The path from your desires to reality
UZBEKISTAN
The “Silk and Spices” Festival
Program 10 days / 8 nights
Tailor-made specially designed for ANSI Travel
The exceptional trip, offering an in-depth visit to the unmissable sites of Uzbekistan. In addition to architectural discovery, this tour allows you to dive into the exciting and joyful world of oriental art and offers the chance to participate in the "Silk and Spices" Festival in Bukhara.
STRONG POINTS :
• Tashkent: tasting of traditional Uzbek dishes at the Chorsu food market
• Khiva: spend the night in the inner city
• Bukhara: walk in the district of the old town with the discovery of the magical Festival of Bukhara "Silk and spices"
• The village of Mitan: traditional lunch with the Uzbek family, sharing friendly moments in the village, the winner of To Do the prestigious prize in Berlin for responsible and solidarity tourism
• Samarkand: city of 3 religions where mosques, Orthodox churches, the Catholic cathedral and Jewish synagogues coexist in peace and harmony.
Day 1.
Paris – Tashkent (flight) Flight to Tashkent on regular Uzbekistan Airways flights.
Dinner and overnight on board.
Day 2.
Tashkent Color of the day:
The city of the contrast of oriental and modern life Arrival at Tashkent airport, welcome by the English-speaking guide, transfer and deposit of luggage at the hotel. Breakfast in the hotel restaurant.
The rooms are available from 2 p.m. First discovery of the Uzbek capital with Khast-iImam Square, the religious center of Tashkent:
• the Barak Khan madrasa and mausoleum.
• the mausoleum of al-Kaffal Shashi.
• the Friday mosque and the Moyie Mubarek madrasa which houses its ancient Quran of Ousman
• the Museum of Applied Arts.
Lunch break.
Afternoon continuation of visits to the capital with:
• the very beautiful Koukeldach medersa
• the Chorsou bazaar, the largest market in Uzbekistan.
Return to the hotel to freshen up
20H: Dinner time.
Accommodation at the hotel.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Do not miss: Discovery of the splendid metro of Tashkent, the first metro in Central Asia through its most beautiful stations, each decorated with ceramics, mosaics and glass.
Day 3.
Tashkent – Urgench – Khiva (flight) Color of the day:
Travel between time behind the walls of the fortress: tranquility and peace, sunset and romance!
Breakfast at the hotel.
Transfer to Tashkent airport: 07:25, flight to Urgench - Arrival at 08:55 in Urgench and transfer to the hotel in Khiva to deposit the luggage.
Transfer to the hotel in Khiva to drop off the luggage. The rooms are available from 2 p.m.
Discover the inner city of Khiva, or Itchan-Kala, included:
• the Moukhammad Amin Khan medersa.
• the Kalta minaret.
• the Koukhna Ark fortress which includes the Juma mosque, the Throne Room and the Chancellery.
• Medersa Mohammed Rakhim - the poet khan, known under the pseudonym of Ferouz.
Lunch break.
Afternoon, continue visiting Khiva:
• the discovery of Tach Khaouli, or the “Palace of Stone” and its Harem,
• the Allakouli Khan medersa and caravanserai,
• the Friday mosque with its 218 carved wooden columns.
• the Islam Khodja medersa and its tallest minaret in the city,
• the Pakhlavon Makhmoud mausoleum
• the Sayid Alaouddin mausoleum.
Authentic visit: At the end of the day, excursion to a wood carving workshop to discover famous traditional items: furniture, columns, book racks, canes, etc. Return to hotel, time for rest. Dinner in town.
Accommodation at the hotel.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Don't Miss: Try Khiva's specialty – shivitoshi, spaghetti with greens sauce.
Day 4.
Khiva - Bukhara (450 km ~ 8-9h drive)
Color of the day:
The Great Desert Caravan Route Breakfast in the hotel restaurant.
Early in the morning drive towards Bukhara passing the red sands of the Kizil-Koum desert.
On the road stop near the rice field to discover the agriculture of the Khorezmians.
Continuation of the road ena through the arid steppe with the possibility of observing the herds of Astrakhan sheep, then discovery of the Amu-Daria river, a real blue snake in the desert...
Stop near the Amudarya River.
Lunch break.
Afternoon continuation of road towards Bukhara, arrival at the end of the afternoon, transfer and lodging with the hotel.
Dinner in town.
In the evening, free stroll in the old city of Bukhara. Accommodation at the hotel.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Not to be missed: Meet sunrise above the ancient citadel Itchan-Kala, on the wall of the fortress fortified by U-turns in the two-storey terrace - aivan, known as "Akshah Bobo" .
Day 5.
Bukhara Color of the day: The city of masterpiece of Muslim architecture!
Discover the old city of Bukhara, the most secret of the caravan cities with its narrow streets and its monuments whichconquer the heart of visitors.
Full day dedicated to the visit of the old city of Bukhara:
• the Po-i-Kalyan complex, the domes of moneychangers and hatters, the domes of jewelers
• the Magok-i-Attari mosque, one of the oldest in the city on the site of an ancient Zoroastrian temple.
Lunch break.
Afternoon continuation of visits:
• the whole of Liabi-Khaouz
• the citadel of Ark, fortress of the sovereigns
• the Bolo-Khaouz mosque with its twenty pillars
• the mausoleum of Ismail Samani, one of the oldest monuments in the city and nearby,
• the Chachma Ayyub mausoleum. Return to the hotel.
Dinner in town: Accommodation at the hotel.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Good idea 1: Evening visit to Poi-Kalyan square to capture the light view of high minaret between madrasa and mosque.
Good idea 2: Possibility to rent bikes on the place of Lyabi Khaouz.
Day 6.
You can continue visiting monuments outside Bukhara:
• the medersa Tchor Minor, or “four minarets”, hidden in the alleys of the old quarters of the city,
• the Bahaouddin Nakchbandi necropolis, the city's holiest site.
• the summer residence of the emirs of Bukhara, Sitora-i-Mokhi Khossa, which was the secondary residence of the last emirs of Bukhara.
• the house-museum of Faïzoulla Khodjaev, a wealthy merchant who offers a rich collection of traditional Bukhariot clothes.
lunch break
Authentic activity:during the visit to the workshop-museum of a famous puppet maker Iskandar KHAKIMOV, the whole family will not only have the opportunity to see how the papier-mâché puppets are made, but also participate in the processes and even make a small performance with characters from Uzbek tales.
Afternoon: free time for your discovery of the city.
Proposed visit to Chavkat BOLTAEV, the professional photographer, exhibiting his works in a gallery in the heart of the city, or the Bukhariot miniaturist Davron TOCHEV: puppet dolls, miniatures, watercolour, etc.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Do not miss: Walk in the Jewish quarter with the discovery of old houses, sometimes abandoned, sometimes transformed into restaurants + visit of the synagogue where you will meet rare representatives of this ethnic group.
Day 7.
Bukhara – Guizhdouvan – Mitan Village – Samarkand (300km ~ 5h drive)
Color of the day:
The secrets of Hadji Bobo's family Breakfast in the hotel restaurant.
Departure towards Nurata, on the way stop at Guijdouvan to visit the workshop of master ceramist Abdullo NURULLAEV.
Excursion to the Ceramics Museum and the pottery workshop, then discovery of the traditional embroidery in silk thread practiced by the women of the family.
• Authentic activity: “The pottery and ceramics course” to enrich your knowledge of pottery.
You pass a ceramic master class and follow all the working procedures using the threads of Abdullo Narzullaev.
Continuation of road for Mitan. Arrival in the village, warm welcome by the local people.
Authentic activities: You will then learn how to prepare square and crunchy “Bitchaks” stuffed with pumpkin or fine herbs (depending on the season) and cooked in a large clay oven. You will also witness the preparation of rice pilaf, the traditional specialty, with the inhabitants of the village to learn cooking secrets of a real Uzbek pilaf.
Traditional lunch in an Uzbek family, convivial moments to share.
Afternoon you can take a small tour of the village and visit Uzbek families to see their traditional way of life and discover the culture of the Uzbek family. Arrival in Samarkand, transfer to the hotel. Dinner time. Accommodation at the hotel.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Good idea: Compose a small Franco-Uzbek vocabulary before leaving. Google Translator will help you with this. The locals will be pleasantly surprised if you say a few Uzbek words to them.
Day 8.
Samarkand Color of the day: The contrast of the grandiosity and the richness of the color of the monuments. Full day dedicated to exploring the city:
• the famous Réghistan square, the unique set of three medersas: Tilia-Kari, Shirdor, Oulough Beg,
• visit with Gur Emir mausoleum. Lunch break. GOOD TO KNOW The idea of responsible travel in the village
Mitan is the winner of the “TO DO 2014” international competition, the most prestigious Responsible and Solidarity Tourism award.
Afternoon continuation of visits with:
• the Ouloug Beg observatory, the first observatory in the Orient.
• the Afrosiab museum.
• the tissue paper manufacturing workshop where you will have the opportunity to take part in an introduction to the production of mulberry paper or “marble paper”. Dinner time.
Accommodation at the hotel.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Good idea: Try to send the letter to your friends at the tissue papers to tell some story of making after your return.
Day 9.
Samarkand – Tashkent (train journey) Continuation of the discoveries of Samarkand with:
• the Shakh-i-Zinda necropolis, a real pearl of Samarkand architecture,
• the Bibi Khanoum mosque, the largest mosque in Central Asia.
• the picturesque Siab bazaar: noises, colors and smells… Lunch break.Afternoon, free time for personal visits.
Transfer to the station and departure by train to Tashkent.
Arrival in Tashkent. Dinner time. Accommodation at the hotel.
Meals included: Breakfast lunch dinner
Day 10.
Tashkent – Paris (flight)
Breakfast.
Transfer to Tashkent airport (2 hours in advance), flight to Paris on Uzbekistan Airways flight.
Meals included: Breakfast