Silk Road Secrets

General

We know so much about the Silk Road through oral history and cultural traditions, as well as archaeology. What have the guides heard that may not be in books and media yet?

The great benefit of travelling with a guide is their personal touch - telling their own stories and experiences and introducing you to people and customs as you go. It adds real dimension and personal touch to your experience..

Can you recommend any background reading on the Silk Road please?

Yes, these are some of the reads we’d like to recommend:
- Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Treasures of Central Asia by Peter Hopkirk
- Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron
- Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan

Is there adequate provision for vegetarians?

For Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia - yes there are plenty of delicious options for vegetarians. You'll be well catered for with some wonderful local vegetarian food!

For Uzbekistan - You won't always find lots of choice if you are vegetarian. But the tour leader will help as much as possible and there are some lovely vegetarian dishes available.

To what extent are tour guides local to the region?

We use Uzbek leaders on our 'The Silk Road of Uzbekistan' tour and our Uzbek leaders are particularly strong. Having been on this tour I can certainly vouch for them! In the Caucasus we also use local leaders who get brilliant feedback - they score 4.8 out of 5 in our customers' Feefo reviews.

Are there single supplements to be paid and are single rooms readily available on these tours?

If you're happy to share with another traveller of the same sex there's no supplement. To book your own room for the duration, single supplements depend on the tour. For this ten-night Uzbekistan tour the cost is £399. For the 18-night Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan tour it's £450.

On our 'The Silk Road of Uzbekistan' tour, we offer single supplements for all nights excluding the night spent in the yurt, but in general yes, single rooms are readily available for a supplement. You can find details on our webpages about where single rooms are available.

Are the flights included in the price?

Flights aren't included in the prices shown online as we have travellers joining from all over the world. We can happily price up the tours to include flights from your preferred airport, just give us a call or send an email.

Is the 5 stans trip an amalgamation of other trips?

Not quite an amalgamation but more an expedited highlight trip of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, whilst also adding in the majesty and rawness of Tajikistan and its mountains, Kyrgyzstan's stunning natural scenery and a flavour of Kazakhstan - with 3-4 days soaking up the latter countries.

Is the region safe for LGBQT people?

It is a great question. These regions are conservative and reserved and public displays of affection regardless of your sexuality would be frowned up. Whilst these countries may be less accepting, I don't think they would be unsafe because as mentioned we wouldn't recommend anyone being demonstrative with partners.

Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia

When is the best time to visit these countries?

We recommend visiting May-September. In Armenia, Spring and Autumn are widely regarded as the best times to visit as summers can be very hot. Azerbaijan experiences extremes of climate across the country, but Georgia is temperate, though temperatures can drop to sub-zero at higher altitudes early and late in the season.

Our trip has departures in May, June, July, September.

One of the reasons we have not previously booked this trip is the potential difficulty of changing money from country to country. How hard is it in reality?

One of the great benefits of travelling with a tour leader in this region is that they'll help steer you as to how much you'll need (approximately!) in each place, the best places to change money etc, as you go.

What is mode of travel, total distance, and total hours of travel for this trip?

Expect a packed itinerary, some long days and lengthy drives to fit in all the highlights. You'll travel mostly by bus with an Explore driver.

What length of walking is done on this trip i.e. to get to the hilltop churches? What level of fitness is required for this trip?

There's plenty of time spent exploring on foot, so we suggest you have a basic level of fitness and to take comfortable walking shoes. Most of the walks to the churches aren't too strenuous. The longest walk is to visit Gergeti Trinity Church - the circular walk covers seven kilometres wand it should take around three to four hours to complete, but if you'd rather not take part in the hike, you can take a local taxi.

How long is the first drive from Baku?

It's approximately 8 hours of driving from Baku to Sheki with some stops en route to break up the journey.

Does the trip go to Ushguli in Georgia?

Our Walking in the Caucasus - walking holiday in Georgia - sleeps in Ugali.

Do you offer any trekking trips in this region?

Yes, we have an 8-night Georgia walking tour which offers trekking in the Caucasus.

It's a moderate-graded tour with walks of 3-6 hours on five days.

We also have a walking tour in Kyrgyzstan.

You mention 3-4 hour walking. Are there breaks in that?

The walks are always at a slow pace and the 3-4 hour walk in Isalo has plenty of breaks along the way.

Do you offer any cycling trips to this area?

Yes we have a cycling tour in Georgia. It's a moderate-graded trip, cycling just over 200 miles over seven of the days.

I heard the tours in these countries include a visit to a lot of churches, like too many churches. is it like this on your tours too?

There are visits to a lot of the key churches in the region but speaking from personal experience I found all the churches to offer something very different - whether that's the location, the landscape or the interior. Feedback from our customers is that all the churches offer something special, so it doesn't feel repetitive.

Is Azerbaijan a ‘dry’ country or is alcohol widely available?

While many Azerbaijanis are Muslim and do not drink, it isn't a dry country, and alcohol is available throughout the country.

 

Uzbekistan

 

Is the travel by train?

The travel on this tour is by bus. You can see the full itinerary, and journeys by day, on the trip page.

What is the dress code for women?

Uzbekistan is traditionally Muslim and therefore we recommend t-shirts and knee-length shorts or skirts for most sights. We suggest that women bring a headscarf as this may be necessary for some mosque visits, however I only needed to wear one once when I went on this tour, so it’s quite a relaxed dress code.

How does one decide if you should visit a “Stan” as a single country or combine them…. What is the advantage / disadvantage if doing all 5 together please?

A lot of this will come down to how much time you have, and how much depth and detail you'd like, vs having an overview of the region. Our Five Stans of the Silk Road, for example, takes in five countries in the three weeks, and is just scratches the surface of this fascinating region. If you choose to spend a full two weeks in Uzbekistan, you will just see the one country but will have the advantage that you can go past the main sights and delve deeper into the countries culture.

Is there likely to be a chance of Explore doing a more detailed trip to Tajikistan? It seems that it only really appears as a day or two's add-on to other country tours.

It's not in the pipeline now, but never say never! At the moment Tajikistan only features on our 'The Five Stans of the Silk Road' but we've tried to incorporate some of the key highlights in Dushanbe and the Fann Mountains including the Seven Lakes region in the 3+ days we're in the country.

Outside of Khiva, do you visit Alexander the Great's fortress?

We do! On our The Silk Road of Uzbekistan trip, we have lunch in a local house and see the remains of Alexander the Great's Karazy Fortress, affording excellent views of the desert landscape.