In Joanna Lumley’s Footsteps: Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan

Most flights arrive in the (very) early hours of the morning so we will meet you at Tashkent airport and transfer you to your 4* hotel in Tashkent city centre. After a late breakfast at the hotel and some time to rest, you’ll reconvene for lunch, then spend the afternoon exploring some of the sights of Tashkent, Central Asia’s largest city.

Some scholars believe that a Stone Tower mentioned in early accounts of travel on the Silk Road referred to this settlement (“Tashkent” means “stone castle”). This tower is said to have marked the midway point between Europe and China. Whether that’s true or not, Tashkent developed from the trade routes that once passed this way, carrying Chinese silk – as well as a cornucopia of other goods – to the West. Destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1219, it fell to the Russians in 1865, becoming the capital of Russian Turkestan.

Today you’ll see some of Tashkent, both old and new. You’ll visit the Hasti Imam complex in the old city to see the world’s oldest Koran, take a ride on the stunning Soviet Metro and walk to Independence and Amir Timur squares, the latter with the famous statue of the ‘conqueror of worlds.’ Supper will be at one of Tashkent’s best restaurants.

It’s an early start this morning in order to catch the 07.25 flight from Tashkent to Khiva. After a one hour flight, and a forty-five minute transfer by road, you’ll reach Khiva, one of the most famous desert citadels on the Silk Road, and have the rest of the day to  rest and begin to explore the UNESCO-listed old city – the Ichan Kala. Wandering through its dusty alleys, you’ll get a very good sense of this historic place – its brutal slave trading past, its madrassas and minarets, its fabulous arts and crafts. Among the sights you’ll be seeing today are the Juma Mosque (with its wonderful carved wooden pillars); the Tosh Hauvli palace, also known as the Khan’s harem, and the Kuhna Ark – the Khiva rulers’ own fortress and residence, first built in the 12th century. The handicrafts in Khiva are exceptional, and you will no doubt also spend some time gazing at the many fabulous shops and street stalls. Accommodation is in a charming family-run madrassa hotel within the walls of the Ichan Kala.

Today you have a whole day to explore Khiva. Among the many beautiful things you’ll be seeing is the Palace of Nurullabay, built by the last Khan of Khiva in the early 20^th century and – like the Emir’s Summer Palace in Bukhara – a glitzy melange of Central Asian, Russian and European influences.

If you’re a keen photographer, the sunrises and sunsets in Khiva are rather special thanks to the dry desert climate and the warm colours of the citadel.

Lunch and supper today will be in lovely restaurants in the Old City.

After breakfast at the hotel you’ll drive for two hours into the Kyzl Kum desert to visit some of the incredible 2500 year old ‘Golden Ring of Khorezm’ fortresses that once guarded passing Silk Road caravans from raiding Turkmen tribes. Featured in Joanna Lumley’s Silk Road Adventure TV series, these fantastic ruins rise out of the desert like mighty crowns of sand and give a real sense of the wealth that once flowed through here. Having clambered up to one of the main fortresses, Ayaz Kala, you’ll  have lunch in a desert yurt camp. For those who wish, there’ll be a chance to ride a shaggy Bactrian camel, one of the very ones that featured in Joanna’s series. You’ll be back in Khiva by late afternoon, in time for some R&R (or shopping!).

Supper will be with a local family, where you’ll enjoy some traditional Khorezm dishes and a performance of Khorezmian music.

You’ll be in the same hotel tonight.

After breakfast at your hotel, you’ll hit the road south to Bukhara, one of the jewels of the Silk Road. It’s a seven-hour drive* south across the red sands of the Kyzl Kum desert, and you’ll stop on the way for a BBQ at a roadside tea house. You’ll reach Bukhara by early evening, in time to check in to your delightful boutique hotel, relax for a few hours and then have supper at a nearby restaurant.

*By 2023 the long-awaited Khiva to Bukhara train line might have opened, but we won’t know this until later this year. If it is open, then you’ll be travelling on a shiny new train, a journey that will take around four hours.

“Bukhara! For centuries it had glimmered remote in the Western consciousness: the most secretive and fanatical of the great caravan-cities, shored up in its desert fastness against time and change. To either side of it the Silk Road had withered away, so that by the 19th century the town had folded its battlements around its people in self-immolated barbarism, and receded into fable.”

Colin Thubron, Shadow of the Silk Road

For many, this atmospheric city is the highlight of their Silk Road journey, a place where the walls seem to echo with whispers of Genghis Khan, the Sogdians, Timur, Chinese silk traders, The Great Game and more. Since there’s so much to see in Bukhara, you don’t want to rush, so you’ll have the best part of two days in this splendid city. Prepare yourself for a feast of mosques, minarets and madrassas.

Among the things you will be seeing are the Ishmael Samani Mausoleum, the Bolo Hauz mosque, the Kalon minaret, the Mir-Arab Madrassa (from exterior only), the Ark fortress and Zindon (with its infamous Bug Pit), the Lyabi Hauz pool area, the trading domes and the Maghok-i-Attar mosque (the oldest mosque in Uzbekistan).

Lunch will be in a city centre restaurant.

Bukhara is also full of wonderful artistry, so as you wander around you will get to see ikat weavers, metal workers, calligraphers and embroiderers at work.

Tonight you’re having supper in an old merchant’s house.

You have most of today in Bukhara again, so plenty more time to enjoy the sights of this wonderful place.

After breakfast, you’ll drive twenty minutes to the Summer Palace of the last Emir of Bukhara, known by the poetic name Sitora-i Mokhi-Khossa, or ‘Star like the Moon’. Named after one of the Emirs’ favourite wives, who died in childbirth, the lavish palace was completed in 1917 and is a fusion of Oriental, Russian and European styles, set in once lovely rose gardens. It’s an atmospheric place, and some of the artistry and ceilings are incredible.

A light lunch will be beside the Lyabi Hauz pool.

You’ll then have some time to relax (or shop!) before you head for Bukhara train station in time to catch the 15.50 high-speed Afrasiab train to Samarkand. These Spanish-built, highly efficient trains make British Rail look positively backward.

In Samarkand you’ll check-in to a lovely little boutique hotel. Supper will be at the best restaurant in town.

Today you have a whole glorious day exploring Samarkand, the former capital of Sogdiana, the heartland of the Silk Road. As well as going to the main sites, such as Gur Emir (Timur’s tomb), the Afrasiab Museum (home to the Soghdian frescoes featured in the series) and the stunning Shakhi Zindar complex, you’ll also be experiencing everyday life here, having a very good lunch and then a private fashion show, followed by supper with the designer at her studio.  Tonight, you’ll be in the same hotel.

After another amazing breakfast at the hotel you’re off to meet a family of ethnic Tajik bakers, to learn about the art of Samarkand’s famous non, or bread. Made in huge wood-fired ovens, this bread is the stuff of legend, and is still revered in Uzbek society. You’ll have tea in the courtyard of the bakers’ family home.

After more sights, and lunch, you’ll visit the Khujum Silk Carpet factory, which employs around 400 local ladies. The silk carpets made here are exported all over the world, and some are worth tens of thousands of dollars each.

At around 16.30 you’ll be transferred to Samarkand train station in time for the 17.30 Afrasiab train to Tashkent. The train takes two hours. In Tashkent, you’ll head straight for supper at the beautiful home of a good friend of ours.

Tonight will be in the same 4* hotel.

After breakfast at the hotel you’re off to visit the studio of Uzbekistan’s most famous suzani embroidery artist, to see how these fantastic works of art are designed and made. You’ll then visit Tashkent’s Chorsu bazaar, have lunch, and be transferred to the airport in time for the short flight to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Your Kyrgyz guides will meet you at the airport and take you to your stylish city centre hotel. Supper will be at a good city centre restaurant.

After breakfast at the hotel you’ll have the morning to explore Bishkek, one of our favourite Central Asian cities. You’ll take in a few of the main sites (Ala-Too Square, the Changing of the Guard, National Museum of Fine Arts) and visit the recently re-opened National History Museum, which is absolutely fantastic.

After lunch, you’ll head east into the wilds of Kyrgyzstan, to the southern shore of gorgeous Lake Issyk-Kul. Meaning ‘warm lake’ in the Kyrgyz language, it’s the second largest saline lake in the world after the Caspian Sea and was a major artery of the Silk Road. On the way you’ll stop at the Burana Tower – all that remains of Balasagun, an 8th century Uighur settlement that was once seen as the centre of the world. Tonight you’ll be in a beautiful private yurt camp beside the lake, surrounded by the glistening peaks of the Tien Shan. The yurt camp here does have en-suite facilities.

This is such a special place we don’t want to rush off just yet. If you wish, you can simply lounge in a hammock under the apple trees and get lost in the view (or a good book). Or you can dip your toes in the gin-clear waters of the lake. But you’ll also be venturing into the nearby mountains to meet the family of eagle hunters featured in Joanna Lumley’s Silk Road, and learn a little about this ancient Central Asian art. This evening you will have a wonderful private music show by a breathtakingly talented local family of musicians. Tonight you’ll be in the same yurt camp.

It’s a four-hour drive across fantastic mountains to the 15th century Silk Road caravanserai of Tash Rabat, a mysterious hulk of a building nestled in the mountains near the Chinese border. After exploring the caravanserai we’ll be spending the night in a wonderful, family-run yurt camp beside a gurgling river. There can’t be many more places on earth where the stars shine quite so brightly. There’s also the chance to either go walking or horse riding here for those who wish.  The yurt camp here does not have en-suite facilities, but it does have western loos.

We start heading back to Bishkek today, via the town of Naryn. On the way you’ll stop stop in the town of Kochkor to meet a  well-known local artist and learn about shyrdak, traditional Kyrgyz felt work. Lunch will be in the garden at the artist’s house, where you’ll have the chance to try some local specialities. Tonight will be in a comfortable hotel, with hot showers and proper loos, in the small town of Naryn.

It’s a five and a half hour drive back to Bishkek today, through more gorgeous scenery. You’ll arrive by early afternoon and have a celebratory dinner in Bishkek.  Accommodation will be in the same stylish hotel in the centre.

We’ll take you to the airport for your flight and wish you on your merry way.