Uzbekistan – Tajikistan: Where East Meets West

Meet at 05:00 at Suvarnabhumi Airport, 4th floor, at the Uzbekistan Airways check-in counters. Depart at 08:10 on flight HY 532, about 7 hours, arriving in Tashkent at 13:10 (local time is 2 hours behind Thailand).

Tashkent is a 2,200-year-old capital and the largest city in Central Asia, with architecture from several eras.

• Amir Temur Square and the Sayilgokh pedestrian street with galleries, artists and Soviet-era souvenirs.
• Former Residence of Prince Romanov (viewed from outside).
• Independence Square and Eternal Flame.
• State Academic Grand Theater (viewed from outside).

• Hazrati Imam Complex, a symbol of Uzbekistan, built of brick with ceramic decoration and sky-blue domes.
• Chorsu Bazaar, an old market in the old town and a key Silk Road destination since the Middle Ages.
• Tashkent Metro, the first in Central Asia, with each station designed differently.
• State Museum of History, founded about 130 years ago.
• Monument of Courage, commemorating the earthquake of 26 April 1966.

Travel to Bukhara in the morning by Uzbekistan Airways flight or the Afrosiyob express train. Bukhara is one of the best-preserved Silk Road towns in Central Asia and a World Heritage site.

• Lyabi-Hauz, a square around a pond built in 1620, ringed by Kukeldash Madrasah, a khanaka and Nodir Divan-begi.
• Magoki Attori, one of Central Asia's oldest mosques, built on an earlier temple site (viewed from outside).
• Poi-Kalyan Complex (12th-16th century): the Kalyan Minaret, over 47 m tall, Poi-Kalyan Mosque and Miri-Arab Madrasah.
• Bolo-Hauz Mosque, built in 1712, with 20 carved wooden columns at its front (viewed from outside).

Travel by coach to Samarkand, about 250 km, one of the world's oldest cities and a World Heritage site.

• The Ark of Bukhara, the old fortress and administrative centre dating to the 5th century, with a royal palace, courtyards, stables and the oldest wooden mosque in Uzbekistan (viewed from outside).
• Gur-Emir Mausoleum, the final resting place of Amir Timur and the model for later Mughal tombs.
• Registan Square, the greatest trading square of the Silk Road's heyday.

• Silk Road Samarkand Tourist Complex, a new landmark recreating the city's history.
• Bibi Khanym Mosque, built in 1399-1404 by Timur's wife while he was campaigning in India.

Then drive about 70 km across the Uzbek-Tajik border (Jartepa) to Panjakent, a valley town on the Zeravshan River nicknamed the "Pompeii of Central Asia".

• Sarazm Ancient Ruins, a World Heritage site showing human settlement in Central Asia from 4000-3000 BC.

Drive about 260 km to Khujand in northern Tajikistan.

• Minaret Varz, a tower in Ayni village believed to date to the 11th century, about 14 m high and built of clay, wood and mud brick; one of only 3 surviving of an original 7.
• Arbob Palace, built around 1950 as a Soviet collective farm headquarters, modelled on the Winter Palace in St Petersburg and seating about 800 (viewed from outside).
• Statue of Tajik national hero Ismoil Somoni, leader of the Samanid dynasty.

• Khujand Fortress, one of the oldest fortresses in Central Asia, built by Timur Malik and held at times by the Persian, Umayyad, Mongol, Russian and Soviet empires.
• Panch-Shanbe Bazaar, originally a Thursday market and now open every day except the weekend.

Then drive about 160 km back to Tashkent via the Oybek border crossing and go to the airport for flight HY 531 at 22:30, about 6 hours 10 minutes.

Arrive safely at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 06:40.