Tashkent The capital city of Uzbekistan, located in eastern Uzbekistan, Tashkent (or Toshkent) is known for its gardens, fountains and the most beautiful buildings in the whole of Central Asia. The Barak Khana seminary, Kukeldesh Medresseh and Abulkassim Medresseh display artefacts and costumes of Uzbek history and house very interesting displays of artefacts and costumes and rare Buddhist art collections. An insight into Tashkent's Metro will show you the most beautiful and artistic underground system of Central Asia -the railway system was opened in 1977.
Located in an oasis near the Chirchik River in a cotton- and fruit-growing region, Tashkent is a major industrial and transport centre and was the largest city of former Soviet Central Asia. It has industries producing machinery, cotton and silk textiles, chemicals, tobacco products, and furniture. A centre of Uzbek culture, Tashkent has several large libraries, and is the seat of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences and numerous other institutions of higher education.
The first mention of Tashkent dates from the 7th century AD, although it was probably founded by the 1st century BC. The city was conquered, successively, by the Arabs in the 8th century, by Genghis Khan in the early 13th century, and by Tamerlane in the 14th century. It was annexed by Russia in 1865, and a new Russian city was built around the older town. In 1966 Tashkent suffered heavy damage from an earthquake. Tashkent became the capital of independent Uzbekistan in 1991.
Accommodation Asia Hotel Tashkent - is
located in the street Usman Nasyra of Tashkent, 72 rooms equipped with modern equipment, including air
conditioning, telephone, Internet, electronic safe, satellite TV, minibar and
hairdryer. Lobby Bar. A wide assortment of hot beverages. Sauna and SPA. Indoor swimming pool size 12 x 6 m. Twin and single rooms available.
What We Will Experience On arrival transferred to your hotel for check in. Next morning join an orientation tour of Tashkent. This tour takes in both the "new city" and the "old town". Included also is a visit to the Fine Arts Museum.
Karakalpakstan (USCAP excavation site) Located in ancient Chorasmia - the ancient name for a delta region of irrigated farmland, lying between vast stretches of desert in Karakalpakstan, the western province of modern Uzbekistan. The excavation headquarters are set between the farmland and the desert, facing out on to a rolling dune-field covering the ruined city of Kazaklii-yatkan. Chorasmia lay at the mouth of the ancient river Oxus, which rises in the Hindukush Mountains and runs through the Kara-kum and the Kizyl-kum deserts to the Aral Sea. The delta is dotted with the mudbrick ruins of numerous ancient sites, some of which were thriving cities when Alexander the Great conquered Persia. Accommodation For 11 nights we will stay in the USCAP Field Headquarters Dormitories with shared facilities. (No singles available.)
What we will experience Volunteers will assist in the excavation of the two sites. They will carry out tasks such as drawing, planning, cleaning features and recording finds.
Kazaklii-yatkan stretches over more than 36 hectares and is surrounded by massive galleried walls and elaborate towers with ranks of arrow slits and complex outworks. Complete archers' galleries and two-story towers still stand up to 12 metres high and in the centre of the upper town stand monumental buildings including a mausoleum and a temple. The site was occupied from at least the 5th century BC up to the 2nd century A.D. and is one of the largest in ancient Chorasmia. Its internal layout suggests that it was the local capital during its floruit in the later Achaemenid period, and the site must have been an active regional centre at the time of Alexander the Great in Central Asia.
Tash-kirman Tepe is quite a different monument, consisting of an artificial platform made of stamped mud and filled with sterile sand and thousands of mud bricks to provide the ritually clean foundation for a religious complex. A centrally sited temple has been partly cleared. It has a square podium surrounded by a series of narrow corridors, most of which are filled with thick layers of ash. Several parts of the platform beyond the temple also show signs of burning and the deliberate storage of ashes in chambers sealed with layers of mud bricks. The platform may have been built in the 5th century BC and the temple possibly continued in use up until the 2nd century AD. The temple is strikingly similar to the temple of the Oxus in southern Uzbekistan, which is thought to be the source of the famous Oxus treasure now housed in the British Museum. Day trips are also included to Toprak-kala, Kizil-kala & Ayaz-kala.
Khiva (Urgench) Khiva -a museum in the open- is the only city in all of Central Asia that has survived in its entirety from old times. Various historic epochs have left their traces in Khiva, built over many centuries in the ancient cultural oasis of Khorazm.
Old Khiva is an entire city, constructed within magnificent fortification walls, with four entrance gates. Its unique architectural complexes that include palaces, houses, public buildings and mausoleums, interspersed with original architecture such as the minarets of Islam-Khodja, Kalta-Minar and Tura-Murad-Tura, are a bright illustration of the Muslim tradition, according to which buildings raised at different times constitute an ensemble.
A number of medressehs from the 18th and 19th centuries reflect not only the skills of architects and builders but also the fact that Khiva was an educational centre.
It is still a craft centre of Khorazm, where one can find traditional fur hats, witness beautiful woodcarvings being made at local workshops and buy bright traditional Uzbek silks.
A crowded food market is located, where a slave market used to be, just a few decades ago.
Accommodation Hotel Asia-Khiva or similar, located just outside the famous inner part
of charming and historical Khiva city (Ichan-Kala), near the Tash Darbaza (Stone
gate), which is the south entrance to heart of the ancient city. There are 32
rooms, all are fully equipped with air conditioning, mini bar, satellite TV,
room service, bathtub (or shower cabins), hair dryer, and International dialing is
available from the room telephones. There is a restaurant & bar, swimming
pool, sauna, conference hall, auto services. 24 hour room service, laundry,
ironing, internet access & fax services, shops, currency exchange, electronic
safe deposit box.
What We Will Experience Participants enjoy an afternoon and night in Khiva, which is constructed of mudbrick and features many of the familiar Islamic architectural highlights of Central Asia minarets, medressehs, mosques and mausoleums set in narrow streets and squares.
Bukhara No other city in the world has seen as many invasions as the city of Bukhara. It is the city monuments dating back from the 12th / 16th century AD which are the main drawcard. The Ismail Samani's mausoleum are known for the best architecture of 9th / 10th centuries AD. The Ark fortress or the seat of governance of the powerful Bukhara Khanate is an excellent well preserved Museum. The summer residence of the former Emir of Bukhara is a pleasant retreat in the outskirts and the reminiscence of the hay days with an exquisite collection of objects d'Art from the house of the Arabian Nights.
Bukhara city lies in western Uzbekistan, capital of Bukhara Oblast. It is located in an oasis on the Zeravshan River. Bukhara is situated in a region producing natural gas, cotton, fruit, and silk. It has industries manufacturing textiles, carpets, and clothing. Among Bukhara's many architectural monuments, some dating from the 9th century, are several mosques, the Ark Fortress (now a museum), and the mausoleum of Ismail Samani (9th-10th century).
Established by the 1st century AD, Bukhara was already an important trade and cultural centre when it was captured in the early 8th century by the Arabs. It was a leading centre of Islamic learning under the Arabs and the Persian Samanid dynasty, which held the city in the 9th and 10th centuries. It later was captured successively by the Qarakhanids and Tatars, and in 1555 it became the capital of an Uzbek emirate. The emirate was conquered in 1866 by Russia, which held it as a protectorate from 1868 to 1920; then the emir was removed, and the city was made the capital of the Bukhara People's Soviet Republic. From 1924 to 1991 the city was incorporated into the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR). Uzbekistan became an independent republic in 1991. Accommodation In Bukhara for 3 nights, Lyabi House Bukhara is ideally located amidst a delightful
natural settings of the old and charming part of Bukhara. Forty - fifty meters away from the
hotel can be found areas endowed with singular charms of the old city scenery
and spirit.
What We Will Experience After your arrival in Bukhara participants are given the opportunity to explore the markets of the original "trading domes" of the old Silk Route. The following day is a full day of sightseeing including the Kalyan Minaret, the Ark (the fortress of the Emirs of Bukhara), the Saminid and Matoki-Attari Mausoleums and the numerous medressehs with their splendid 15th and 16th century blue and white tiled decoration. After lunch, participants will visit the former summer residence of the Emirs.
Samarkand This famous city from the Arabian Nights is known world over since the historic records. Its beautiful madressehs at Registan Square are the prime attraction of the city. The majestic Bibi Khanum mosque and the majolicas of Shahi Zinda necropolis are possibly the most known decorative art site of the east. The 15th Century mausoleum of the Mongol conqueror Amir Timur (Tamerlane) has the most exquisite gold painted dome found in Samarkand. Samarkand city is the capital of Samarqand Wiloyat (Samarqand Oblast), central Uzbekistan. Located in the irrigated valley of the Zeravshan River, the city has industries that produce tea, wine, textiles, fertilizer, and motor-vehicle parts. It is the oldest city in Central Asia and is divided into a newly built section and an old quarter that has, among other monuments, mosques dating from the 14th and 15th centuries. The city is the seat of a university and a museum of ancient history.
The site of Samarkand was settled around 2000 BC. Later known as Maracanda, the city was the capital of Sogdiana, an ancient Persian province, and was conquered by Alexander the Great in 329 BC. It subsequently developed as a trade centre on the Road between China and the Mediterranean. In the early 8th century, it was conquered by the Arabs and soon became an important centre of Muslim culture.
In 1220 Samarkand was almost completely destroyed by the Mongol ruler Genghis Khan. It flourished again when Tamerlane made it the capital of his empire in 1369. The empire declined in the 15th century, and Samarkand was taken by the Uzbeks in 1500. In 1784 it was conquered by the emirate of Bukhara. The city was taken by Russia in 1868 and once again began to assume importance. From 1924 to 1930, Samarkand was the capital of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR). Accommodation In Samarkand for 3 nights, Hotel "Zarina" is located in 2 minutes walk
distance from the heart of ancient Samarkand
- Registan square.
What We Will Experience After arrival in Samarkand, participants will visit Registan Square, the three brilliantly decorated Medressehs surrounding the square, and the Golden Mosque. The following day will be a full day of exploration taking participants to the Bib Khanym Mosque, the Shah-i-Zinda Ensemble, the Ulug-Bek Observatory and the Gur Emir (Mausoleum of Tamerlane). Participants final morning in Samarkand is free for rest before our afternoon drive to Tashkent..
Return to Tashkent for 2 night stay.
Day-By-Day Itinerary
Day 1 - Depart Bangkok, Thailand on Uzbekistan Airways and travel to Tashkent. Lunch on arrival in Tashkent. Afternoon free time.Overnight Tashkent.
Day 2 - Visit the Fine Arts Musuem. Afternoon tour of Tashkent including 16th cent. part of the city with Kukeldash madrassah (16th Cent.) and visit to the Fine Arts Museum. Overnight Tashkent BLD
Day 3 to Day 13 -Morning flight to Urgench (2 hours) Transfer by coach to USCAP site in Karakalpakstan for 11 nights. USCAP - on excavations. Day trip to Toprak-kala and Kizil-kala. Day trip to Ayaz-kala. All meals whilst at the USCAP site.
Days 14 - Coach transfer to Khiva for one night. Afternoon sightseeing, visit Ichan - Kala complex:Kunya Ark (the 10 - 18th cent.);Kalta Minar (the 18th cent.) Juma mosque and Minaret (the 10th cent.);Pahlavan Mahmud Mausoleum (the 14 - 19th cent.); Island Khodja Madrassah and Minaret (the 19 - 20th cent.); Said Allauddin Mausoleum (the 14th cent.) Tash Hauli Palace and Harem (the 19th cent.). BLD
Day 15 - Morning drive Bukhara (7 hours, 550 km) across the Kyzylkum Desert. Afternoon exploration and shopping in the markets of the original "trading domes" of the old Silk Route. 3 nights Bukhara. Day 16- Full day of sightseeing including Lyabi-Khauz square; Magoki -Attori Mosque (the 10th Cent.);Trading Domes (the 16th Cent.);Ulugbek Madrassah (the 15th Cent.);Addulaziz Khan Madrassah (the 18th Cent); Ismail Samani Mausoleum (the 9th cent.);Chashma Ayub Shrine (the 14-16th cent.); Bolo Khauz Mosque (the 18th cent.);the Ark Fortress (the 1st -20th cent.); Kalyan Square (the 12th -18th cent.);the Summer Palace of Emir (the 20th cent.).BLD
Day 17- Morning sightseeing continued. Remainder of the day free in Bukhara. BLD
Day 18 - Morning drive to Samarkand via Rabat -I-Malik (4 hours, 300 kms.) for 3 nights stay. Samarkand which became famous as the capital of the vast state created by Tamerlane and later ruled by his grandson Ulugbek in the 14 -15 centuries. Afternoon visit to Registan Square (15th - 17th cent.), 3 night stay Samarkand. BLD
Day 19- Full day sightseeing in Samarkand we will visit the Bibi-Khanum Mosque (the 14th -15th cent.);Ulugbek's Observatory (the 15th Cent.) Shan - I -Zinda Ensemble (the 10th - 20th cent.);Gur-emir Mausoleum (the 15th cent.) BLD
Day 20 - Daytrip to Shakhrisabz (Tamerlane's birthplace) Return to Samarkand in the late afternoon. BLD
Day 21 - Morning free for rest. Afternoon drive to Tashkent (300 kms). Arrive in Tashkent and transfer to your hotel for overnight. BLD
Day 22 - Breakfast with remainder of day for your own exploration. Final night in Tashkent. B
Day 23 - After breakfast transfer to airport for flight to Bangkok. Please check the flight connections home with your Educational Travel Adviser to Australia and New Zealand as some departure points may require an overnight or day use room in Bangkok, at an additional cost. B
B = breakfast L = lunch D = dinner Itineraries may change if flight schedules, site availability and other inclusions have to be amended prior to departure. Odyssey Travel will notify registrants if, and as soon as, such changes occur.
