Mountains, deserts and fabulous cities

Arrival in Tashkent / excursion - Samarkand / 300 km, 4 hours. Arrival in Tashkent in the morning. Excursion in Tashkent before lunch: the old city, the architectural and cult complex Khast - Imam (Khazret - Imam), with a grandiose Friday mosque, the medieval mausoleum of Kafal Shashi (16th century), Barak - khan and Kukeldash madrasah (16th - 17th centuries), Islamic University, a library in the Til Sheikh mosque with one of their original Korans of Caliph Osman (7th century), the oldest in the world; "Istiklol" square with the Abdul Kasim madrasah of the 16th-17th centuries (artisans now work and sell their original products and souvenirs here), a monument to Alisher Navoi; Amir Temur (Tamerlane) square with a park, an equestrian statue of Tamerlane surrounded by historical and administrative buildings - the Forum Palace, the Temurid Museum, Tashkent chimes, and others; the "Courage" monument - a monument to the victims of the devastating earthquake in Tashkent in 1966; the opera and ballet theater, built by Japanese prisoners of war in 1945.

We will also see the fountain with light and music; Mustakillik (Independence) square with the Independence Monument, Ezgulik arch, eternal fire, fountains; eastern bazaar Chorsu. After lunch, departure to Samarkand. Overnight at the hotel.

Samarkand. Excursion: "Heart" of Samarkand - Registan Square (14th-16th centuries) with 3 famous madrasahs: Sherdor, Ulugbek and Tilla-Kori, the grandiose cathedral mosque Bibi-Khanum (15th century), the magnificent Gur-Emir mausoleum (15th century) in which Tamerlane, his sons and grandson Ulugbek are buried.

We will visit the observatory of Ulugbek (1420) - the grandson of Tamerlane, the famous ruler and scientist-astronomer; Shakhi-Zinda (11th-18th centuries) - the necropolis of the rulers and nobility of Samarkand consisting of many magnificently decorated mausoleums; exotic Siab bazaar. Overnight at the hotel.

Samarkand / excursion - Dzhunaity - Aydarkul lake - SAFARI yurt camp. Transfer to Nurata mountains, about 350 km, 7 hours. Our goal is Dzhunaity peak which is located on the Aktau mountain range. It is a low, beautiful slide of light granite in a necklace of wild flowers. On the way, on the same ridge, we will visit the Dzhunaity Monument Valley. These are huge granite boulders of bizarre shapes created by nature. Here, if you have imagination you can see giant stones of the form of a turtle, a snail, an eagle, a snake, a dragon, a mushroom, etc. Accommodation in the yurt camp "Safari" / yurts.

Safari - Kulimbet - Gijduvan - Bukhara 70 km sand (3.5 hours), 200 km asphalt (2.5 hours). After breakfast, you can ride Bactrian camels, and then we will drive 4 km and walk along the shores of Lake Aydarkul. At the end of the walk, we will drive through the desert (an easy Safari route) where there are many shepherd dwellings and villages covered with sand. Here the dunes rose above the rooftops.

We leave the sands and drive to Gijduvan (50 km from Bukhara) - a small town famous for its potters, Gijduvan kebabs and Gijduvan apricot pits baked in ash. Visit to the memorial cult complex of Gijduvani with the mausoleum and madrasah, a master class on making and painting ceramic dishes in the family of the famous dynasty of ceramists Nazrullaevs (8 generations) are waiting for us. There will be a late lunch in the same house. Then we will drive to Bukhara. Overnight at the hotel.

Bukhara. Excursion in Bukhara:

- the Lyabi-Khauz complex (16th -17th centuries) - the “heart” of old Bukhara, a favorite resting place for residents and guests of the city, includes Nadir Divanbegi madrasah and khanaka (17th century), Kukeldash madrasah (16th century), the oldest artificial pool (hauz) in Central Asia (17th century), surrounded by centuries-old shady plane trees. There is also an original bronze sculpture of the legendary merry fellow and folk sage Khoja Nasreddin, sitting on a donkey;

the Poi-Kalyan complex (12th – 16th centuries) - the visiting card of Bukhara with the Miri-Arab madrasah (16th century), the Kalyan mosque (15th century) with the original multi-domed gallery and the Kalyan minaret (12th century) - one of the most ancient, miraculously survived during wars, invasions and earthquakes, a building with a height of 47 meters;

- Ayub Mazar (14th – 19th centuries) - a mausoleum-sarcophagus over the ancient sacred spring, “appeared at the behest of the biblical Ayub (Job)”. The Samanid Mausoleum (9th – 10th centuries) - a pearl of ancient architecture, a family tomb of the rulers of Bukhara and one of the first monuments in Central Asia, built of burnt bricks;

- the Ark fortress (7th – 19th centuries) - the most ancient building of the city, - the residence of the Bukhara emirs with a mint, a jewelry workshop, the office of the vizier, a prison, the emir's harem;

- trading domes (16th century) where local artisans have been selling their products since ancient times. And today tourists can buy here magnificent souvenirs and products of folk crafts: gold embroidery, carpets, suzane, ceramics, chasing and much more.

- the Chor-Minor minaret (18th century) - a small mosque of the original form with four minarets, which has no analogues in Muslim architecture;

- Sitora-i-Mokhi Khosa (19th century) - summer country residence of the last emir of Bukhara. The interior of the palace rooms is richly decorated with magnificent murals, stucco molding from ganch (the Central Asian name for a binder containing gypsum and clay) and wood carvings. Overnight at the hotel.

Transfer Bukhara - Karshi - Shakhrisabz (300 km, 5 hours). Shakhrisabz is a small town in the Kashkadarya region of Uzbekistan, world famous as the birthplace of Tamerlane (Amir Temur) - the greatest commander and statesman of Medieval Uzbekistan. Shakhrisabz is included by UNESCO in the list of world heritage masterpieces (object number 885). After lunch, we will have an excursion to the historical center of Shakhrisabz with a visit to the ruins of the huge Ak-Saray palace; the majestic monument of Amir Temur; the mausoleum of Jahangir (14th century) - the eldest son of Tamerlane; Dorus Tilyavat complex (14th century) with the ashes of Tamerlane's father and his spiritual mentor Sheikh Kulyal and the Kok-Gumbaz mosque (15th century); the Chor-su commercial dome (15th century); the history museum located in the medieval Chubin madrasah (XIV-XVI centuries); caravanserai "Koba" (16th century).

Overnight at the hotel.

Transfer Shakhrisabz - Gilan-Kul - Samarkand (100 + 100 km, 8-10 hours with walks + 90 km drive to Samarkand). After breakfast we will leave for the exotic mountain village of Gilan. The kishlak is located in the Kitab district of the Kashkadarya region on the border of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan at an altitude of more than 2000 m above sea level 90 km from the city of Shakhrisabz. Kishlak Gilan is inhabited by ethnic Tajiks; it is the most picturesque and exotic village in Uzbekistan. Until now, foreign tourists could not visit this village due to the special border regime. Kishlak Gilan is surrounded by high mountains of the Gissar ridge, and the road to it is laid through a narrow deep canyon with steep walls.

The inhabitants of the village still preserve ancient customs and way of life. In the vicinity of the village there are practically no flat areas of land where a tractor can be used, and the peasants are forced to cultivate fields on steep (up to 40 degrees) mountain slopes practically by hand, using a simple plow drawn by a pair of bulls, horses or donkeys. Orchards are also cultivated on steep slopes and river gorges. A special pride of the villagers is the extensive irrigation network of man-made canals laid on the mountain slopes for tens of kilometers.The central part of the village with a chaotic jumble of old clay houses and narrow streets is particularly exotic. There are no fences here, and there are no thieves either. Everyone lives like one big family. In the village, tourists can socialize and get acquainted with the way of life of local residents, visit a water mill and a smithy, stroll through the picturesque surroundings as well as in neighboring villages.

On the way to the village you can visit the Suvtushar waterfall - one of the most spectacular waterfalls in Uzbekistan reaching 40 meters in height. Overnight at the hotel.

Transfer Samarkand-Zaamin-Tashkent (450 km / 9-10 hours with walks). Early in the morning we leave for Tashkent through the Bakhmal-Zaamin nature reserve, the Kyrkkyz gorge-plateau and Sufa-Zaamin national park. On the way, picturesque panoramas of the Turkestan mountains and reserved juniper forests are waiting for us. Overnight at the hotel.

Departure. On this day, the car will take you to the airport for your flight home. End of the program.