Day-by-day programme of this 11-day itinerary across The Silk Road: Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva.
Day 1 â Arrival in Tashkent
Landing in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan: a green metropolis of Soviet avenues, mosques and bazaars, the gateway to the Silk Road.
- âïļ Tashkent â Aeroporto di Tashkent (TAS)
- ð Khast Imam â The Khast Imam complex is the religious heart of Tashkent: madrasas, mausoleums and the Hazrati Imam mosque, which holds the Othman Quran, considered the oldest in the world. The turquoise domes and decorated portals give a first taste of the Timurid art that will explode in Samarkand. Nearby pulses the chaotic Chorsu bazaar, under its great green dome. You dine on your first Uzbek dishes.
- ðĻ Lotte City Hotel Tashkent Palace â Centro, Tashkent
Day 2 â Train to Samarkand
High-speed train across the steppe to Samarkand, the pearl of the Silk Road. The first encounter is with the Registan, the most beautiful square in Central Asia.
- âïļ Tashkent â Samarkand â Stazione di Samarcanda
- ð Registan â The Registan is one of the most majestic sights in the world: three monumental madrasas (Ulugh Beg, the Sher-Dor with its lion-tigers, and the golden Tilla-Kari) face onto a square, covered in blue majolica, immense portals and minarets. It was the commercial and spiritual heart of Tamerlane's Samarkand. At sunset, when the light sets the tiles aglow, the spectacle is unforgettable. You dine in the city.
- ðĻ Silk Road by Minyoun Samarkand Hotel â Centro, Samarcanda
Day 3 â The treasures of Samarkand
A full day among the masterpieces of Samarkand: Tamerlane's mausoleum, the giant Bibi-Khanym mosque, the bazaar and the magical Shah-i-Zinda necropolis.
- ð Gur-e-Amir â The Gur-e-Amir is the mausoleum where Tamerlane (Amir Timur) rests, the conqueror who made Samarkand the capital of an immense empire. Beneath the ribbed turquoise dome, glittering with gold inside, his dark jade tombstone is surrounded by those of his descendants. It was the model for the Taj Mahal. From here you walk towards the great congregational mosque.
- ð Bibi-Khanym â The Bibi-Khanym mosque was built by Tamerlane as the largest in the Islamic world: a 35-metre-high portal and monumental domes, so ambitious it began to collapse almost at once. Restored, it remains imposing. Beside it opens the colourful Siab bazaar, where you can try Samarkand's non bread, dried fruit and spices. You have lunch among the stalls. In the afternoon, the necropolis.
- ð Shah-i-Zinda â Shah-i-Zinda, the 'tomb of the living king', is the most evocative necropolis in Samarkand: a narrow uphill lane lined with mausoleums whose facades are covered in turquoise, blue and green majolica of absolute refinement, one beside the other. The afternoon light makes them shine. It is one of the most photographed places in the country. You return to the centre for dinner, under a sky turning gold.
Day 4 â Shakhrisabz and the observatory
An excursion over the mountains to Shakhrisabz, where Tamerlane was born and where the ruins of his colossal palace stand, returning among the stars of the astronomer Ulugh Beg.
- ð Ak-Saray Palace â An hour and a half by road over the Takhtakaracha pass, among mountains and villages, leads to Shakhrisabz, Tamerlane's birthplace. Here remain the two gigantic pylons of the Ak-Saray portal, the 'White Palace' that was meant to be the largest ever built: 40 metres high, still covered in mosaics, they give the measure of the conqueror's megalomania. You also visit the Dorut Tilovat complex. You head back towards Samarkand in the afternoon.
- ð Ulugh Beg Observatory â Back in Samarkand, you visit the observatory of Ulugh Beg, Tamerlane's grandson and a brilliant 15th-century astronomer: of it remains the huge arc of the buried sextant with which, without a telescope, he measured the length of the year to within a few seconds. A scientific record in the heart of the Silk Road. You return to the centre for the last Samarkand evening, perhaps with a plate of plov.
Day 5 â Kyzylkum Desert and yurt
Towards the desert: a stop at the village of Nurata and a night in a yurt camp on the shores of Lake Aydarkul, among dunes, camels and starry skies.
- ð Nurata â Leaving Samarkand, you head north-west towards the desert. A stop at Nurata, an ancient town at the foot of the ruins of a fortress said by legend to have been built by Alexander the Great; here the sacred Chashma spring gushes out, full of fish considered holy. It is the gateway to the Kyzylkum desert. You continue towards the yurt camp by the lake.
- ðŊ Lake Aydarkul â On Lake Aydarkul, risen in the middle of the desert, you sleep in a yurt, the nomadic tent of the area's Kazakh herders. In the afternoon you take a camel ride among the dunes and bathe in the lake's waters. In the evening, around the fire, an akyn bard plays the dombra while the sky fills with stars as you rarely get to see. Tomorrow you set off west again, towards Bukhara.
- ðĻ Aydarkul Yurt Camp â Campo yurte, Lago Aydarkul
Day 6 â Arrival in Bukhara
From the desert to Bukhara, the holiest of the Silk Road cities, a maze of madrasas, minarets and domes almost intact for centuries. A first stroll at sunset.
- âïļ Lake Aydarkul â Bukhara â Centro storico, Bukhara
- ð Lyab-i-Hauz â Lyab-i-Hauz is the social heart of Bukhara: an ancient pool surrounded by centuries-old mulberry trees and the portals of the Nadir Divan-Begi madrasa, with its rare painted phoenixes. Around it, old Uzbeks play backgammon in the open-air teahouses. It is the right place for a dinner of shashlik and green tea as evening falls. Tomorrow the big day among minarets and fortresses.
- ðĻ Lyabi House Hotel â Centro storico, Bukhara
Day 7 â The heart of Bukhara
A full day in Bukhara's monumental centre: the majestic Kalyan minaret, the Ark fortress, the market domes and the artisans' alleys.
- ð Po-i-Kalyan â The Po-i-Kalyan complex is the symbol of Bukhara: the Kalyan minaret, 47 metres tall, built in 1127, was so imposing that Genghis Khan spared it from destruction. Facing it stand the great Kalyan mosque and the blue-domed Mir-i-Arab madrasa, still active. From the minaret one once commanded the whole city and the desert. From here you walk to the rulers' fortress.
- ð Ark of Bukhara â The Ark is the huge fortress-citadel that was the residence of Bukhara's emirs for over a millennium: an artificial hill ringed by massive walls, inside which open the audience courtyard, the mosque, the prisons and museums. From up here the emirs ruled an entire country. Then you lose yourself in the three 'taks', the covered market domes where hats, jewellery and money-changers once traded, today full of crafts. You lunch among the alleys.
- ð Chor Minor â Hidden among the houses of the old quarter, the Chor Minor is a small, quirky and delightful building: four little towers with blue domelets, each different, that served as the gatehouse to a vanished madrasa. It is one of Bukhara's most beloved corners. All around, neighbourhood life flows slowly among courtyards and workshops. You head back towards Lyab-i-Hauz for the last Bukhara dinner.
Day 8 â Towards Khiva
The emir's summer palace and then the long road across the Kyzylkum desert, along the Amu Darya river, to the fortress-city of Khiva.
- ð Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa â Just outside Bukhara, the Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa was the last emir's summer palace: a curious and fascinating mix of Russian and Oriental styles, with halls of mirrors, a white hall carved like lace and a garden with peacocks. It tells of the final splendours before the Soviets arrived. After the visit you set off: ahead lie many hours of desert.
- âïļ Bukhara â Khiva â Itchan Kala, Khiva
- ðĻ Hotel Kala Khiva â Itchan Kala, Khiva
Day 9 â Khiva, the museum-city
A full day in the Itchan Kala, Khiva's walled old town: a concentration of minarets, madrasas and palaces on a few hectares, preserved like a living museum.
- ð Itchan Kala â The Itchan Kala is Khiva's inner town, enclosed by 10-metre-high mud walls: you enter from the west gate and find yourself before the Kalta Minor, the stout, truncated minaret entirely clad in turquoise majolica, the city's symbol. You visit the Kunya Ark, the khans' ancient citadel, climbing the bastion for the overall view of the roofs and minarets. Everything is within walking distance.
- ð Pakhlavan Mahmud â The mausoleum of Pakhlavan Mahmud, poet, philosopher and wrestler, patron of Khiva, is the holiest and most beautiful place in the city: beneath a turquoise dome, the walls are clad in cobalt-blue majolica of poignant refinement. Nearby you climb (for the fitter) the Islam Khoja minaret, the tallest in the city, and visit the Juma mosque, with its forest of 200 carved wooden columns. You lunch in a courtyard.
- ð Tash Hauli Palace â The Tash Hauli palace was the khan's residence, a labyrinth of over 150 rooms around courtyards: the finest is the harem, with its iwans (loggias) covered in majolica and painted ceilings. At sunset you climb the walls or a terrace to watch the city turn golden and the minarets stand out against the sky. An evening stroll through the now-empty alleys closes the day. Tomorrow you head home.
Day 10 â Back to Tashkent
Flight from Urgench to Tashkent and a final evening in the capital, among its monumental squares and a last plate of plov.
- âïļ Khiva â Tashkent â Aeroporto di Tashkent (TAS)
- ð Amir Timur Square â The afternoon in Tashkent is spent around the square dedicated to Amir Timur, with the conqueror's equestrian monument, the broad avenues and perhaps a metro ride to admire its finest stations, decorated with chandeliers, marble and mosaics like the halls of a palace. It is the modern, Soviet face of Uzbekistan, a counterpoint to the silk cities. You do your last shopping before returning to the hotel.
- ðĻ Lotte City Hotel Tashkent Palace â Centro, Tashkent
Day 11 â Departure from Tashkent
Return flight from Tashkent. The end of the journey along the Silk Road, among turquoise domes, madrasas, deserts and Uzbek hospitality.
- âïļ Tashkent â Aeroporto di Milano Malpensa (MXP)
