Apr 4 - Apr 23, 2025
Starting at
6,399
Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan/Uzbekistan/Tajikistan/Turkmenistan
On the Silk Road in Central Asia
Program No. 18766RJ
Join experts to discover the preserved ruins, grand cities and cultural monuments that line the Silk Road, discovering how this ancient trade route altered the course of human history.
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Prefer to enroll or inquire by phone?
800-454-5768
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20 days
19 nights
46 meals
18B 16L 12D
1
Depart USA
In Flight
2
In Transit to Program
In Flight
5
Drive to Bishkek
Bishkek
7
City Tour, Fly to Tashkent
Tashkent
10
Pamir Mountains
Samarkand
11
Highlights of Samarkand
Samarkand
At a Glance
Two thousand years ago, caravans of pack animals and traders followed a route west from their home in China over the steppe of Central Asia and into the fertile valleys of Europe, bringing with them silk, porcelain and spices. When adventurous Europeans traveled the Silk Road in the opposite direction, they came back with knowledge that changed the destiny of Western Civilization. Experience the history, culture and people that link the living cities and ancient ruins lining the Silk Road.
Activity Level
Let's Go!
Walking and standing up to two hours at a time on paved sidewalks, streets, packed dirt, mostly level terrain. Some stairs. Elevations up to 9,000 feet (brief mountain pass).
Small Group
Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.
Best of all, you’ll…
- Share tea with a sixth-generation ceramics master and enjoy a private exploration of his studio.
- Discuss archaeological excavations at the Bukhara Ark Citadel with a local specialist.
- Enjoy a performance of Kyrgyz Manas folk tradition in Bishkek.
General Notes
Listening devices are not available for this program.
Featured Expert
All trip experts
Farkhod Alimbaev
Farkhod Alimbaev of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, has been leading groups and individuals on Central Asian cultural and outdoor programs since 2006. He is fluent in four languages – English, Russian, Kyrgyz, and Uzbek – and is known for his friendly demeanor. Farkhod is a fan of music, travel, basketball, swimming, and reading.
Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.
Farkhod Alimbaev
View biography
Farkhod Alimbaev of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, has been leading groups and individuals on Central Asian cultural and outdoor programs since 2006. He is fluent in four languages – English, Russian, Kyrgyz, and Uzbek – and is known for his friendly demeanor. Farkhod is a fan of music, travel, basketball, swimming, and reading.
Farrukh Ibodullaev
View biography
Farrukh Ibodullaev has led programs in Uzbekistan and across Central Asia since 2010. He studied tourism and hospitality in the United Arab Emirates and Russia, and he received his degree in management from Moscow Technological University in 2014. He speaks English and Russian fluently, as well as a bit of Spanish, and, of course, his native Uzbek. He enjoys communicating with travelers from all around the world, and looks forward to leading more visitors along the Silk Road in the years ahead.
Shokhrukh Ibadullaev
View biography
Shokhrukh Ibadullaev began his career in hospitality and tourism in 2010 as a tour manager in Tashkent. After obtaining a degree in global economics in Moscow in 2014, he moved to Dubai and worked as the manager of restaurant services for Dubai Marina Resorts. In 2016, he returned to his native Uzbekistan to become fully devoted to leading groups there and throughout the ’Stans of Central Asia. Shokhrukh has a passion for cross-cultural communication and understanding, speaking English, Russian, casual French, and his native Uzbek.
Suggested Reading List
(21 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
On the Silk Road in Central Asia
Program Number: 18766
The Lost Heart of Asia
In this classic narrative, Thubron recounts his travels to Samarkand, Bukhara and throughout Central Asia in the wake of the breakup of the Soviet Union. A fine writer, intrepid traveler and insightful observer, he's an outstanding guide to the history, people and culture of the region.
Life Along the Silk Road
With insight, scholarship and dramatic flair, Susan Whitfield recounts the lives of ten diverse individuals on the ancient Silk Road, including four tales set in Dunhuang. With a superb 15-page history of Central Asia.
Everyday Life in Central Asia, Past and Present
Dozens of scholars and ethnographers contributed to this lively reader on the peoples, cultures and customs across Central Asia.
Central Asia Map
An up-to-date, double-sided shaded relief map at a scale of 1:1,750,000.
The Silk Road, A Very Short Introduction
Millward's pocket history highlights the important exchanges of goods, ideas and spiritualities that traveled the Silk Road, the Mediterranean's link to Persia, India and China.
The Silk Road, Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia
Wood draws on hundreds of archival photographs, manuscripts and paintings from the British Library in telling this lively story of the art, culture and history of diverse trade routes.
Samarkand
An excellent introduction to Samarkand (by turns inhabited by Uzbeks, Tajiks, Russians, Turks, Koryo-Sarams, Jews and Afghans), this compendium brings the region to life with essays, photos and plenty of recipes little-known to the West.
Empires of the Silk Road
Beckwith rescues Central Asia from the periphery of world affairs with flair and scholarship, depicting millennia of empires, trade and cultural life on the Silk Road.
The Silk Road, A New History
A professor of Chinese and world history at Yale, Hansen draws on original sources and the latest archaeology for this magnificently illustrated tale of the overland routes across Asia and the life, history, and culture of fabled Silk Road cities Niya, Kucha, Turfan, Samarkand, Chang'an, Dunhuang and Khotan.
Mapping the Silk Road and Beyond
This visually stunning collection of 80 rare illuminated manuscripts, early modern masterpieces and archival maps traces two millennia of exploration across Asia.
Marco Polo, The Journey That Changed the World
John Man travels in the footsteps of Italian merchant Marco Polo, bringing to life the exotic world that he uncovered, one of huge armies, untold riches, unusual spices and the great Mongol emperor Kublai Khan.
The Silk Roads, A New History of the World
Tightly researched and filled with swashbuckling stories, this history by Peter Frankopan looks eastward, showing how the West grew out of a restless desire to access Asian trade.
The Great Game
Hopkirk's spellbinding account of the great struggle for European supremacy in Central Asia takes us over the high mountain passes and through the scorching deserts and caravan towns of the Silk Road, capturing the glamour, intrigue, treachery and adventure of the time.
Lonely Planet Central Asia Phrasebook
A handy pocket phrasebook that focuses on pronunciation, basic grammar and essential vocabulary for the traveler on the Silk Road.
A Splendid Exchange, How Trade Shaped the World
Primates may share food but only Homo Sapiens trade, says William Bernstein in this far-reaching, dare we say splendid, hymn. An economist (and fine writer), he considers not just silk and spices, sugar and tea but also the considerably less savory exchange of opium and slavery in this sweeping tale.
Lonely Planet Central Asia
A comprehensive, detailed guide to travel in the region, including Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Central Asia, Through Writers' Eyes
A literary introduction to the Silk Road that uses the words of travelers, explorers and writers from Marco Polo and Fitzroy Maclean to William of Rubrick and Ella Maillart.
Lost Enlightenment, Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane
Starr brings to life the great flowering of ideas and advances of Central Asia’s medieval enlightenment, showing how, between the years 800 and 1200, Central Asian societies led the world in trade and were at the vanguard of mathematics, philosophy, history, geology, astronomy and science.
Genghis Khan and the Quest for God
With compelling evidence, top-notch historian Jack Weatherford argues that Genghis Khan used religious tolerance to offset fanaticism and hold his disparate territories together.
Flashman in the Great Game
What caused the Sepoy Mutiny, a pivotal moment in the Raj? How about Harry Flashman, the reluctant, much-decorated coward, cad and womanizer at the center of George MacDonald Fraser's wildly entertaining, irreverent series of historical novels.
Shadow of the Silk Road
Thubron returns to Central Asia in this lyrical, erudite account of a 7,000-mile trek across Asia, visiting archaeological sites, people and cities from Xi'an and Dunhuang to Samarkand, Bukhara, Afghanistan and Iran.
Program No.
18766
Duration
20 days
Program Begins
Almaty
Group Type
Small Group
Activity Level
At a Glance
Two thousand years ago, caravans of pack animals and traders followed a route west from their home in China over the steppe of Central Asia and into the fertile valleys of Europe, bringing with them silk, porcelain and spices. When adventurous Europeans traveled the Silk Road in the opposite direction, they came back with knowledge that changed the destiny of Western Civilization. Experience the history, culture and people that link the living cities and ancient ruins lining the Silk Road.
Best of all, you'll...
- Share tea with a sixth-generation ceramics master and enjoy a private exploration of his studio.
- Discuss archaeological excavations at the Bukhara Ark Citadel with a local specialist.
- Enjoy a performance of Kyrgyz Manas folk tradition in Bishkek.
General Notes
Listening devices are not available for this program.
Featured Expert
Farkhod Alimbaev
Farkhod Alimbaev of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, has been leading groups and individuals on Central Asian cultural and outdoor programs since 2006. He is fluent in four languages – English, Russian, Kyrgyz, and Uzbek – and is known for his friendly demeanor. Farkhod is a fan of music, travel, basketball, swimming, and reading.
Please Note:
This expert may not be available for every date of the program
Farrukh Ibodullaev
Farrukh Ibodullaev has led programs in Uzbekistan and across Central Asia since 2010. He studied tourism and hospitality in the United Arab Emirates and Russia, and he received his degree in management from Moscow Technological University in 2014. He speaks English and Russian fluently, as well as a bit of Spanish, and, of course, his native Uzbek. He enjoys communicating with travelers from all around the world, and looks forward to leading more visitors along the Silk Road in the years ahead.
Shokhrukh Ibadullaev
Shokhrukh Ibadullaev began his career in hospitality and tourism in 2010 as a tour manager in Tashkent. After obtaining a degree in global economics in Moscow in 2014, he moved to Dubai and worked as the manager of restaurant services for Dubai Marina Resorts. In 2016, he returned to his native Uzbekistan to become fully devoted to leading groups there and throughout the ’Stans of Central Asia. Shokhrukh has a passion for cross-cultural communication and understanding, speaking English, Russian, casual French, and his native Uzbek.
Activity Level
Let's Go!
Walking and standing up to two hours at a time on paved sidewalks, streets, packed dirt, mostly level terrain. Some stairs. Elevations up to 9,000 feet (brief mountain pass).
Small Group
Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.
Suggested Reading List
View Full List: 21 Books
You can also find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
HAVE QUESTIONS?
Prefer to enroll or inquire by phone?
We can help. Give us a call, and we can answer all of your questions!
Call
800-454-5768
