Uzbekistan and Tajikistan: Samarkand, the Fann Mountains and the Seven Lakes

Arrive in Tashkent

Tashkent International Airport to your hotel in central Tashkent

• Repas du soir
• Nuit : Tashkent
• Environ 15 min de route

Matin

Uzbekistan's capital was largely rebuilt after the 1966 earthquake, so first impressions are wide avenues, fountains and parks rather than old lanes; the old city waits for tomorrow morning.

Soir

Arrive in time for the early-evening briefing, when your See Sight Tours guide walks the group through the days ahead: the train to Samarkand, what the border crossing into Tajikistan involves, what the mountain homestays are like and what to keep in your day bag. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner of Uzbek dishes, with bread from the tandoor, salads, shashlik and plov, at a restaurant a short walk or drive from the hotel. If you land early, the Amir Timur Square and the gardens around it are an easy first stroll.

Compris

• Pick-up at Tashkent International Airport (TAS)
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Welcome dinner

Old Tashkent, then the fast train to Samarkand

Tashkent old city and Chorsu Bazaar, then the Afrosiyob train to Samarkand

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Samarkand
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

After breakfast we go to the Khast Imam complex in the old city, where a library holds the Uthman Quran, one of the oldest surviving copies, and the courtyard is calm before the day warms. Next door, Chorsu Bazaar sits under its great green dome: spice and dried-fruit stalls, a whole hall of bread and the morning trade in fresh produce.

Après-midi

We ride two or three of the decorated metro stations on the way back to the centre, then sit down to a plov lunch, Tashkent's signature rice dish, cooked in huge cauldrons through the morning. Early in the afternoon we board the Afrosiyob high-speed train for the run of about two to two and a half hours to Samarkand. After check-in, rest, then walk out after dark to see the Registan's three madrasas lit up, a first look before we go inside tomorrow morning.

Compris

• Khast Imam complex and the Uthman Quran library
• Chorsu Bazaar
• A ride through several decorated Tashkent metro stations
• Plov lunch
• Reserved seats on the Afrosiyob train to Samarkand
• The Registan lit after dark

Shah-i-Zinda at opening and Timur's Samarkand

Samarkand: Shah-i-Zinda, the Registan, Bibi-Khanym and Gur-e-Amir

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Samarkand
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

We go inside the Registan's three madrasas mid-morning, before the heat, and your guide explains how Ulugbek, Timur's grandson, built the first of them as a place of learning.

Après-midi

Lunch is at a local restaurant, then the afternoon is free. Late in the day we visit Gur-e-Amir, Timur's own mausoleum, with its ribbed dome and gold-leaf interior, and walk back through the tsarist-era new town past the Orthodox Cathedral of St Alexis. Samarkand was listed by UNESCO in 2001.

Compris

• Shah-i-Zinda at opening
• Bibi-Khanym Mosque and Siyob Bazaar
• The Registan: the Ulugbek, Sher-Dor and Tilya-Kori madrasas
• Gur-e-Amir, Timur's mausoleum
• A walk through the new town past the Cathedral of St Alexis
• Lunch in Samarkand

Across the border to Penjikent and up to the Seven Lakes

Samarkand to the Jartepa border, Sarazm and Penjikent, then up the Shing valley to Marguzor

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Seven Lakes (Marguzor)
• Environ 4 h de route

Matin

We leave Samarkand after breakfast and drive about 45 km east to the Jartepa border. Your guide stays with you through both sets of formalities as we walk across to Sarazm, where our Tajik driver is waiting. Sarazm itself is right beside the post: a proto-urban settlement more than 5,000 years old, listed by UNESCO in 2010, with excavated houses and a small museum. A few kilometres on, Penjikent's ancient town on the bluff above the Zeravshan was a Sogdian city until the Arab conquest in the 8th century; we walk its ruined streets and temples and see the Rudaki museum in the modern town.

Après-midi

After lunch in Penjikent we turn south into the Shing valley, about 65 km and two to two and a half hours on a narrow, rough road, passing the first lakes, Mijgon, Soya, Gushor and Nofin, each a different shade of blue and green.

Soir

We reach our homestay near Marguzor for dinner.

Compris

• Jartepa to Sarazm border crossing with your guide
• Sarazm archaeological site and museum
• Ancient Penjikent and the Rudaki museum
• Lunch in Penjikent
• The first four of the Seven Lakes on the drive up
• Dinner at the homestay

The walk to the seventh lake

Marguzor to Hazorchashma and back on foot

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Seven Lakes (Marguzor)
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

After an early breakfast at the homestay we drive the short way to the end of the road at Marguzor, the sixth of the Seven Lakes, and set off on foot while the path is still in shade. The trail follows the river past orchards and stone houses and climbs steadily to Hazorchashma, the seventh lake, a small, still pool fed by springs, at about 2,400 m. It is roughly 8 km there and back with about 250 m of climbing; we take it slowly and stop often.

Après-midi

A picnic lunch by the water, made by our hosts, comes before the walk down. The afternoon is free at the homestay: sit in the garden, walk along the lakeshore or watch the village bring its animals in.

Soir

Dinner tonight is cooked over the fire, and the sky here is very dark.

Compris

• Guided walk from Marguzor (lake 6) to Hazorchashma (lake 7) and back
• Picnic lunch by the lake
• Dinner at the homestay

Down the Zeravshan and over to Iskanderkul

Marguzor down the Shing valley, east along the Zeravshan to Ayni, then up the Fan Darya to Iskanderkul

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Iskanderkul
• Environ 4.5 h de route

Après-midi

Today is the longest drive in the mountains, about 160 km and four and a half hours, because there is no good place to sleep between the two valleys; we break it with stops and a proper lunch. We leave after breakfast, stopping at the lower lakes for the morning light we missed on the way up, then follow the Shing river down to the Zeravshan and turn east along it. Lunch is in Ayni, where the river meets the Fan Darya, at a local teahouse. From there we head south into the Fann mountains and up the side road to Iskanderkul, a turquoise lake at about 2,195 m whose name recalls Alexander the Great, who is said to have passed this way.

Soir

We arrive mid-afternoon, with time for a short walk along the shore before dinner at our guesthouse or homestay.

Compris

• Stops at the lower Seven Lakes in the morning light
• Lunch at a teahouse in Ayni
• Iskanderkul lakeshore walk
• Dinner at the guesthouse or homestay

Iskanderkul at first light, then Dushanbe

Iskanderkul to the Fann Niagara waterfall, then through the Anzob tunnel and the Varzob valley to Dushanbe

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Dushanbe
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Matin

Get up for first light on Iskanderkul, when the water is still and the peaks reflect in it. After breakfast we walk to the Fann Niagara, a waterfall of about 38 m where the lake's outflow drops into a gorge, and to the small, reed-fringed Snake Lake nearby.

Après-midi

Then we drive back down to the main road and south through the Anzob tunnel, about 5 km long, and down the green Varzob valley to Dushanbe, about 140 km and three and a half hours, with lunch on the way. In the afternoon we see the Tajik capital's centre: the National Museum of Antiquities, home to a reclining Buddha about 13 m long excavated at Ajina Tepa, then Rudaki Park and the wide avenue of Rudaki Prospect.

Soir

The evening is free; Dushanbe has good Tajik and Uzbek restaurants within a short walk of the hotel.

Compris

• Sunrise at Iskanderkul
• Walk to the Fann Niagara waterfall and Snake Lake
• Lunch on the way to Dushanbe
• National Museum of Antiquities and its reclining Buddha
• Rudaki Park and central Dushanbe

Fly to Bukhara and an evening at Lyabi-Hauz

Dushanbe to Bukhara by air, then Bukhara old town

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Bukhara
• Environ 45 min de route

Matin

A slower morning in Dushanbe, then our driver takes us to the airport for the flight back into Uzbekistan, to Bukhara. It saves two long days on the road and a second border crossing by land. The flight is direct where one is scheduled for your date, otherwise it connects in Tashkent; we tell you which when we confirm. Our Uzbek driver meets us on arrival for the short run to a hotel in the old town.

Après-midi

Lunch today is yours, at the airport or on arrival. In the late afternoon, when the heat eases, your guide takes you on a first walk: Lyabi-Hauz, the pool under old mulberry trees with the Nadir Divan-Begi madrasa beside it, then the domed trading arcades. Bukhara's historic centre was listed by UNESCO in 1993.

Soir

The evening is free, and the cafes around the pool are the place to be.

Compris

• Flight from Dushanbe to Bukhara
• Airport transfers in Dushanbe and Bukhara
• Evening walk: Lyabi-Hauz, the Nadir Divan-Begi madrasa and the trading domes

Bukhara from the Samanids to the emirs

Bukhara: the Ismail Samani mausoleum, the Ark, the Po-i-Kalyan and a gold-embroidery workshop

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Bukhara
• Environ 30 min de route

Après-midi

After lunch at a local restaurant, rest through the hottest hours. Late in the afternoon we visit a workshop where gold embroidery, zardozi, is still done by hand, and walk to Chor Minor, the small gatehouse with four blue-domed towers tucked among the houses.

Soir

The evening is free to come back to the trading domes or sit by Lyabi-Hauz.

Compris

• Ismail Samani mausoleum
• Bolo-Hauz mosque
• The Ark
• The Po-i-Kalyan: the Kalyan minaret, the Kalyan mosque and the Mir-i-Arab madrasa
• A gold-embroidery (zardozi) workshop
• Chor Minor
• Lunch in Bukhara

Across the Kyzylkum to Khiva

Bukhara to Khiva across the Kyzylkum Desert, by daytime train or by road

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Khiva
• Environ 6.5 h de route

Soir

This is the one long travel day of the trip, and it goes over our four-hour driving cap because there is no way round it: Bukhara and Khiva are about 450 km apart across the Kyzylkum, the Red Sands, with nowhere worth a night between them. On dates when the daytime train runs we take it, with seats reserved, and the desert slides past the window. Otherwise we go in our own air-conditioned vehicle, about six and a half hours of driving, and break it with a sit-down lunch at a roadside restaurant and a stop where the road meets the Amu Darya, the river the ancient Greeks called the Oxus. Either way we leave after breakfast and reach Khiva in the late afternoon. Check in, then walk out to the western gate of Itchan Kala as the walls turn gold, and keep the evening free.

Compris

• Bukhara to Khiva by daytime train with reserved seats, or in our vehicle
• Lunch on the way
• A view of the Amu Darya on the road route
• Sunset walk to the walls of Itchan Kala

A full day inside Itchan Kala

Khiva: Itchan Kala on foot

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Khiva

Après-midi

After lunch and a rest through the heat, we see the Tosh-Hovli palace and its tiled harem courtyard, the Pahlavon Mahmud mausoleum and the Islam Khoja minaret, the tallest in Khiva, which you can climb.

Soir

We finish with a farewell dinner on a terrace as the last light catches the minarets.

Compris

• Guided day in Itchan Kala: the Kalta Minor, the Kuhna Ark, the Juma Mosque, the Tosh-Hovli palace, the Pahlavon Mahmud mausoleum and the Islam Khoja minaret
• Lunch in Khiva
• Farewell dinner

Fly to Tashkent and depart

Khiva to Urgench airport, flight to Tashkent, then Tashkent International Airport

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

After breakfast our driver takes us about 35 km to Urgench airport for the flight of about an hour and a half back to Tashkent, so you leave from the country's main international airport rather than fitting a connection around a regional flight. Your guide travels with you, sees you through to Tashkent International Airport and checks your onward flight before saying goodbye.

Soir

If you would like more time in Tashkent, we can book an extra night at the group's hotel and you can spend the afternoon at the Museum of Applied Arts or the Alisher Navoi Theatre square. Lunch today is your own. Book an onward flight leaving Tashkent after about 4 pm.

Compris

• Transfer to Urgench airport
• Flight from Urgench to Tashkent
• Drop-off at Tashkent International Airport (TAS)

Activités en option

• An extra night in Tashkent, booked at the group's hotel