UZBEKISTAN: TOUR MAGICO UZBEKISTAN

Departure by scheduled flight to Urgench. Overnight stay on board.

Arrival in Urgench and clearance of customs formalities. Transfer to Khiva. Start visiting Khiva, the oldest and best-preserved town on the "Silk Road." You will

will visit: the Mohammed Amin Khan madrasa, the mausoleum of Pakhlavan Mahmud, hero and patron of Khiva. The Islam Khoja madrasa, the Juma mosque, interesting

for its 213 wooden columns, 3.15 m high, in the Arabic style. Lunch. During the visit you will have the experience of participating in the preparation of typical local bread, stop on one of the city's terraces with a magnificent view and taste ginger lemonade spiked with vodka. Continue the tour with the Stone House (Tosh Howli), Madrasa Allah Kuli Khan, bazaar and caravanserai. Transfer to hotel in Urgench or Khiva. Accommodation. Dinner and overnight stay in hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer by coach through the

"red" desert of Kizyl Kum to Bukhara. Snacks along the transfer With tasting of the famous Uzbek skewers. Arrival in Bukhara after about 7 1/2 hours' drive Stop at the Labi Hauz complex consisting of three monumental buildings: the Kukeldash Madrasa (one of the largest Islamic schools built in Central Asia), the Khanaka and the Nodir Divan-begi madrasa built in 1,630. Transfer to hotel. Dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel. Day devoted to sightseeing, you will will see: the PoiKalon complex, the Kalyan Minaret, the Kalyan Mosque and the only madrasa

functioning in Bukhara, the Miri Arab Madrassa. At Ark Fortress, the monumental fortress that is the oldest ancient architectural and archaeological site in Bukhara. Then stop at one of the most important monuments in the city built in

1712, the Bolo Hauz Mosque. Afterwards visit to the Chasmai Ayub (considered the mystery building) and the Ismail Samani Mausoleum, the first Islamic tomb in Central Asia. Visit to the Synagogue, still functioning and protected by the city government. Again the Magoki Attori Mosque, a building constructed even before the country's Islamization. Passage through Medieval Bukhara and stop at the Dome of Commerce, at the sauna (Bozori Kord Khammam, at the large 16th-century commercial center

Abdullakhan Tim, to the Ulugbeg Madrasa and finally to the Abdulazizkhan madrasa. During the visits in addition to lunch at a local restaurant, it will be possible to visit Rahmon's house and see the making of different types of Suzane. For dinner, if available, it will be possible to attend a folkloric performance.

After breakfast departure for Shakhrisabz, the homeland of Amir Timur the Great. On arrival in Shakhrisabz visit: the Aksarai Palace (construction of the palace, which began in 1380 ended in 1404); the Complex of Dorus Saodat (built after the death of the eldest son of Amir Temur-Jakhangir in 1376; the Dorut Tilovat Complex (which includes the Kuk Gumbaz Mosque, Gumbazi Sayidon, Jakhangir Mausoleum); the Hazrati Imom Mosque (19th-century building most likely related to Abu Abdulla Muhammad ibn Nasr al Keshi, a local holy man in the 9th century, whose remains, according to legend, were brought back by Tamerlane from Baghdad); Tamerlane Crypt: found by archaeologists in the mid 20th century. Amir Temur was supposed to be buried there, but because the mountain pass between Samarkand and Shakhrisabz was covered by snow, the great leader's remains were buried in Samarkand. Lunch at a local restaurant. Continuation

to Samarkand. Dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel. Day devoted to sightseeing: to the Registan Square (you can attend a small musical performance at the Sherdor Madrasa that

overlooks the square with mini-lecture on traditional musical instruments); to the Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum (this is where Tamerlane is buried along with his two sons and two of his grandsons); to the Shah-i-Zinda (the Tomb of the living king), an avenue of mausoleums with one of the richest works of majolica tiles; to the Afrosiab Museum; to the Ulugbek Observatory (who was a great scholar of astronomy); to the Bibi Khanym Mosque, which in the 15th century was one of the most large and magnificent mosques in the world; and finally to the famous Siyob Bazaar. During the tours it will be possible to visit a silk paper factory and a carpet factory. Meals in restaurants local. Overnight stay.

Breakfast and overnight stay in hotel. Departure by coach for Tashkent. Arrival and lunch in a restaurant. Visit to the old city: of the Khast Imam Complex (which includes the Barak Khan madrasa, the mosque Tillya Sheikh, the Kaffal Mausoleum

Shashiy, and the Madrasa Muyi Mubarak which houses the oldest Qur'anic

holy). Lunch at a local restaurant. Afterwards, stop at the Chorsu Bazaar, one of the most authentic markets in Uzbekistan. Finally, the square of the Navoi Theater, the first professional music theater in Central Asia founded in 1929 built by Japanese prisoners from World War II.Farewell dinner at a restaurant.

Breakfast at the hotel. In the morning. completion of the tour of the capital: tour of modern Tashkent: the Amir Temur Square, Independence Square, and finally some metro stations and the former house of the Romanovs (exterior only) built in 1891 in the center of the city. Transfer to the airport for departure by scheduled flight. Arrival and end of our services.