Ankara Departure Uzbekistan Tour - Scheduled Around Prayer Times

The group gathers at Ankara Esenboğa Airport at 9:30 PM and departs at 11:55 PM on AJet Airlines flight VF583 for Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.

After a roughly four-and-a-half-hour flight, the group lands in Tashkent at 6:35 AM and begins a tour of the city, known for its wide, orderly streets. Stops include the Kaffal Shashi Mausoleum, the Barak Khan Madrasah, now home to craft workshops, the Hazrat Imam Mosque, and the Muyi Muborak Madrasah, which holds an original Qur'an manuscript believed to date from the time of Caliph Uthman. After Amir Timur Square and Independence Square, the group visits Chorsu Bazaar, a marketplace in use for roughly 2,000 years, and rides the Tashkent Metro, one of Central Asia's first, opened in 1977. The day ends with a transfer to the hotel and an overnight stay.

After breakfast, the group transfers to Tashkent Airport for a domestic flight to Urgench, the modern capital of Khorezm, then drives about 40 km to Khiva. Entering the historic town through the Ata Darvaza gate, the tour covers the Muhammad Amin Khan Madrasah, the Kalta Minor Minaret, the Kunya-Ark fortress, the Muhammad Rahim Khan Madrasah and the Museum of Khiva Khans, the Muhammad Amin Inaq Madrasah and its Science Museum, the Tosh Hovli Palace of Allakuli Khan with its harem quarters, the Juma Mosque and minaret, and the Islom Khoja Madrasah and minaret. After the Pahlavan Darvaza gate and the Pahlavan Mahmud Mausoleum, there is free time, and the group spends the night in Khiva.

After breakfast, the group travels to Bukhara, crossing the Kyzylkum Desert and following the Amu Darya River. On arrival, one of the trip's most special stops awaits: the tombs of Sayyid Amir Kulal and Bahauddin Naqshband, along with those of their mothers. Afterwards the group checks into the hotel, has dinner, and stays overnight in Bukhara.

After breakfast, the group tours Bukhara, one of the key stops on the Silk Road, taking in the Ismail Samani Mausoleum, the Mausoleum and Spring of the Prophet Job, the Bolo Hauz Mosque, the Ark fortress and the Poi Kalyan Complex (the Kalyan Minaret, Mir-i Arab Madrasah, and Juma Mosque), the Ulugh Beg Madrasah, the Abdulaziz Khan Madrasah, the Magoki-Attari Mosque, the Nadir Divan-Begi Madrasah, and the Chor Minor. The group then takes a roughly two-hour train ride from Bukhara Railway Station to Samarkand, where they visit the mausoleum of Imam Bukhari, one of Islam's leading scholars. The day ends with a transfer to the hotel and an overnight stay in Samarkand.

After breakfast, the group tours Samarkand, visiting the Gur-i Amir (mausoleum of Amir Timur), Registan Square with its Ulugh Beg, Tilya-Kori and Sher-Dor madrasahs, the Bibi-Khanym Mosque, and the Shah-i-Zinda complex of mausoleums (including the tomb of Qusam ibn Abbas). The tour continues to the Ulugh Beg Observatory and the mausoleums of Imam Maturidi and Khoja Ubaydullah Ahrar. Afterwards the group takes a roughly two-hour train ride from Samarkand Railway Station back to Tashkent and checks into the hotel.

Late at night, the group is given lunchboxes and transferred to Tashkent Airport. AJet Airlines flight VF584 departs for Ankara at 7:20 AM, landing at Esenboğa Airport at 10:10 AM, marking the end of the tour.