The Five Stans of the Silk Road - Ashgabat to Almaty

Twenty-three days across all five Central Asian republics, tracing a route where Silk Road trade, Soviet history and Mongol conquest have left their mark on the same stretch of desert and mountain. You start in Ashgabat and finish in Almaty, moving through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan as the landscape shifts from open steppe to alpine lake.

This is a trip for people who want the region's full sweep rather than one country in isolation. Expect tiled madrassas and market towns alongside stretches of genuine wilderness, including two nights in a yurt camp beside Son Kul Lake.

Fully guided throughout, with a group moving steadily across borders and terrain — this is Central Asia as a connected whole, not a single-country sampler.

What you'll do

• Wander the tiled madrassas and old trading squares of the Silk Road cities
• Cross the open steppe and mountain ranges linking Turkmenistan to Kazakhstan
• Spend two nights in a yurt camp on the shores of Son Kul Lake
• Explore traditional villages and local markets across the five republics
• Take in Soviet-era architecture and wide boulevards in the region's capitals
• Travel overland through five countries in one continuous route