Day 1 (TU): Urumqi
Arrival in Urumqi International Airport, meeting with a driver. Transfer to the hotel. Overnight at the hotel.
Day 2 (WE): Urumqi - Heavenly Lake (130 kms, 1.5 hrs)
After breakfast transfer to Tianshan Mountian wings. Visit Heavenly Lake & boat cruise on the lake.
110 kilometers away from Urumqi the Heavenly Lake is a long and narrow gourd-shaped moraine lake. There are eight beautiful scenic spots in the lake scenic area, they are: “A Ray of Stone Gate”, “Dragon's Pool and Green Moon”, “Magic Needle for Guarding the See”, “Three Stones Bearing the Sky”, “the Snowcapped Southern Mountain”, “Pine Billows in Western Mountain”, “the Hanging Waterfall”, and the “Sea Peak's Sunrise”.At 2 PM back to Urumqi Visit Xinjiang Museum, Erdaoqiao Market & International Bazaar, where you can find almost anything that you can imagine. Overnight at Urumqi.
Day 3 (TH): Urumqi – Turpan (190 kms 2.5 hrs)
After breakfast transfer to Turpan. Visit Bezklik Grottoes (50 km to the east of Turfan City). There are 83 numbered caves; among them 40 preserved murals totaling 1200 square meters. These caves are first excavated in Qu`s Gaochang period. The existing caves were reconstructed or newly extended by Uighurian people. Visit to Astana Tombs - known as “the Underground Museum". The graveyard of the residents lived in the Gaochang City in the Jin-Tang times, including large sized family graveyard. Transfer to Tuyoq Valley and Kumtag Desert.
Among more than 40 caves, there are 10 preserving murals. They are considered to be the earliest caves in Turfan. Although the most part of the murals are damaged, they keep their uniqueness in style.
Overnight at Turpan.
Day 4 (FR): Turpan (full day)
Visit Tuyok valleys , with Uighur villages , Grape valleys with Kariz irrigations System with Botanic Garden, Emin Minarates
Day 5 (SA): Turpan - Urumqi - Kashgar (190 km, 2.5 h.)
Breakfast. Visit Jiaohe Ruined city. The city includes city gates, streets and lanes, government office, temples, domestic houses, cave houses, wells, and an underground temple. Karez Irrigation System is a unique irrigation system in Turfan, which, taking advantage of the slopes, draws the underground water to flow by itself to irrigate farmland. It consists of four parts: vertical wells, underground channels, ground canals and small reservoirs. Sugong Minerat - the Tower was built in the 41st year of the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. It is an embodiment of the ancient architectural arts of the Uygur nationality. Local Uyger family visiting is a special experience for you to know their lifestyle in the fireland.
Transfer to the airport in Urumqi. Flight to Kashgar. On arrival transfer to the hotel. Overnight at the hotel.
Day 6 (SU): Kashgar Sunday Market
Today is a further day in Kashgar for us to experience the famous Yakshambe Bazaar - the Sunday Market. In the morning we will first visit the famous animal market. Here we will spend the morning watching the locals trade everything from woodwork and iron wear to sheep, donkeys, cattle, horses and camels before progressing onto the covered bazaar, believed to be the biggest in Central Asia. The afternoon & evening will be free for you to spend at your leisure. Overnight at the hotel.
Day7 (Mon)Kashgar - Karakul Lake - Tashkorgan
Today we take a drive on Karakurum highway, renowned as the highest paved border crossing in the World and regarded as one of the Worlds most beautiful highways). We will see the following on our drive: Opal villageis a 1 hour drive from Kashgar. It is a good location to take photos of village life and traditional activities like bread making and Uyghur food stalls. Half an hour drive from the village we will arrive in Oytagh Red Mountain. The mountain valley is surrounded by a beautiful backdrop of multi-coloured mountains topped by snowcapped peaks. Corner Lake (Bulung Kul) is a tranquil shallow lake where you can take very nice photographs of the lake with stunning reflections of the sand mountains. Karakul Lake is 3600 meters above sea level. It is located between Mt. Muztagata (7546 meters) and Mt. Gonger (7719 meters), which are said to be 2 of the 6 most beautiful mountains in the World . We will visit the local Kyrgyz Yurts and listen to their stories about traditional ways of nomadic mountain life.
Picnic lunch: We will then enjoy our picnic lunch of fruits and fresh bread that we purchased in Opal village in a beautiful picnic spot overlooking the Karakul Lake. We will take 1.5 hours drive from Karakul lake to Tashkorgan. It Tashkurgan is an interesting small town located on the Pamir Plateau. This area was extremely isolated until the rebuilding of the Karakurum highway in 1987 and even today the local community still lives in a very traditional fashion with only a single road reaching here from Kashgar, so it has retained a certain uniqueness. This region is commonly known as the main road of the “old Silk Road” the main route leading from China to West Asia. The average elevation is 4000 meters.
Day8 (Tue) Tashkorgan - Kashgar (300Km)
After breakfast we will visit the Stone fort, located in downtown Tashkurgan. It has a history of more than 2000 years. In times gone by it was the central palace of the Tajik kingdom. Then we will hike around the Tashkurgan grassland and enjoy the scenery of Mt. Mutztah Ata and Mt. Pamir. We take the Karakorum Highway back to Kashgar and arrive in the late afternoon.
Note: Guests will need to carry their passports on this tour as they will be required to show these at the Gaz check point (around an hour after the colorful mountain on the first day and also on the way back to Kashgar). Everybody at this point needs to be registered by the authorities due to its close proximity to many bordering countries. It is also advisable to bring warm clothes as temperatures can be colder than those found in Kashgar at the higher altitudes.
Day 9 (Wed): Kashgar - Torugart - Tash-Rabat
After breakfast transfer to Torugrat Pass. Cross Kyrgyz-Chinese border. Meet your Kyrgyz driver and transfer to Naryn. Arrival in Naryn. End of the program.
Trips Include :
1. All transfers;
2. Twin room accommodation;
3. Sightseeing tour programs in each city;
4. Entrance tickets to the sites, museums, mausoleums. Camera and photo fees are not included and should be paid separately;
5. Domestic flights: Urumqi/Kashgar
6. Local English speaking guides in Kashgar;
7. Permits to cross Torugart;
8. Mineral water;
