Central Asia: Five Stans Express

Guide

All group trips are accompanied by one of our group leaders. The aim of the group leader is to take the hassle out of your travels and to help you have the best trip possible. Intrepid endeavours to provide the services of an experienced leader however, due to the seasonality of travel, rare situations may arise where your leader is new to a particular region or training other group leaders. Your leader will provide information on the places you are travelling through, offer suggestions for things to do and see, recommend great local eating venues and introduce you to our local friends. While not being guides in the traditional sense, you can expect them to have a broad general knowledge of the places visited on the trip, including historical, cultural, religious, and social aspects. At Intrepid we aim to support local guides who have specialised knowledge of the regions we visit. If you are interested in delving deeper into the local culture at a specific site or location then your leader can recommend a local guide service in most of the main destinations of your trip.

Meals

23 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 9 dinners

Transport

Private Vehicle,Flight,Metro,High Speed Train

Others

Ashgabat - Ertugrul Gazi Mosque Ashgabat - Anau ruins Ashgabat - Independence Monument Ashgabat - Turkmenbashy Ruhi Mosque & Family Mausoleum of the First President of Turkmenistan Ashgabat - Neutrality Arch Darvaza - "Door to Hell" Crater Konye-Urgench - City tour Khiva - Juma Mosque Khiva - Islom Hoja Minaret & Medressa Khiva - Tosh-Hovli Palace Khiva - Kunya Ark Khiva - Pahlavon Mahmud Mausoleum Bukhara - Ark Fortress Bukhara - Chor Minor Bukhara - Bolo Hauz Mosque Bukhara - Kalon Minaret & Mosque Bukhara - Taki Zargaron Trading Dome Bukhara - Ulugbek Madrasa Bukhara - Lyabi-Hauz Plaza Samarkand - Plov cooking demonstration & family visit Samarkand - Shakh-I-Zinda Samarkand - Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum Samarkand - Bibi-Khanym Mosque Samarkand - Registan Tashkent - Chorsu Bazaar Tashkent - History Museum of the People of Uzbekistan Tashkent - Metro tour Khujand - History Museum Khujand - Jami Mosque Sary Tag - Iskanderkul Lake Dushanbe – Hissor Fort Dushanbe – National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan Dushanbe - Rudaki Square and Somoni Museum Almaty - Kok Tobe Hill Almaty - Central State Museum Almaty - Zenkov Cathedral Almaty - Museum of Kazakh Musical Instruments Almaty - Panfilov Park Altyn-Emel National Park - Singing Sand Dune Charyn Canyon - National Park Kolsay Lakes National Park - Hiking Karakol - Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral Karakol - Dungan Mosque Karakol - Jeti Orghuz Canyon Hike Issyk-Kul Lake - Fairy Tale Canyon picnic lunch Issyk-Kul Lake - Home-cooked dinner Issyk-Kul Lake - Carpet workshop Issyk-Kul Lake - Yurt workshop Issyk-Kul Lake - Eagle Hunter Visit Bishkek - City Tour

Accommodation

OCCASIONAL ALTERNATIVE ACCOMMODATION: The style of accommodation indicated in the day-to-day itinerary is a guideline. On rare occasions, alternative arrangements may need to be made due to the lack of availability of rooms in our usual accommodation. A similar standard of accommodation will be used in these instances. TWIN SHARE / MULTI SHARE BASIS: Accommodation on this trip is on a twin/multishare basis. Please note there may be times where facilities will be shared rather than ensuite and rare occasions when you share a room with passengers travelling on a different Intrepid trip than your own. CHECK-IN TIME: Throughout the trip we request that our hotels prepare rooms in time for our arrival, especially if we're arriving prior to normal check-in time. However this isn't always possible which means we won't be able to check-in immediately on arrival at some hotels. Instead, we can store our luggage and explore our new destination. PRE/POST TRIP ACCOMMODATION: If you've purchased pre-trip or post-trip accommodation (subject to availability), you may be required to change rooms from your trip accommodation for these extra nights. HOMESTAYS: Please note that at our homestays you might be required to share a room with people of other genders, or with your leader. Because we stay at real people's homes, beds might be pull-out couches or mattresses on the floor, or even a yurt in their backyard. Some of the accommodation along the way is very basic, staying in local guesthouses, yurts and homestays with limited facilities. Some facilities are shared and some accommodation has cold water only or no bathroom facilities. Hotel (15 nights),Guest House (2 nights),Tourist Yurt Camp (2 nights),Home Stay (3 nights),Camping (1 night)

Others

Other activities and services are not included

Flights

International flights are not included

Optional

Other activities and services are not included

Insurance

Travel Insurance is not included