Central Asia tours – Silk Road – Pamir Highway

Tour itinerary:

Day 1 Airport – Almaty

Arrival in Almaty Airport. Your guide and driver will meet you at the airport. Transfer to hotel. After rest visit Panfilov park, Zenkov Cathedral, Central State Museum of Kazakhstan Republic Square. Enjoy panoramic view at Kok – Tobo Hill, Visit Medeo Gorge. Check in to the your Hotel.

Day 2 Almaty – Charyn canyon

Your guide and driver will meet you at the hotel lobby early in the morning. Depart Almaty and drive to Charyn canyon (229 km 3-4 h) Located in the east of Kazakhstan Charyn canyon amazes with a huge gorge cliffs of various colours and shades. The canyon is a part of the Charyn National Park territory where you can see the old ash – tree grove, the Castle valley and 154 m canyon with cliffs resembling towers. As you arrive the destination, you will have some time for picnic and rest. After that walk along canyon and enjoy its beautiful view. Drive to Saty village (Kolsay). Dinner overnight in homestay.

Day 3 Kazakhstan ( Kolsay ) – Kyrgyzstan ( Karakol )

After breakfast continue transfer to the Kazakh – Kyrgyz border. Meet with Kyrgyz Driver and guide at the border and transfer to Karakol via Karkyra valley. Arrival in Karakol we will visit Prejevalsky museum, Wooden Orthodox Church, Dungan Mosque in Chinese style. Dinner in a café. Overnight at the guesthouse.

Day 4 Karakol – Altyn Arashan

In the moring transfer to Altyn Arashan gorge by Russian car 4WD vehicle. Altyn Arashan (Golden Spa) gorge one of the most famous gorges in Karakol  there you will see wonderful fur tree forests and hot springs. Overnight in Homestay.

Day 5 Altyn Arashan – Karakol – Zheti Oguz

After breakfast we will be transferred to the Karakol city. On arrival Lunch in restaurant. After Lunch go to Zheti Oguz ( Seven Bulls ) gorge and Broken Heart Rock. Overnight in the yurt.

Day 6 Zheti Oguz – Skazka canyon – Bokonbaevo – Kochkor

In the morning transfer to Kochkor on the way visit Skazka canyon. Lunch Bokonbaevo where you will see Eagle hunting show One of the best time to enjoying. Continue driving to Kochkor. There will be a Kyrgyz folklore dinner show with Kyrgyz national music and songs. Family run accommodation.

Early breakfast transfer to Jumgal valley to starting point of the horse ride below the Kyzart pass. Meeting with the guide and horsemen. Within sight of the road, cross Kyzyl-Kiya jailoo, an enormous, relatively flat sea of grass. Continue over the Chaar-Archa Pass (3 061 m) into the Chaar-Archa Valley and eat a tasty lunch at Kilemche jailoo, with views of holy 4400 m Baba-Ata Mountain. The name means “like a carpet,” and this swathe of grass covers whole mountain ranges, with shadings as subtle as any shyrdak (shyrdak is a Kyrgyz felt carpet). Dinner in a yurt.

Horse time: 5 hours.

Day 7: Kilemche — Song Kol lake

Spend the morning climbing to Jalgyz Karagai pass (3400m), enter the lake basin. The trek offers superb views of grassland and mountain ranges. After lunch at Jaman Echki, follow the lakeshore east to Batai Aral, and meet the host family of Kyrgyz shepherds. Overnight in yurt，enjoy typical local food, such as fermented mare’s milk and grill fish from the lake.

Horse time: 5 hours.

DAY 8: Song kol lake – Tash Rabat 5 hours (By Car)

Transfer to Tash Rabat, on the way we cross 3400m via 32 parrots pass, here you can enjoy beautiful scenery of the pass, lunch in Naryn. Arrival to Tash Rabat we visit to Caravan serai, Tash Rabat is located somewhat east of the main north-south highway. In a valley, away from busy life, lies the ancient caravanserai Tash Rabat (Kyrg.: Таш Рабат). Scholars are not fully sure about the origins of the building but it is likely to be a ‘guesthouse’ on the Silk Road, serving caravans passing the mountains to nearby China. Others say it was a Nestorian Monestary from the early times of Christianity in the 9th century. Dinner overnight in yurt.
By car 5 hours

DAY 9: Tash Rabat – Kazarman (By Car)

After breakfast transfer to Kazarman via Torugart pass. Lunch dinner overnight in guesthouse. In the evening you can walk around village.

By car 5 hours

DAY 10: Kazarman – Osh (By Car)

Today go to second biggest city in Kyrgyzstan. On the way lunch in restaurant. Arrival to Osh, we visit to Sulaiman mountine, Its five peaks and slopes contain numerous ancient places of worship and caves with petroglyphs as well as two largely reconstructed 16th century mosques. One hundred and one sites with petroglyphs representing humans and animals as well as geometrical forms have been indexed in the property so far. The site numbers 17 places of worship, which are still in use, and many that are not. Dispersed around the mountain peaks they are connected by footpaths. The cult sites are believed to provide cures for barrenness, headaches, and back pain and give the blessing of longevity. Veneration for the mountain blends pre-Islamic and Islamic beliefs. The site is believed to represent the most complete example of a sacred mountain anywhere in Central Asia, worshipped over several millennia.

Dinner overnight in guesthouse

Day 11: Osh – Tulpar Kul lake (Lenin peak)

Today we drive from Osh to Sary Mogul village, via beautiful Alay ranges and over the Taldyk Pass (3615m). We will stop for a lunch in between. Once we pass the village of Sary Tash, the natural scenery of Pamir Alay range is spectacular. We will arrive Kyrgyz nomadic village near the lake Tulpar Kul, it is a perfect place for acclimatization.

Overnight in Nomadic yurt stay

 

Day 12: Tulpar Kul lake (Kyrgyzstan) – Murgab (Tajikistan)

After breakfast drive to Murgab and we will cross from Kyrgyzstan to Tajikistan border. Picnic on the way, on our way we have pass 4280m. Murghab is a small town at an altitude of 3670 m, it also has few attractions, but it will serve as our base for a one night as we explore the area a little.  Join to the family to prepare traditional meal or bread. Arrival to Murgab we have dinner and, overnight in homestay

Day 13: Murgab – Langar (Wakhan corridor)

Early in the morning, we drive along the Wakhan valley from Murgab to Langar. There are several places of interest to stop. Above the village of Vrang, on a cliff-side pitted with caves, stands a Buddhist complex dating from 4th-7^th centuries. The 7546 m – high Chinese peak of Muztag Ata is visible to the northeast of town, 110 km away in a direct line.

Day 14: Langar – Khorog (Wakhan corridor)

In the morning continue to Ishkashim, administrative center in Wakhan valley. Here we enter various settlement of Wakhi. Ethnological, historically and cultural the social landscape is unique. On the way stop for hot springs at Garm -e- Chasma. After that, we reach the mouth of the Wakhan River valley. This is where the 19th century Great Game ended, between the Russian and British empires. From here, the road continues up along the north side of the river. There are amazing views of the Pamirs to the left and the Hindu Kush to the right. We will stop along the way for a scenic picnic. Further will admire the Khakha Fortress, dating from the third century BC and rising from a platform of natural rock. Just 300m further on is the interesting Ismaili mazar (tomb) of Shah-i-Mardan Hazrati Ali. After that, we move to next Zoroastrian “Fortress of Fire Worshippers”. Further up the hillside, there is the hot springs at Bibi Fatima: minerals and very salty, the water at Bibi Fatima is crystal clear. At Yamg, visit the reconstructed home of Sufi mystic Muabara Kadam, who died in 1910. Near his house, there is a stone pillar with a hole, in which he used to calculate a solar calendar Dinner overnight in a guesthouse

 

Day 15: Khorog – Kalai Khum

Today we driving through beautiful scenery and interesting villages on route. The road joins the river Pianj, which in turn forms the border with Afghanistan. Khorog The capital of Gorno-Badakshan Autonomous Oblast, Khorog is a small town that at various times has been under the control of the Russia, the Emirate of Bukhara and Afghanistan. The Russians built a fort here in the Soviet era, with Khorog being in a highly strategic location on the border with Afghanistan, but today it languishes and is one of the least developed parts of the country, with the Aga Khan Foundation contributing to the bulk of the local economy. It holds the distinction of being home the second highest botanical garden in the world, at 3900m.

Overnight in Guest House. (B/L/D)

 

Day 16: Kalai Khum – Dushanbe

After breakfast drive to Dushanbe. We will cross the Shurabad Pass (2200m high) On the road we will visit ancient fortress Hulbuk, dated by VIII century recently restored under the decree of the president. The local guide will talk interesting stories about the life in the fortress, shows outlines of the bases of rooms, halls and harems of the local governor’s palace. Farewell dinner at Tajik local restaurant.

Overnight at your Hotel(B/L/D)