Originally caravanserais on the Golden Trade route across Central Asia, these fabled cities developed into thriving centres of commerce and culture. Under the ferocious medieval warriors Genghis Khan and then Tamerlane and their descendants they assumed inimitable power and splendour. These great cities were once so remote behind barriers of deserts and mountains that until the demise of the Soviet Union, it was almost impossible to visit them.
Fly to Tashkent the capital of Uzbekistan and continue onto the Fergana Valley which historically is the main Silk Route through Central Asia from Western China to Samarkand. The Valley is a fertile, populous and prosperous area though much of the surrounding country is mountains, steppe or desert. Visit the main cultural towns of Kokand, Margilan and Rishtan which are known for their exceptional crafts in silk and ceramics. From Fergana fly to Samarkand, chosen by Tamerlane as the capital of his great empire and he transformed it into the most beautiful city in Central Asia. New buildings rose out of the desert, built of mud brick, and faced with ceramic tiles in every imaginable shade of blue. Explore this remarkable city of soaring minarets and domes of glistening turquoise and cobalt blue. In the 14th century Samarkand’s observatory and mosques became intellectual gathering places for astronomers, poets, theologians and architects. The city contains some of the finest examples of Islamic art and many of its architectural styles became models for the rest of the Islamic world. Continue onto Bukhara which was an important staging post on the network of caravan trails which criss-crossed Central Asia. Although famous for its rugs, it was as ‘Divine Bukhara’ with its hundreds of mosques, madrasas and minarets that the British diplomat-poet, James Elroy Flecker and the Muslim world remembers it. Crooked alleys wind irregularly between the walls of clay-built houses and the men still wear colourful striped coats, knee high leather boots and patterned turbans.
From Bukhara, the party will cross the great Kyzl Kum desert and visit the marvellous city of Khiva, an ancient walled city. This is an open-air museum is more intact than either Samarkand or Bukhara. It is a maze of mosques, palaces, religious schools and homes, most of them enclosed within an area less than one mile square. Return to Tashkent for one last night before taking a direct flight back to London.
The journey is open to Members of the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office Association (FCDOA) and their friends and family. Please note that Distant Horizons has sole responsibility for the operation of this tour. The FCDOA has no direct control over the operation of any tours.
Maximum Party Size: 20
Trip Leader: Dr Iain Shearer
Dr Shearer has lectured and researched extensively on development and conflict archaeology and has conducted on site research at the Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan, excavated at the city of Nishapur in Iran (near Mashhad) and in the Ferghana Valley of Uzbekistan. He is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and has worked with the London Metropolitan Police, Arts & Antiques Unit as their in-house expert on stolen cultural artefacts from Afghanistan, Central Asia and Iran. He has also held positions at the Centre for Applied Archaeology at University College, London and was the Sackler Scholar at the British Museum. In addition to his scholastic experience and knowledge, Dr Shearer has travelled extensively in the region and has accompanied five very successful journeys to Central Asia for Distant Horizons.