Ashgabat Tours in Summer

Overall, this was an excellent trip and one of the best I have done with Explore over very many years. It was certainly helped by having a good, small group and two superb leaders (one in each country), who were extremely knowledgeable and very personable. The local guides were also outstanding. The sights were extraordinary (the Islamic architecture is simply breath-taking), the people were lovely and I did not mind the long drives (on spacious air conditioned coaches) or the 9.5 hour train journey. to Samarkand As expected, the trip’s pace was full-on. As a group we took advantage of the optional extras offered and I would recommend that others seriously consider those too, especially the spectacular Uzbek music and dance show at the Grand Hall in Samarkand. Hotel accommodation was better than I had expected and generally pretty good. If I have a criticism it is that the trip should perhaps be a day longer. It would have been nice to have spent more time in Khiva and the last day in Tashkent was too long, tiring and rushed. Thankfully, I had booked an extra day in the city, although others had early morning flights. While Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are very different, I much preferred the time we spent in the latter.

An exciting and fascinating Adventure Tour through a mix of amazing Central Asian countries. Each of the Five Stans was unique, as were the caring and very knowledgeable guides. The meals were great; accommodation was good to amazing.

Amazing! I will travel to Central Asia again. Kamaola was always and had time for all members of the tour. While some members were very needy and constantly interrupted briefs or asked for information that was easily attainable from Google or the Hotel she always accommodated these members, Hats off to Kamalo :) I couldn't do her job!

If you want to discover 5 countries and their varied cultures, histories and scenery and meet some lovely people, all in three weeks, this trip is for you. We saw some wonderful, stunning scenery, met some amazing friendly people, found out about the past complicated history and the challenges they face today. It is fast paced, there are long journeys but totally worth it and loads to see and do on the way.

This tour allowed us to discover unknown parts of Central Asia. Seeing everything from stunning nature, vast deserts and ancient historical sites! I felt safe and like I got a well rounded experience in all 5 countries! Would highly recommend to others!

The guides were very good but delivered far too much historic information. additionally as a group of 60- to 75 year olds guides need to stop for lunch rather than push through to 3pm which often happened All guides should start the day with an outline of the days activity and a rough timeline