Tashkent Explorer Trips

The Silk Road of Uzbekistan is great trip, the country is much easier and safer to travel than expected, except for non English menus the guide helped translate. A unique country well worth a visit. The trip covers 3 major cities on the Silk road Samarkland, Bukhara and Khiva with a range of great sites in each and our hotels were central to easily enable exploring. The Yurt camp was a great contrast and worth the travel. Large spacious coaches and an entertaining guide Muhammad made the travel days go quickly. The desert castles optional excursion is worth it but also enables a rest day for those wishing to recover from Day 1 and Day 2 of the trip which were full on after early morning flights.

I’ve used Explore several times and like the balance of their trips. The Uzbekistan trip did not disappoint, itinerary was excellent , tour and local guides were extremely knowledgeable and communicated clearly. Hotels were clean and friendly and crucially good locations which is useful for free time. Uzbekistan is wonderful.

It was an excellent trip with a delightful group many of whom are committed ‘explorers’ who had visited many countries. We all enjoyed the company of our young Uzbek leader whose English was exceptional as well as his pride in his country and his ambition for sustainable tourism. My first trip with ‘Explore’, I was impressed by their determination to fund local family-run small hotels in or just outside the gates of the old cities. Mohammed gave us good tips where we could eat at night and it was splendid to have free time to wander the streets and workshops in our own ways . Everywhere we found great friendliness and welcome even without a common language, though the Uzbeks language skills, particularly among the young are impressive and shaming. Their charm, business sense, command of technology, long tradition of beauty, colour and design in their architecture and crafts, their energy and ambition bodes well for their future prosperity.

The trip was very well run with the tours and transport always smooth and on time. The guides were well informed and there were plenty of breaks and the tours weren't exhausting. The hotels were pleasant especially in Khiva and Tashkent. Our tour leader Fariddun was extremely helpful, well-organised and coped with all sorts of small and larger problems with ease and grace. He never seemed stressed or out of his depth.

Nearly everything was done to a high standard. The criticisms I had amount to: 1. One hotel did not offer tea/coffee/kettle in the room 2. English language rolling news channels not available in every hotel 3. Local guides need to speak slower, pay attention to pronunciation and cut back just a little on factual info presented 4. Overnight stay in Yurt should be cut from the schedule to leave more time in Samarkand or Tashkent. The Yurt stay seemed staged and inauthentic, sleeping quarters were noisy and food was basic. No coffee was offered.

Excellent trip but very full on! We were a bit unlucky with the temperatures as we had four days at 40 deg! Excellent location of hotels - good to be close to old cities. Not sure about the stay in the yurt though - a longish drive and a bit 'hackneyed tourist experience'. Could omit this and spend longer in one of the main towns? As ever, good tips from Explore when planning the trip - money, clothing etc.