9-Day Silk Road Tours

travel-route
Daily Tour 9 day
Kashgar

Tour Highlights

  • Experience the live ancient Tuyuk Village with a lunch at a local house.
  • Enjoy camel ride around the Crescent lake in the Gobi Desert.
  • Visit the picturesque scenery of Heavenly Lake at the Tianshan Mountains.
  • Explore the ancient city of Jiaohe, which was built by dug down the ground.
  • Understand the secrets of the longest ancient underground irrigation system Karez.
  • Enjoy the Crescent Moon Spring in the middle of the Desert.
  • Visit the exquisite murals and sculptures at the Mogao Caves.
  • Discover Kashgar by walking in zigzagged streets of Old City.
  • Admire the world famous Buddha paintings of Bizeklik Thousand Caves
Day 1, Arrive Kashgar

Activities: pick you from Kashgar airport and transfer to your hotel
Details:Our professional tour guide and driver will welcome you at Kashgar airport and transfer to your Hotel. Have a good rest after a long flight.
Kashgar, an oasis city in Xinjiang, is one of the westernmost cities of China, located near the borders of Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and Tajikistan. It has a history of over 2,000 years and served as a trading post and strategically important city on the Silk Road between China, the Middle East and Europe.

Day 2, Explore Kashgar City

Activities: Visit Grand mosque, Apak Hoja tomb (which is also called Fragrant Concubine Tomb), Old city walking tours, livestock market, Sunday market
Details:Explore the rich, endless culture of the Uighurs in Kashgar. First visit livestock market which happens on every Sunday and people bring their horses, sheep, goats, camels,cows,bulls,yaks and donkeys to the market for sale. It provides a great opportunity to take photos of the faces of local people, study traditional local market culture, test-drive a donkey or horse or even make its shoes. Like opening a window, today is a real glimpse into a time lost in the annals of the Silk Road’s past and an opportunity not to be missed.
Later move on to Sunday market main Bazaar which is considered one of the largest market in Central Asia. From fluffy sheepskin hats to rugged camel-hide boots, not to mention beads, buttons and buckets of locals. Everything – including plenty of kitchen sinks – is for sale at this fairytale bazaar. It is the best chance to practice your bargaining skills.
After lunch spend some time by the Id Kah mosque, the largest mosque in China and marvel at the intricate architecture of Kashgar’s historic Apak Hoja Tomb which is also known as Fragrant concubine tomb).
We’ll also spend time in the Kashgar Old Town and have some walking tours through some ancient historical parts; Stop at a century-old tea house for a short break and taste local medicinal teas such as those containing rose, saffron, honey and many other ingredients.

Day 3, Kashgar to Tashkorgan—-Karakul Lake

Activities: Drive on KKH, Opal Village, visit Karakul Lake, Stone fort, Tajik family, Kyrgyz family Local family yurt next to the lake
Details:We set out along the Sino – Pakistan Karakorum Highway, on the Pamir plateau (the roof of the world) visit Karakul Lake (3600m above sea level) on the way. Then Keep driving till Tashkorgan .
Tashkurgan Tajik autonomous county was once an important hub on the old Silk Road. The area borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan via the Kunjerab Pass and Wahan Corridor.
After arriving at Tashkurgan, you’ll have an opportunity to see the town’s ancient stone fort – still standing after 2200 years! ‘Tashkurgan’ is a translation of ‘Stone Fort.’ 
Then drive back to Karakul lake People travel to experience the lives of another cultures, which is why we spend a night in the yurt of a local Kyrgyz family and really experience another way of mountain life.

Day 4, Karakul Lake to Kashgar

Activities: Hiking around Karakul lake for whole morning and drive back to Kashgar after lunch at a local Kyrgyz family
Details:Get up early in the morning to welcome the sunrise between the Kongur and Muztagh Ata peaks above your yurt.
have a typical Kyrgyz breakfast and walk around the Karakul Lake. Area of the lake is around 10 kms and walking takes between 3 to 4 hours.
You can also visit Subash village which is about 7km from Karakul Lake if you like. Conclude our morning excursion then we return to Kashgar in the afternoon after lunch.

Day 5, Kashgar to Urumqi and visit Heavenly Lake

Activities: Take morning flight to Urumqi at 11:00/12:00 and visit Heavenly lake.
Details:After breakfast our guide and driver from Kashgar will see you off at Kashgar airport and another local guide and driver will expect you at Urumqi airport, then drive to Heavenly lake directly which takes about two hours.
Heavenly lake offers some great hiking routes through the valleys on wooden pathways or up to the mountains top as you like.
Your stay at the heavenly lake is the time to go for boating, take photos or simply trek around the lake. You can have lunch with a local Kazak family or just pay them a visit! This is certainly the easiest way to understand the life of the Kazak people in such a short time.
when you are ready, drive to Urumqi for about 2 hours and check into Hotel.

Day 6, Urumqi to Turpan

Activities: drive to Turpan after breakfast and visit Idikut (Gaochang) ancient city, Astana tombs, Toyuq village, Bizeklik Thousand Buddha caves and Flaming Mountains.
Details:After breakfast, drive to Turpan on the first class highway for about 2.5 -3:00 hours. On the way stop at Dabancheng power station, the largest wind power station in Asia and second largest in the world, also drive through salt lake which provides the best quality salt in Xinjiang region.
upon arrival in Turpan first visit to the ancient city of Idikut (Gaochang). The city was first built in the first Century BC and later became capital of the Idikut (Gaochang) Uighur Kingdom in the 8th Century.
We’ll spend about 40 minutes in this ancient city and then drive to Karakhoja Astana tombs, a Tang-dynasty burial ground which is also known as the “Underground Museum”. Astana means “capital” in the Uighur language and Karakhoja is a name of a legendary hero of an ancient Uighur Kingdom who saved his people by killing a vicious dragon.
Then Move on to Toyuq village, an old, beautiful and timeless village with a friendly Uighur community. Here we visit several local families and have lunch with a local family at their home. This could be the highlight of your tour today.
After lunch visit Bizeklik Thousand Buddha caves which used to be an important center for Buddhist worshipers under the Xizhou Huigu government of the Idikut (Gaochang) Kingdom.
On the way back to the hotel we will stop at the Flaming Mountains which people claimed to be the hottest and driest along the silk road that “flying birds even a thousand miles away dare not to come”.

Day 7, Turpan to Dunhuang

Activities: Visit Yargul (Jiaohe) Ancient city, Karez underground Irrigations system and Emin Minaret, Take overnight soft sleeper train to Dunhuang
Details:Following breakfast at the Hotel we start our wonderful day in Turpan. Our special itinerary today includes sightseeing in Turpan and take overnight train to Dunhuang.
First visit Yargul (Jiaohe) Ancient City which is one of the best preserved ancient cities in China. The ruins of the buildings are divided into temples, civilian dwellings and government offices. Workshops, residential houses and the streets are still visible and time there is a time spent in a long lost world.
After an hour of seeing around the ancient city, we’ll head on to see the world famous Karez Underground Irrigation System, unique to this part of the world. The system is considered as one of the three great projects in China with the other two being the Great Wall and the Grand Canal.
Then visit Emin Suliman minaret which is a magnificent combination of ancient Uighur and Islamic architecture. It is the tallest ancient tower in Xinjiang and the only Islamic ancient minaret in the country. Locals call it “pure tower.”
End of the day take overnight soft sleeper train to Dunhuang which is about 10: 00 hours journey.

Day 8, Dunhuang For Whole Day

Activities: Arrive in Dunhuang train station in the morning and visit Mogao Grottoes, Museum, Crescent Lake and Mingsha Echo-sand Mountain
Details:Our Dunhuang local guide welcomes you holding your name in front of the Dunhuang train station and first have breakfast then go for sight-seeing.
We drive to Mogao Grottoes which were constructed over a millennium from the 4th to 14th centuries. The caves are also known as the Thousand Buddha Caves with two distinctions of being one of the most notable grottoes in China as well as the best-preserved treasure house of Buddhist arts, sutras, murals and sculptures in the world.
After lunch, visit Dunhuang Museum which exhibits relics excavated from the local area, such as papers, coins, a model of the Great Wall as it appeared during the Han Dynasty.
Then drive to Mysterious Crescent lake which its name derives from the crescent moon, shaped by the small pool of spring water between two large sand dunes. Here you’ll have chance to ride camels across the sand dunes of Sounding Sand mountain which makes sounds when the wind blows.
We highly recommend you to stay till Sunset over the high sand dunes before going back to hotel

Day 9, Dunhuang to Your Next Destination

Activities: See you off at Dunhuang airport
Details:Today is the last day of your tour with us, so we hope this tour shouldn’t be the last. We strive to make every day of your time with us the one that you’ll always remember and if you’d like to book some other tours please Contact us for more information

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