4-Day Fergana Valley Extension Uzbekistan

Day 14: Tashkent to Kokand

You’ll spring out of bed today – can you believe you’re off on yet another Uzbekistan Adventure? This morning’s drive takes you to Kokand – a once-contested sear of the wider region’s power who jostles for position with Khiva and Bukhara. Enjoy lunch and the home of a master blacksmith before you continue your adventure.

After a tasty lunch, you’ll explore some of the 113 rooms in the Palace of Khudayar Khan. Not long after the palace was built, the ruler was exiled by the Russian Tzar. Then it’s onto the Juma Mosque, with its marvelous wood carved details and a central hall (or iwan) whose ornate ceiling vaults echo on repeat for a hundred meters!

Accommodation: Asia Fergana Hotel
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 15: Bazaars, Village Life and Crafts

Today promises to be a day filled with local life, local crafts and local food – so charge-up your camera battery, roll up your sleeves and loosen that belt buckle – it’s going to be special!

No visit to Margilan is complete without a morning stop at the huge Kumteppa Bazaar where you’ll rub shoulders with locals shopping for fresh produce. Then it’s just an hour’s drive to the small town of Rishtan. Tucked right next to the Kyrgyzstan border, this remote pocket of the world has been producing crafts for centuries – including hand painted crockery in the trademark Rishtan blue and green colours. Today you’ll meet two masters of different trades in their homes, which only gets better because you’ll meet their wives too, and share lunch and then afternoon tea!

Accommodation: Asia Fergana Hotel
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 16: Feeling the Silk in Margilan

Fergana Valley is an ancient crafts mecca, and for fifteen hundred years or more, a humble worm has been helping humans create a fabric that became so sought-after, an ancient trade route was named after it!

You’ll hit the ground running in Margilan after whiling away a relaxing morning watching ancient lands slip past your train window. You may even catch yourself daydreaming about life in a different time!

The Yodgrolik Silk Factory uses only natural dyes to make their pieces and you’ll learn about the full silk-making process here. Did you know that the silkworms are raised on Mulberry Tree leaves? The bold geometric Khon Atlas and Adras ikat designs are their most iconic.

This afternoon you’re sadly waving goodbye to the Fergana Valley. Savour the twilight views of this intriguing land. You’ll arrive back in Tashkent in the evening by train and transfer to the hotel.

Accommodation: Inspira Hotel
Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 17: Farewell

We’ve got a transfer ready and waiting to whisk you off to the airport for your onward flight.

Included: Breakfast