Tours

• Early departure. For a snack we will stop in the Samarkand region, in a cafe, which is famous for its very tasty dish called Nohat-Shurak (a wonderful national dish – boiled peas with fragrant and softest pieces of lamb that just melt in your mouth).
• Arrival in Urgut - visit the Sufi Chor-Chinor garden. The garden is located in the foothill hollow, completely hidden under the shade of thousand-year-old trees. Here you can see the giant Oriental plane trees. Inside one of them there is the equipped room, once upon a time there was a school of the Sufi order. In the garden there is a very beautiful pond with sacred fish. According to one legend, when it dries, the end of the world will come.
• Visiting the Demon Plateau – it is the unique natural object, which appeared due to the weathering of the rock. But it became famous thanks to the book “Patrol” of Sergei Lukyanenko. In the "Last Patrol" it is this plateau which is mentioned where Geser told Anton Gorodetsky about the great battle between good and evil. Once there was a grand battle between the forces of Light and Darkness. There were more dark ones and they won. Then the great magician Rustam used a terrible spell, curtailed layers of space and time. Enemies turned to stone, but remained alive, devoid of movement, touch, sight, hearing for thousands of years. The place of this fictional battle is the plateau of demons, with its bizarre stones that have stiffened in the form of various animals and monsters. Their sizes reach 10 meters and more. It is very picturesque and mystical place.
• Arrival to Kitab. Lunch
• Departure to mountain area. Visiting the Lyangar canyon. It is a beautiful canyon surrounding sai with the same name.
• Visiting the Shrine of Katta-Lyangar. Architectural ensemble Katta-Lyangar - unusual for mountain areas of Uzbekistan, is situated 60 kilometers to the south from Shahrisabz. It was built in the middle of narrow gorge Kok-Su in Lyangar-cai valley and consists of a mosque and Lyangar-ata mausoleum. The two constructions were built on neighbouring hills at the beginning of the 16th century under the Sheybanids. 

Standing on a high hill, Lyangar-ata mausoleum is visible from everywhere and looks like an unearthly 'space' object. Mehrab of Katta-Lyangar mosque faces the mausoleum. In the mausoleum there were buried sheikhs from very influential (in 15th - 16th) Sufi community 'Ishkiya'. There are stone steles with sheikhs' epitaphs: by Muhammad Sodik (died in 1543), called Lyangar-ata (from 'lyangar' - anchor, stop), by his father and son.

The internal dome of the mausoleum is decorated with thin ornamental carving on color ganch. Lyangar community of 'Ishkiya' kept a unique list of 'Usman's Koran' and legendary Khirka (raincoat) of Prophet Muhammad. The khirka was taken away when Afghans invaded the city in the middle of the 18th century and was kept in mausoleum of Ahmad-shah Durrani in Kandahar. Several pages from Lyangar list of 'Usman's Koran' are being kept in Tashkent and Petersburg.

Sufi Shrine located on the top of the mountain.  To get to it you need to go through the steps to the top of the mountain, surrounded by ancient graves of Sufis from the 16^th century on the one hand, and by large orchard and cliff on the other side.

• Visiting the salt mines, where still salt is produced by the old-fashioned way. Mines are represented by pits 15-30 meters deep, usually round in shape. Inside you can see how the local "miners" extract salt, taste it and take clean and transparent crystals of salt as a souvenir.
• Transition to the high-mountain ‘Maydanak’ observatory
• Dinner. Overnight.

• Breakfast.
• Visiting the karst Mingchukur plateau. Karst Mingchukur plateau (thousand pits) is located at an altitude of 2500 meters in the spurs of the Hissar range. The surface of the plateau is rocky and waterless, but almost all of its surface is densely vegetated with trees and shrubs, where numerous sinkholes and caves hide. The depth of the caves can reach up to 50 meters. Every year, the underground and aboveground appearance of the plateau changes slightly; due to the ‘soft’ limestone frequent collapses and the birth of new washouts and sink holes occur.
• Transfer to the ancient foundries of Amir Temur. Walk through the unique canyon, which has preserved the traces of ancient excavations and foundries.
• Visiting the Kala Mozor Falls.
• Visiting the Zarmas canyon. One of the largest canyons of Uzbekistan has a length of more than 14 km and a width of 800 m, the height of the canyon walls in some places exceeds 500 m.
• Return to “Maydanak” observatory.
• Dinner. Overnight.

This and the next days the speleo-tours are waiting for us.

• Transition to the Kaptarkhona cave. Speleo-tour.  Kaptarkhona is a cave in the gypseous limestone, with a length of about 1 km. It is the world with its own sounds, unique locations and its indescribable beauty.  People come here to listen to the eternal silence and to know themselves in this greatness of the huge mountain halls.
• Transition to the Kyzyl Gaza Pass. Encampment.
• Dinner. Overnight.

• Track to the Kalla-i-Shiron gorge and visiting the Cave of Amir Temur. Amir Temur Cave is located in Kalla-i-Shiron tract, that is translated as the lion's fortress. If you look at the gorge from above, it becomes clear why the gorge has such a name. The natural fortress, formed by 200 meters vertical walls of the gorge has only one descending path; the second obstacle on the way to the cave is a powerful sai, especially in the spring. There is a legend that in this cave Tamerlane gathered his troops in the period when he fell into disfavour of the Shahrisabz ruler. It was from here that he went to Shakhrisabz and then to Samarkand and conquered them.
• Returning to the Camp.
• Dinner. Overnight.

• Ascent to the top of Khodja Karaul mountain 3720 m. You have a great opportunity to climb one of the peaks of the Western Hissar and see the hidden karst plateau.

The Hissars of Kashkadarya region are abound in Holy places. Most of them are located on the tops of mountains, above 3500 meters, closer to God. On top of the Khodja Karaul mountain (3765 m) there are stone shrines.  The views from this peak are very beautiful and informative, especially towards Surkhandarya area. You can see the whole Baysuntau range, Chulbair mountain, Chimbay and many four-thousand meters mountains. On top there are 7 stacked stone pyramids (tours) – pyramids are directed to the side of the Khodja-Akhchaburun mountain (3855 m), where, according to legend, the remains of the Saint are buried.

• Returning to the Camp.
• Dinner. Overnight.

Departure to Tashkent by ground transport.