museum. The museum has a large, impressive collection of antique carpets including the world's two biggest Turkmen carpets, measuring a staggering 192m2 and 266m2. The largest weighs one tonne. In the early evening we will drop in to a traditional silk maker's house to witness the art of hand-weaving silk on a domestic loom. The ancient method of dying silk using natural plant dyes is still widely practised in Turkmenistan today. We will finish the day with a visit to Ensey Art Gallery, a private collection housed in the owner's home.

Drive to Mary via Kaahka. The deserted village of Kaahka is situated 150km from Ashghabad. This rich historical site contains monuments dating back as far as the 3rd millennium BC and as recent as the 19th century. Nearby Abiverd was once a stopping point on the Great Silk Road. In 1221 the town fell into the hands of Mongols and was almost completely destroyed. Its 11th century mausoleum of Abu Said Makneyi has a superb double dome, characteristic of mausoleums of this period. Inside, the mausoleum is decorated with Arabic inscriptions from the Koran, while its portal is covered with a delicate lacework of ornate mosaics. Dinner and overnight in Mary at the Caravan Guesthouse.

Mary-Merv-Ashghabad. Excursion to Old Merv. The unique series of ancient cities known as 'Merv' was built not on top of each other, as is so often the case, but constructed on adjacent sites. The ancient towns of Erk-Kala, Gyaur-Kala, Sultan-Kala and Abdulla-khan-Kala correspond to the different periods of Merv's existence. Merv was once the largest, wealthiest city of the Parthian state but reached the height of its glory during the government of Sultan Sanjar (1118 -1157) who made it the capital of the Seljuk capital. Drive to Ashghabad. Overnight at the Hotel Nissa.

Departure transfer to airport for return flight to UK