Almaty Tours in Fall

I am very please with the 5 Stans trip. The guides were wonderful and helpful. The hospitality was great. The trip had introduced us with new, amazing cultures, traditions and people.

This was the longest duration trip I’ve ever taken, covering the most ground by road and with some (by my standards) fairly extreme variations of temperature, altitude and landscape. But it was mostly very unusual, often spectacular and totally worth the bumpy ride - take layers, medications and a better camera than I did. The people were also a particular highlight. Jabbar in Turkmenistan was an impossible act to follow, but the local leaders were all very good. The group was a great mix and we bonded over one or two minor glitches and some medicinal vodka. We met the friendliest local people in markets, at the border crossings, on the road. They were very often willing to share my three words of Russian, and to practice their English. It was also very nice to be asked to join them for their photos - probably some of these invitations were from other tourists, but was still great to feel like the exotic extra for a change.

I can honestly say as a seasoned traveller the 'Five Stans of the Silk Road' tour was one of the best I've been on! In a well-planned and packed 3-week itinerary we got to compare & contrast the highlights of five countries in Central Asia (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan) each with its own distinct culture, history and approach to life. Exodus provided local guides for each country to ensure we got beneath the surface to learn more about the people. We stayed in a variety of excellent accommodation from plush hotels to lakeside yurts and the food was usually locally sourced, freshly cooked and delicious. An endlessly fascinating and thoroughly recommended for anyone with a sense of adventure and desire to learn about & experience a little-known corner of the world!

If you want to see classic Silk Road architecture then go to Uzbekistan. If you want to see amazing mountain scenery then go to Kyrgyzstan. If you want to see both of the above plus three other countries in Central Asia, whilst experiencing a wide range of 'best of' activites plus a few off the beaten track sights, all crammed into three hectic weeks, then the Five Stans trip is the one for you. My expectations were high, but this trip surpassed them.

This is my 17th trip with Exodus and this has been one of the best so far, if not the best. There is so much to see, though there is quite a lot of travelling to enable this to happen. However the scenery, mostly deserts and mountains, are delightful. The accommodation ranged from the sublime (A Sheraton!) to the plain and simple, homestays, which gave us an even better chance to interact with local people. If you have the time to do this trip, do it, the scenery is stunning and the history of this region is the history of the civilised world. Brilliant!

An incredible journey across a region that has not always been easy to visit.The trip encompasses grand landscapes, huge distances and wonderful opportunities to learn much from the local guides. Bek in Uzbekistan and Aibek in Kyrgyzstan/ Kazakhstan particularly endeared themselves to the group, bringing knowledge, consideration and enthusiasm to the task. The trip endeavours to give wide and varied experiences and "gets off the worn track" with inclusions such as Termes, Uzbekistan near the Afghanistan border.