Northern silk road tour from Urumqi

On this tour, you will have a very good chance to learn a lot about Kazak, Uyghur, Tatar,Xiwe (Xibo in Chinese) nationalities. And we will arrange staying in Kazak Yurts, Uyghur houses in the villages. Most of people say Northern Silk Road is more modern then Southern silk road. That is true. But you will find some valuable knowledge about silk road on this trip. This is what we do morethan others on this trip.
Day01
Urumqi-Sayram Lake (572km, 335miles)
My tour guide and driver will meet you at the airport or at your hotel.
We will drive to Sayram lake(2073m) which is 510km from Urumqi. We will bring our own pack lunch. On the way, we will stop for photo as much as you can. We will stay in Kazak Yurt Just beside the Sayram Lake.
Day02
Sayram Lake-Ily city (165km, 103miles)
After having Kazak breakfast , you will ride the horses around lake and enjoy the amazing natural scenery there. At 11:00 local time, we will drive to Ely city today we will pass the Telke Dawan. It is 2700m from the sea level. It is one of the very beautiful mountain road. It takes about one hour to drive from the top to bottom. It is an amazing scenery.
We will arrive at my village around 6:00 local time. Tonight, you will stay in Uyghur house with the Uyghur people. You can walk around village and see the farmers and their farming fields. We will arrange you a local traditional Uyghur food in the family and a local traditional Activity (Meshrap).
Day03
Chaychun - Narat (
After eating an Uyghur breakfast, we will drive to Thursday Market by horse cart which is only 5 km. It is one of the very big market around Ely city. It is really very interesting to visit the livestock market. This shows you the life of Uyghurs, Kazaks, Huis in this area. After visiting all around market, we will drive to Narat. Your lunch will be in a Uyghur family with a poplular Ily Uyghurs food Pore. After lunch, we will drive along the Kash river. The scenery is realy very beautiful all the way to Narat. Most of the road is in the mountain along the Nilka river. You could stop for photos as much you want. When we are at Narat, we will have a Kazak traditional food with them in their Yurt. We will stay in the local Kazak Yurt there. Today, you will have about 2 hours free time to ride horses on the grassland.
Day04
Narat -Bayinbolak (
After breakfast, we will drive to Bayinbolak. On the way, we will stop for the photos of Monggul Tombs. Some times, we can see how the Mongguls pray for their tombs. It is interesting to see and learn about their cultures and nomad life. You will enjoy the amazing scenery in the Tian Shan Mountain and Swan lake at the Bayinbolak. It is the biggest grassland in Tian Shan mountain. We will stay in the Hotel or in the Monggul Yurt at the Bayinbolak. Today, you will have a good chance to taste a traditional Monggul food and learn some useful words from them.
Day05
Early in the morning, you could ride horse around grassland and enjoy the beautiful moutains, a lot of animals in the grassland and very interesting shepherds life there. At around 9:30 local time, we will drive to Kucha through the new road. It is one for the incredible mysteries landscape and so beautiful mountain road. On the way, we will stop for photos and visit some coal mines. Lunch will be in a small village on the way in the mountain. Before arriving Kucha, we will visit Kizil 1000 Buddha caves and Kizil Kaga beacon Tower. We will check in Kucha Fandian 3* or any other hotels as your request. Our dinner will be in a Hotel restaurant.
Day06
Kucha Friday market
Today, we will visit Grand mosque and Subash ancient city before the Friday market will be busy at noon. We will explore the Friday market at 10:00 local time which is best time to visit. Friday market in Kuch is famous with its long history and very local business way. There are many dunkey carts horse cart and farmers tractors. Most of them are farmers to sell their own products, animals and buy their needs. Your lunch will be in a local popular Uyghur restaurant. We will have a tipical Kucha food for our lunch. In the afternoon, free time for you to explore the market and city by your self. Dinner will be in the hotel.
Day07
Kucha- Taklimakan Desert-Niya (670km, 480miles)
Today,after having an early breakfast, we will drive to Talkimakan Desert along the Desert high way. Today, you will enjoy the amazing sand dunes and Natural Poplar Tree forest . You feel free to stop as many as you want for photos and walking in the dunes. It is really a very good chance to explore the real desert on this trip today. Our lunch will be at the middle of Taklimakan, where there are few houses for the drivers to eat from the years. It is an unbelievable scenery that you will stop for photos more then other parts when we are in the Beldir village. It is famous for melons. We are supposed to arrive in Niya at around 4:30 local time. We will stay in Niya Gong yu Hotel or Baorui Hotel.
Day08
Niy-Kiriye-Hoten (303km, 188miles)
After breakfast, we will visit the Niya Museum. It is very interesting to visit for learning about the very old mummies found from Niya ancient city. Then we will drive to Hoten. On the way, we will visit Kiriye town which is famous for a smallest hat for the lades in the world. Our lunch will be in Kiriya town. We will arrive in Hoten at about 2:00 local time. After having one hour rest in the Muztag hotel or Hoten Binguan, we will visit the Jade river (where the locals pick up the Jades from the river), Silk and Atles (a local Uyghur cloth made by silk) work shop, Carpet Factory and Imam Asim Tomb. It is a famous tomb among the locals in and around Hoten. In May, there are a lot of people coming from villages and towns far and near to pray here. They regard this tomb as a holy place. There are few Tombs and big Mosque for the local visitors to worship. There are some signs from the local visitors who slaughtered ship or goat to put their skulls or skins. It is very obvious that you can see many cloths hanging with wood around tomb. We return back Hotel.
Day09
Hoten- Kashgar (540km, 336miles)
We will drive to Malike Awat ancient city at 7:30 local time. It is about 25km. Then we will head to Kashgar. On the way, we will stop in Kargilik for visiting the Jame Mosque and local market around there. For lunch, we will stop in Yarken. It was a capital of Uyghur kingdoms and a cradle of Uyhur civilizations in the history. After lunch, we will visit the Golden Mosque, Amannisahan Tomb(A famous musician in 16th Century.), Tomb of Kings during the Seidiye Kingdom, a big grave yard for the locals in the Town. Yarken was a developed city and hub of transportation in during the silk road. In the history, many musicians from Indea and Keshmer came here to learn. Besides, we will walk half an hour around old town. Then we will drive to Kashgar. In Yingar (it means a new fort), we will stop for visiting the knife factory. This is a famous twon for Uyghur knife. You could see how the Uyghur experts make knives. We will arrive in Kashgar at around 4:30 local time. We check in Seman Hotel or Qinibag Hotel.
You will find our service is unbeatable then any others