3 Stans: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan

Arrive in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. Your driver will transfer to your hotel. Overnight in Ashgabat.

Spend the day exploring Ashgabat. Highlights of today’s tour include the National Museum of History and Ethnography, the Arch of Neutrality, and a visit to ancient a Nisa – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This huge mud-brick city, still enclosed within an imposing wall, was one of the earliest and most important cities of the Parthian Empire, a major power that dominated this region from the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE. Gather this evening with fellow travelers for a welcome dinner to celebrate the beginning of the journey. Overnight in Ashgabat.

An early morning flight takes us to the city of Mary, from where we drive to Merv, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Across the vast flat landscape stretch the remains of an array of towns whose city walls enclose nearly 2,500 acres. There have been many incarnations of Merv.  Archaeological surveys have shown that a village existed here as far back as the 3rd millennium BCE. The Ancient Persians developed the city in the 6th century BCE and, under Alexander the Great, it was renamed Alexandria. This was the Silk Road’s main trading route between Bukhara in the 12th century, before the Mongol invasion, was reputed to be the world’s largest city. After exploring the extensive remains, walk through the museum that exhibits archaeological finds from sites excavated in the Mary oasis, including material from the Bronze Age sites of Gonur Depe and Togoluk, along with ancient Merv.  Return to Mary for the evening flight back to Ashgabat. Overnight in Ashgabat.