Uzbekistan Ziyarah (Muslim Heritage) Tour

You are met at Tashkent International Airport and transferred to your hotel for check-in. Once you have rested, your guide takes you to the Hast Imam complex in the old city, the religious heart of the capital, where the Quran attributed to the Caliph Uthman is held in the library and the courtyard fills for the afternoon prayer. You continue to the neighbouring Mausoleum of Abubakr Kaffal Shashi and walk the newly restored Zarkaynar Street. Overnight in Tashkent.

In the morning you drive out to the village of Zangiata (20 km) to visit the mausoleum of Sheikh Ai-Khodja and his wife, one of the most visited pilgrimage places in the Tashkent region. Returning to the city you spend time at Chorsu Bazaar and then at the Centre of Islamic Civilisation, which sets out the region's contribution to Islamic scholarship. In the late afternoon you transfer to the railway station for the high-speed train to Samarkand, 300 km in just over two hours. Overnight in Samarkand.

Your guide collects you after breakfast for the drive to Khartang (30 km) and the memorial complex of Imam al-Bukhari, compiler of the Sahih and the most revered of the hadith scholars, where there is time for prayer and reflection. Back in the city you visit the mausoleum of Abu Mansur al-Maturidi, then climb the lane of Shah-i-Zinda to the shrine of Qusam ibn Abbas, cousin of the Prophet. You end at the Khoja Ahror Vali ensemble, Registan Square and the Gur-Emir Mausoleum. Overnight in Samarkand.

You leave Samarkand in the morning and drive west to Bukhara (280 km, about four hours). On the way you stop at the Mir-Sayid Bakhrom Mausoleum and at the eleventh-century Rabat-i-Malik Caravanserai, then at Gijduvan for the tomb of Abduholiq Gijduvani, first of the masters in the Naqshbandi chain. Arriving in Bukhara you check in and spend the rest of the day in the old city, at the Kalyan Minaret and Mosque, the Miri-Arab Madrasah and the Lyabi-Khauz Ensemble. Overnight in Bukhara.

The morning is given to the shrines of the oasis. You visit the tomb of Hazrati Said Mir Kulol, teacher of Bahouddin Naqshband, and then the great ensemble at Qasri Orifon where the founder of the Naqshbandi order is buried and pilgrims circle the courtyard. You continue to the Chor-Bakr necropolis at Sumiton and to the Ismail Samani and Chashma-Ayub mausoleums. In the afternoon you take the high-speed train back to Tashkent, arriving in the evening. Overnight in Tashkent.

There is time after breakfast for a last visit before check-out, either back to the Hast Imam complex for the morning prayer or out to the mausoleum of Sheikh Zayniddin-bobo on the southern edge of the city. Your guide can also arrange a final stop at Chorsu Bazaar for gifts to take home. You are then transferred to Tashkent International Airport for your homeward flight. End of the Uzbekistan Ziyarah tour.