The Legendary Silk Road: from Almaty to Ashgabat - Private Trans-Siberian Rail Journeys

Your Itinerary

Welcome to Almaty

DAY

1

Like traders on the Silk Road one thousand years ago, you arrive in Almaty surrounded by the cool midnight air. A bus whisks you to your hotel to rest. Tomorrow, you will explore Kazakhstan’s vibrant capital city.

Overnight: Rahat Palace Hotel (or similar).

DAY 2

Life in Almaty

DAY

2

Standing beneath the brilliantly colored patterns on the Ascension Cathedral, you gaze up at one of the largest wooden buildings in the world. It’s been a morning of discovery, strolling through Kazakhstan’s capital of avenues and cafes, framed by the foothills of the Tian Shan mountain range. Soon you will be treated to a welcome lunch in a yurt restaurant, before you board your private train. Your luggage is ready and waiting for you in your personal compartment. You unpack and relax, then head for the dining car.

Overnight on board. Meals included: breakfast (B), lunch (L) and dinner (D).

DAY 3

Nomad’s Pilgrimage Center: Turkistan

DAY

3

As you eat breakfast, the glorious steppe unfolds outside the window to the steady beat of the railroad moving along the tracks. Soon you arrive in Turkistan, and stand before the magnificent Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi: the vast, brightly-tiled testament to power and beauty that UNESCO have made a World Heritage site and the Kazakhs revere as their national icon.

Overnight on board. (BLD)

DAY 4

Tashkent, the Green Oasis

DAY

4

Under the cover of night, your train crosses the border into Uzbekistan. By morning, you are in Tashkent, a city studded with monuments that hark back to the Silk Road. You experience the lush, green oasis of the steppe and tour caravanserais, fortresses and madrasah—history in earthen brick and turquoise tile. As evening arrives, you depart and travel the Silk Road trail to Shakhrisabz.

Overnight on board. (BLD)

DAY 5

Shakhrisabz, the Mighty

DAY

5

Under wide blue skies, you explore Shakhrisabz, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Timur, the fourteenth-century Mongol conqueror, filled this once-mighty city with grandiose testaments to his earthly power. Now his palaces stand in ruins around you in the bustling market town as crumbling reminders of a lost empire. You experience a folklore performance in a small village and meet some of the locals. Before night closes in, the train departs, and you join fellow travelers for an Uzbek wine tasting in the dining car.

Overnight on board. (BLD)

DAY 6

Samarkand, the Ancient

DAY

6

Wealth, conquest and faith intertwine among the splendors of Samarkand, one of the oldest settlements on Earth. At the time of Timur, this was called the most beautiful city in the world. Today, as you stand among the ornate marble pillars and vaults of Registan square or the exquisite glazed tiles of the Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, it’s impossible to suppress your sense of wonder. In visiting the Afrosiyab excavation site you untangle the roots of this astonishing civilization.

Overnight: Registan Plaza Hotel (or similar). (BLD)

DAY 7

Samarkand, the Magnificent

DAY

7

Another day to soak up the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Samarkand on this train journey. Delve into its Islamic past and sift through its riches. You see Uzbek craftsmen skillfully weave silk into carpets and press paper from mulberry bark, before casting your eyes to the magnificent past at the Ulugh Beg Observatory, the ruins of Bibi Khanum Mosque and the impressive Gur Emir Mausoleum.

Overnight: Registan Plaza Hotel (or similar). (BLD)

DAY 8

From Samarkand to Khiva

DAY

8

On a last bright morning in Samarkand, you breakfast, wander the city, and board your private train as the sun touches noon.

The spectacular steppe scrolls by your window in green hills, ancient rock and distant mountains.

Overnight on board. (BLD)

DAY 9

A Fairy Tale of 1001 Nights

DAY

9

This is Khiva, an ancient city fortress. Beneath the vivid blue glazed bands of the Kalta Minor Minaret, you set out through the sun and shadow of winding streets on a dreamlike tour of the town’s palaces, mosques, mausoleums and madrasah. All inhabited, thriving – a living museum. You lunch in the old Summer Palace of the Emir.

Overnight on board. (BLD)

DAY 10

Bukhara, the Noble

DAY

10

Beneath the imposing yellow brickwork of the Kaljan minaret, you gaze at the magnificent gateways on either side of the courtyard, each a heady cocktail of intricate tilework and grand design. This is only a first glimpse of old Bukhara, a site of UNESCO World Heritage that holds a miraculous city-museum of a thousand monuments, each a testimony to the glory days of caravan trade. At the Lyab-i Hauz ensemble, you witness the 500-year-old architectural ingenuity that keeps a pool full in the baking Kysylkum desert. You learn about the satirical Sufi Nasreddin Hodja, watch local dances, listen to exotic Uzbek tunes and have dazzling national costumes paraded in the courtyard of a madrasah.

Overnight: Hotel Asia Bukhara (or similar). (BLD)

DAY 11

Mausoleum of the Samanid

DAY

11

Another long, glorious, desert day devoted to the infinitely rich Bukhara. From the sumptuous stylings of the Mire-e-Arab Madrasah, you move to the textured geometry of the Samanid Mausoleum regarded by many as the most beautiful and precious building in Central Asia. Then onto the gargantuan, 1,500-year-old Ark fortress, and the only women’s mosque in the country. Standing on its vast rampart, you take a last view out over Bukhara, glistening turquoise and yellow in the bright afternoon light. A diamond in the dust.

Overnight on board. (BLD)

DAY 12

Merv, the Ancient Pearl of the East

DAY

12

At daybreak, your private train draws into the ancient oasis of Merv. In the twelfth-century, this was one of the largest cities in the world. Nourished by the Silk Road, its fame crossed continents. Now you stand surrounded by imposing ruins that rise up from the desert sand and crumbling arches framing bright blue sky. You walk among the relics of this UNESCO World Heritage site, including the gigantic Tomb of Ahmed Sanjar, the Virgin Fortress, and the cold room, and are invited to lunch in the courtyard of a family home.

Overnight: Hotel Ashgabat (or similar). (BLD)

DAY 13

Former Royal City of Nisa and Today’s Capital, Ashgabat

DAY

13

You begin the day at the site of ancient Nisa, and follow its smaller relics to their new home in Ashgabat, at the National Museum. The gleaming white marble of the city center testifies to the young city’s new wealth. In the evening, you settle down to a farewell dinner.

(BLD)

DAY 14

Ashgabat: An Epic Journey Comes to an End

DAY

14

You catch the transfer for your flight home, leaving wide blue skies, the open steppe, and epic monuments behind you, laden with unparalleled memories of the Silk Road.

The Legendary Silk Road

Almaty to Ashgabat

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