PREMIUM 14D11N GREAT SILK ROAD Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan TOUR CODE: MSILKA Visit the landmarks of the Silk Road in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Embark on an adventurous journey throughout history and visit caravanserais, palaces as well as other historical and cultural monuments located along this traditional and deep-rooted road. OIA VILLAGE ON SANTORINI ISLAND, GREECE Sheki 1 Istanbul Ganja 1 12 1 Baku Kayseri Cappadocia 1 AZERBAIJAN 1 TURKEY Konya KAZAKHSTAN Turkestan Flight path 1 Traverse by coach Otrar 1 Almaty Featured destinations Taraz Overnight stays 1 1 Shymkent Bishkek KYRGYZSTAN 6xx Ex Exootictic | | EU EU Holida Holidaysys HIGHLIGHTS TURKEY ISTANBUL • Blue Mosque • Hagia Sophia Museum • Basilica Cistern • Grand Bazaar • Spice Bazaar • Bosphorus Cruise KONYA • Karatay Madrasa • Ince Minaret Madrasa • Mevlana Museum CAPPADOCIA • Sultanhani Caravanserai • Underground City of Kaymakli • Goreme Open Air Museum • Haci Bektasi Veli Museum AZERBAIJAN GANJA • Na[alan • Nizami Mausoleum • Imamzadeh Mausoleum HAGIA SOPHIA MUSEUM • Sheikh Bahauddin Complex SHEKI • Palace of Shaki Khans • Sheki Caravanserai DAY 1 the Semah (Whirling Dervish Show) to see • Alban Church at Kish Village HOME ISTANBUL (TURKEY) the amazing atmosphere in Mevlana Cultural BAKU Meals on board Center. It was inscribed in 2008 on the • Palace of the Shirvanshahs Assemble at the airport and depart for Representative List of the Intangible Cultural • Maiden Tower Istanbul, a major city in Turkey that Heritage of Humanity. • Multani and Bukhara Caravanserais straddles Europe and Asia across the • Ateshgah Fire Temple Bosphorus Strait. • Fire Mountain DAY 4 KAZAKHSTAN KONYA CAPPADOCIA ALMATY DAY 2 Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner • Hunࢼng Birds Show ISTANBUL This morning departs to Cappadocia, • Central State Museum Lunch, Dinner drive east along the road to visit • Kazakh Museum of Folk Musical Instruments Upon arrival, begin your day at one Sultanhani Caravanserai, a well • Green Bazaar of Istanbul's greatest architectural preserved “highway hotel” for ancient • Kok Tobe Hill masterpieces - the Hagia Sophia, admire TURKESTAN traders and travellers. Continue to the • Museum of History the blue Iznik tiles of the Blue Mosque, Underground City of Kaymakli, where • Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi and see Basilica Cistern, the underground early Christians lived secretly to survive • Mausoleum of Rabigha-Sultan Begum water storage from Roman period. persecution and keep their faith. TARAZ Afterwards, take a little shopping break. • Mausoleums of Aisha Bibi Shop for souvenirs in the world's oldest • Babaji Khatun Mausoleum covered market Grand Bazaar; taste and DAY 5 • Kone Taraz smell the spices, nuts, Turkish delights at CAPPADOCIA KAYSERI • Tortkul Caravanserai Spice Bazaar. Round the day off with a GANJA (AZERBAIJAN) KYRGYZSTAN Bosphorus Cruise to enjoy magnificent BISHKEK Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner • Naࢼonal Philharmonic views along the Golden Horn and Experience the famous Hot Air Balloon • Victory Square Bosphorus Strait. ride - at your own cost - over the most • Oak Park extraordinary landscapes (subject to • Ala-Too Square DAY 3 weather conditions) before having ISTANBUL KONYA breakfast at the hotel. Today, you will visit 4-5★ HOTELS Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner the fabulous Goreme Open Air Museum, a Head to the airport to board your flight to natural landscape complex showcasing the ISTANBUL Golden Tulip Konya. Upon your arrival, proceed for the finest rock-cut churches dwellings with KONYA Dedeman Hotel city’s most important sights from the beautiful frescoes. Enjoy lunch at the CAPPADOCIA Dinler Hotel Seljuk Empire era, including the Karatay restaurant in a historic caravanserai. GANJA Ramada Plaza Hotel Madrasa, Ince Minaret Madrasa and Continue to the Haci Bektas Veli Museum, SHEKI Saray Hotel Mevlana Museum, where you will see one of the historical monuments that have BAKU Radisson Blu Hotel the Tomb of Mevlana, a famous Turkish survived the ancient times well known for ALMATY Kazzhol Hotel philosopher whose students created its scenic views before driving to Kayseri SHYMKENT Shymkent Hotel BISHKEK Plaza Hotel Whirling Ceremonies. This evening, attend airport for your flight to Ganja via Istanbul. EU Holidays | Exotic 7 14D11N GREAT SILK ROAD DAY 11 TURKESTAN OTRAR SHYMKENT Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Start your day in Turkestan, transfer to the hotel for breakfast. Afterwards you will start the ancient city tour and visit the Museum of History, Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi (UNESCO site), Mausoleum of Rabigha-Sultan Begum, Kyluet and Hamman. After lunch, transfer to Otrar, a giant mound in the Kazakh Desert. Historically, it was an important city in Central Asia. Afterwards head to Shymkent for an overnight stay. DAY 12 SHYMKENT TARAZ BISHKEK (KYRGYZSTAN) Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, Turkestan Depart for Taraz, en route visiting the Mausoleums of Aisha Bibi and Babaji Khatun from the 11th and 12th centuries. DAY 6 Ateshgah known as “Fira Temple of Baku”, Upon arrival, continue the visit to the a castle-like religious temple in Surakhani. GANJA historical complex Kone Taraz and the Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Continue your visit to the Burning Mountain Tortkul Caravanserai. After lunch, After arriving at Ganja airport, you will “Yanar Dag”, an ancient and visually transfer to Kyrgyz-Kazakh Ak-Zhol border transfer to the hotel. After resting, drive to stunning fire which blazes continuously and cross into Kyrgyzstan. Continue to the city of Naftalan to explore the Naftalan on a hillside. Return to Baku for dinner the capital city of Bishkek. Your sightseeing oil baths, stop on the way to look at the at Shirvanshah Museum Restaurant tour will include visits to the National Mausoleum of Nizami was built in honour accompanied by live traditional music. Philharmonic, Victory Square, Oak Park of the 12th century poet Nizami Ganjavi. and Ala-Too Square. After lunch, visit the Imamzadeh DAY 9 Mausoleum before transferring back to BAKU ALMATY (KAZAKHSTAN) DAY 13 Ganja to visit the Sheikh Bahauddin Breakfast, Dinner BISHKEK HOME Complex, the main historical and Free at leisure till it is time to depart to Spend some time exploring around before architectural complex of Ganja including the airport for onward flight to Almaty, Shah Abbas Mosque, medieval bath and transferring to the airport for your return Kazakhstan's largest metropolis, which flight. caravanserai. is set in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains. Like traders on the Silk Road, DAY 7 one thousand years ago, you will arrive DAY 14 GANJA SHEKI in Almaty surrounded by the cool HOME SWEET HOME Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner midnight air. We hope you enjoyed your vacation with Depart for Sheki, where you will visit the our company and we look forward to seeing you again for your next trip. Palace of Shaki Khans, built in 1762 by DAY 10 Hussein Khan, the interior of the two-story ALMATY TURKESTAN building is decorated with magnificent Tipping Guideline: (based on 14D11N) Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner frescoes and exquisite stained glass. • USD112 per person Start the city tour of Almaty, visit the Central Continue your visit to the Sheki State Museum, Kazakh Museum of Folk Caravanserai and see the Shebeke artisan Musical Instruments and Green Bazaar. Note: workshop, where they make stained-glass • A minimum group size of 15 passengers is required Enjoy lunch at the top of Kok Tobe Hill windows. Afterwards, move to the village for a confirmed departure. and have a great view of the city. Then head of Kis to see the first Albanian Church. • The sequence of the iࢼnerary, flight schedules and to Big Almaty Gorge area to appreciate hotels are subject to change without prior noࢼce in the beauty of the mountains, watch a the event of unforeseen circumstances. DAY 8 spectacular performance of the Hunting SHEKI BAKU Birds Show and learn about birds of prey Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner such as falcons and eagles. Depart by an Depart to Baku, start your walking tour to overnight train to Turkestan, located in the visit Baku’s UNESCO-listed Old City South of Kazakhstan, once known as most including the Shirvanshah Palace, Maiden important commercial centers of the Silk Tower, Multani & Bukhara Caravanserais Road, the trade route between Europe and market square. After lunch, visit the and China. 8 Exotic | EU Holidays .