Ancient cities and cultures of Turkmenistan

Name of tour: Ancient cities and cultures of Turkmenistan

Duration: 6 days & 6 nights

Day 1: Ashgabat
As you land at Ashgabat International Airport, your guide will meet you and take you to the capital city. The day will be devoted to exploration of the city. The city of Ashgabat was founded in 1881. It is situated in the foothills of Kopet Dag in 25 km from the Iranian border. The name of the city comes from Persian meaning well-maintained (“eshg” means love and “abad” means populated). The guided tour of the city will include visiting Lenin's square, Park of Indepences, Arch of Neutrality. You will also get to visit the Museum of Ethnography and Museum of Fine Arts, the main in Turkmenistan. Overnight stay is in the hotel.
 
Day 2: Ashgabat – Kow-Ata
Leaving the capital city we will be heading to travel to Kow-Ata which is an underground lake 107 km from the city. The name of the lake is translated as “The Father of Caves”. Cave stretches 230 m in length and 57 m in width. The height of the cave is around 20 m. It makes the cave a quite roomy auditorium. Lumps and dissolved limestones make up the bottom of the cave. The gushing water which is of emerald color is quite warm. The lake holds the temperature constant at 33-37 ^oC making swimming in it really enjoyable which you should definitely do.
 
Day 3: Kow-Ata – Darwaza – Dashoguz
Darwaza gas deposits are our destination for this day. We will be driving towards it in the morning. You will observe a fascinating view of the crater during both day and night. Staying in a camp with delicious food is a wonderful experience. After this, we will be heading to Dashoguz where you will have an overnight stay in a hotel.
 
Day 4: Dashoguz – Kunya Urgench – Ashgabat
After breakfast we will be driving to Kunya Urgench to continue your travelling. You will get to see the architecture of the Old Ugench which once was the capital of Khorezm (X - XII centuries). The tour includes visiting the minaret of Kutlug Timur which is the highest minaret in Central Asia. Also you will visit the mausoleums of Najm al-Din al-Kubra, Turabek Khanum, Il-Arslan, and Tekesh Ibn Hadzhibey. After the sightseeing you will drive to Dashoguz to take a flight to the capital city. The overnight stay is in a hotel.

Day 5: Ashgabat – Merv – Mary
From Ashgabat we will go to see the ancient fortress of Abiverd which is one of the eight historical sites of Turkmenistan. The settlement of Abiverd sits between the cities of Ashgabat and Mary. Besides that, you will also get to see the remnants of the mosque of Seyit Jamal-ad-Din which dates back to the XI century. Mohammad Khudaiot was the one to finance the construction of the mosque back in 1456. We will continue our way to Merv. It is located on the intersection of branches of the Great Silk Road. It made the city a place of great significance in the past and allowed it to become one of the largest cities in the world. It was also one of the most important cities for Islam. You will have a guided tour of the city which includes Erk Gala, Gyz Gala, Soltan Sanjar Mausoleum, Soltan Gala, Soltan Sanjar Mausoleum, and Ibn Zeid Mausoleum. Finally we will drive to our final destination which is Mary. The overnight stay is in the hotel.
 
Day 6: Flight
Transfer to the airport in the morning.