Wonders of the Silk Road

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.

Uzbekistan more interesting than Turkmenistan. As well as our tour leader, local guides were very knowledgeable on the history etc. Favourite city was Khiva, could have done with an extra day there.

This trip was the best group tour I’ve ever taken in 25 years. It wasn’t perfect, but the combination of Itinerary, sites visited, transportation and guides/ground staff made it an excellent trip. (Victoria, Muftuna and Slava) Look the Accommodation wasn’t consistent, it was either magnificent like The Elements in Tashkent or poor like Hotel Maroqanda in Samakand but the local guides had passion for the their towns, the sites we saw over the 13 days were mind blowing and the local people we met were so friendly. A big thank you to Andrew in your UK office for keeping this trip running despite it having to run in reverse order because of the sudden change on the Turkmenistan side. Some days were very long, the pace was full on despite ‚free afternoons‘ but there was so much to see and do. The border crossing was a 4 hour challenge but we made it through. I would 100% recommend this trip and suggest you personally add a few days before and after the trip for more exploring.

We covered a lot of ground and it was full on . Personally I think for me not so busy would have improved the journey

This was our first time on an organised tour so we were unsure what to expect. But the experience was wonderful: very well organised, helpful and full of opportunities to capture what was best about the places we visited. Our two tour guides were excellent in every respect: very well informed and sympathetic, as were the additional experts. Only slight disappointment was the change in timetable that led to us having only an afternoon in Khiva. The small group nature of the tour was crucial as it allowed us to bond with our fellow explorers.

Everything I would expect from Explore! Thought Hotel Mary was scraping the bottom of the barrel even for a basic hotel. Overall a fantastic experience with tour leaders and guides who were both knowledgeable and passionate about their respective countries.

Great trip with excellent leaders but would suggest an extra day added to see more in Khiva