The Heart of the Great Silk Road

Best day to start program is Friday. Your group will be met at the Torugart Pass and then transfer further until arriving at the Chinese Customs. It takes about one hour to finish all the Custom Checking and then continue your driving until you arrive at Kashgar.
Please note: groups are not allowed to have any stop on the way from the border to the Customs today because this area is the restricted area by the local military.
The distance from the border to Kashgar is about 180 km and the road condition is OK for bus driving. Beyond customs, the road becomes quite well highway until Kashgar. All the journey from the border to Kashgar takes about 7 hours. Arrival to Kashgar. Dinner and overnight in Hotel. - - D Hotel

After breakfast in your hotel, take a ride by bus to climb up to the Chinese Pamir along the famous Karakorum Highway.
Stop at the beautiful Karakul Lake at lunch time and do some hiking and trekking around this beautiful lake. Meanwhile, please take this opportunity to visit some local yurt families.

Return back to Kashgar in the late afternoon. Altitude at this lake is about 3500 meters above sea level. The two-way distance by driving today is 400 km; Overnight in the same hotel.

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You know Sunday in Kashgar is Bazaar Day, site of perhaps the largest and longest running bazaar in Central Asia. As many as 100,000 people come in from surrounding areas to buy and sell animals and goods.

Early in the morning you can see streams of people in donkey carts coming in to market. There are separate areas for animals, furniture, fabric, clothing, shish kebobs, shaves with a straight razor (including scalp), fruits and vegetables, and much more. In the animal bazaar care needs to be exhibited as horses and donkeys are being test-driven. Also in the animal bazaar you can find cattle, sheep, goats, and camels - all in a fairly small, walled-in area.

When you are in the midst of all this, you may feel like you have stepped back in time several hundred years. Sunday bazaar is now split in two parts with the main bazaar in East Kashgar city and the animal bazaar which is out of town about 3km.

After breakfast you will be free to roam the bazaar or to go along with a guide who will translate Uighur for you. Stay in the your hotel for night. Overnight in the same hotel.

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Leave for Yarkand city in the early morning. It takes about 4 hours to get this old town where used to be a station both on the Great Silk road and on the Marco Polo Route in ancient time.

As soon as you arrive at this mysterious town, you will be free for 2 hours to roam the bazaar or to go along with a guide who will translate Uighur for you ... Road condition today is very good. Distance by driving today is about 260 km. Overnight in Hotel.

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After breakfast, take a ride to go out of this town to visit some historical sites which located outskirt: Malikawat ancient Temple ruin in Han Dynasty, Shumpla ancient Cemetery in Dong Han Dynasty, the Ruin of Yuetgan Buddha Town in Han Dynasty and Buzak ancient Cemetery. Overnight in the same hotel. B L D Hotel

After breakfast, take a ride by bus to visit the Khoten Historical Museum which is one of very interesting ones. After excursion tour in this museum, please do visit the Fabric Working Studio which is very old family style. Visit a local family garden and share your lunch with this family. Fly to Urumqi by CA1294 at 16:05 pm. As soon as arrive at Urumqi at 18:05 pm, you are met by our local guide and are transferred to the down town. Overnight in the Hotel. B L D Hotel

After breakfast in your hotel, you all are met and picked up at the lobby and do the first sightseeing to the Xinjiang Historical Museum: It takes you 2 hours to visit the Xinjiang Historical Museum before you start your traveling in Xinjiang because it could help you to learn more knowledge about Xinjiang history.
Then transfer to Turfan. The transfer takes you 2 and half an hour to get Turfan area. The first sight to be visit is Gaochang ancient city, which was built in Tang dynasty, then to see the Astana Tombs under ground, visit an other Buddha caves named Bezlik Caves after the Astana Tombs. The last site is Beautiful Grape Valley, where your lunch is served under the grape trees.

After your big local lunch, go and visit the Imin Mosque, which is the typical construction of Uygur style. Enjoy the local singing and dancing performance under grape vines at night. Overnight in Hotel.

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Do visit Tuyu Gou Valley. Tuyoq is a valley village cutting into the flaming mountains located in the Taklimakan Desert. Tuyu Valley is a desert oasis seldom visited by tourists, known for its fantastic rock peaks, seedless grapes, and Buddhist meditation caves dating back to the 3rd century AD.

Tuyugou is an ancient village with roughly 1700 years of history, till this day they still preserve and use ancient Uyghur customs and culture. This valley village is also a pilgrimage area for many Muslims, with the main destination being The Mazar, or the tomb of the first Uyghur Muslim. It’s said that seven trips to Tuyoq is equal to one trip to Mecca.

There are many things to be seen and enjoyed in Tuyoq such as the Thousand Buddha Caves, the Mazar, the ancient village, all the ancient architecture, grapes, and the customs which you won’t find anywhere else … On the way to Urumqi in the afternoon, keep sightseeing to the west part of this area: visit the splendid ancient irrigation system – Karen Wells underground which have been more than 1500 years old, then do visit the Jiaohe, another city ruin which was built in Tang Dynasty which is the same age of Gaochang.

After all in Turfan, drive back to Urumqi by the same road. Overnight in Hotel.

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Morning transfer to airport in order to catch up your flight home. Meals will depend on the time of the flight. B_ _ _ _ _