This extraordinary journey follows the ancient silk route from its source in Xian, China, through an ever changing landscape to the fabled city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. We begin with a tour of Beijing before transferring to Xian by train to view the remarkable Terracotta Warriors. Along the China Silk Road we will also visit Xiahe and the enormous Tibetan monastery at Labrang, the Buddhist frescos in the Mogao Caves and the serene 'Heaven Lake' deep in the Tian Shan mountains, before flying to Kashgar in time for the famous Sunday markets. We depart China over the Torugart Pass and cross into Central Asia, visiting the Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek, the tree lined streets of Tashkent and the walled city of Khiva. Continuing to Bukhara, we savor it's rich history as we stroll through the bazaars, mosques and magnificent Summer Palace before travelling to Samarkand to view the impressive domes and minarets as we wander the 'The Registan'.
Brief Itinerary
| DAY 1 |
Join Beijing |
| DAYS 2/3 |
Beijing sightseeing |
| DAY 4 |
Overnight train to Xian |
| DAYS 5/6 |
In Xian |
| DAYS 7/10 |
Overnight train to Lanzhou, drive to Xiahe |
| DAYS 11/12 |
Train to Jiayuguan |
| DAY 13 |
Drive to Dunhuang |
| DAYS 14/15 |
Train to Turpan |
| DAY 16 |
Drive to Urumqi |
| DAY 17 |
Day trip to Tian Shan Mountains, evening flight to Kashgar |
| DAY 18 |
In Kashgar, visit Sunday market |
| DAY 19 |
Cross Torugart Pass |
| DAY 20 |
Drive to Bishkek |
| DAY 21 |
In Bishkek |
| DAY 22 |
To Khiva |
| DAY 23 |
In Khiva |
| DAY 24 |
Transfer to Bukhara |
| DAY 25 |
In Bukhara |
| DAY 26 |
To Samarkand |
| DAY 27 |
In Samarkand, drive to Tashkent |
| DAY 28 |
In Tashkent, trip concludes |
Trip Notes
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detailed trip notes
Inclusions
*27 breakfasts, 13 lunches and 14 dinners *good quality 3 and 4-star hotel accommodation except in remote towns where best available hotels are used *sightseeing, including entrance fees *internal transport by train (soft sleeper) or private vehicle *internal flights Urumqi/Kashgar, Bishkek/Tashkent/Urgench valued at $390 *national tour leaders plus local specialist guides throughout *emergency medical kit *international airport transfers if arriving on group flights *assistance in arranging visas
Why Book with World Expeditions?
AIRFARES
World Expeditions has competitive airfares to get you to the starting point of your chosen adventure. CONTACT US for a full quotation including airfares, stopovers and any additional travel you wish to organize pre or post tour.
INFO NIGHTS
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World Expeditions
World Expeditions is one of the world’s leading adventure travel companies offering ground breaking itineraries on every continent. The company has been operating small group trekking and adventure travel holidays and vacations since 1975.
We are widely recognized for ground breaking Responsible Tourism initiatives. In particular, the award winning Community Project Travel Program helps to improve the living conditions of some of the world’s most remote communities
Today, with offices around the globe, we offer more than 500 stand alone itineraries; small group active adventures and expeditions, cycling and walking tours and cultural journeys. Each itinerary has several scheduled departure dates throughout the season.
Supported by some of the world's most experienced and respected adventurers, including mountaineers Peter Hillary and Tim Macartney-Snape working with us as specialist guides, World Expeditions’ has helped shape the adventure travel industry standards since its inception almost four decades ago.
Our all-inclusive, no hidden extras pricing policy combined with longer, creative itineraries and the use of quality ground services attracts people who have high expectations of their travel experiences.
In 2004, we became the first adventure operator whose product was being distributed on Lonely Planet’s Travel Services section on their website.
World Expeditions is truly global company with offices in London, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, as well as Auckland, Ottawa and Montreal.
Why Travel with World Expeditions?
We own most of our operational bases around the world. This ensures that we can provide high quality trips of exceptional value with no hidden extras. Our trips are all inclusive, so there is little need to pay for anything once your trip commences until it ends. Our hands-on approach and years of experience has ensured a safety record second to none as we’ve pioneered some of the most unique itineraries in the adventure market place today.
World Expeditions has been seriously committed to responsible travel and true sustainability since we began in 1975 when we established our philosophy and stated ideal which was to “take only photographs and leave only footprints”.
Almost four decades of pioneering adventure travel has proved the positive conservation outcomes when travel is managed for sustainability. We believe a responsible, long-term vision can deliver true sustainability and with the participation of all our clients and business partners the challenge is being met and achieved.
An example of this commitment to sustainability has been our efforts to preserve the forests of Nepal. This has involved changing an entrenched culture of burning wood for fuel. World Expeditions has pioneered the change to kerosene as an alternative to wood on all trekking expeditions in Nepal. We do not have camp fires and we strongly discourage trekkers from buying wood-fueled hot showers in lodges along the trail. As a founding supporter of the International Porter Protection Group (IPPG) we also lead the way in porter protection by providing a good working wage for all Nepalese staff, food and extra clothing for those working above the tree line, life insurance cover and emergency helicopter insurance. Our efforts were recognized at the World Travel Mart in 2006 when our porter policies received a ‘Highly Commended’ in the Mountain Environment category.
Our philanthropic program ensures we ‘give something back’. Our current initiative is Community Project Travel. The concept behind our Community Project Travel range of trips is based on the ethos of “travel with a purpose”. It is a range of small group adventures, each about two weeks in length, whereby participants commit four to five days of their holiday to making a difference to a community in need. A portion of the traveller’s participation fee contributes to the associated material costs of the project. In 2006 our travellers helped to refurbish the Saramthali school in Nepal, collected 7 tonnes of ghost nets from the Arnhem land coastline, helped to build a new school room for the Xo village in Vietnam as well as erect a footbridge for the village of Qelqanqa in Peru so that kids could access the school safely.
In recognition of our environmental policies, we are the only Travel Company ever to be fully endorsed by the Wilderness Society in Australia. In 2001, we received the National Travel Industry’s Environmental Achievement Award, presented by WWF Australia, for our responsible tourism policies.
In addition, we create excellent adventures! Our trips have featured in the world’s most prestigious magazines and newspapers including: OUTSIDE magazine, both National Geographic Adventure & National Geographic Traveler magazine, Wanderlust, The Sunday Times, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The Age, The Sunday Telegraph (UK) plus much more. Visit www.worldexpeditions.com for details of all our adventures.
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