Unique Turkmenistan

Day 2: Ashgabat – Nissa – Ruhy Mosque – Ashgabat – 35km (Saturday)

Breakfast at the hotel. We will begin our tour in Ashgabat. It is a capital and largest city of Turkmenistan. Ashgabat is a relatively young city in 25.05.2013 city was included Gunnies Book of records as a white marbled city on the world. Within this tour you will visit Ruhyyet Palace, Wedding Palace, modern “Yildyz” Hotel, Ferries Wheel, Constitution Monument, Arch of Neutrality, Monument and park of Independence, Artogrul Gazy Mosque and other beauty sights of Ashgabat. You will be also taken to grandiose Square of Revival (Galkynysh) - a new administrative, business and cultural center of Ashgabat. Have a stroll along Ylham (Inspiration) Park. Then drive to visit Nissa fortress -the Sanctuary of Parthian Kings. UNESCO declared fortress a World Heritage Site in 2007. Nissa described as one of the first capitals of the Parthians. It was founded by Arsaces I (reigned c. 250 BC – 211BC), and reputedly the royal necropolis of the Parthian Kings, although it has neither been established that the fortress at Nissa was a royal residence or a mausoleum. The ruins of ancient settlement Nissa are located 18 km from Ashgabat at Bagyr village. Drive to visit the biggest Mosque in Central Asia Ruhy Mosque. Overnight at Grand Turkmen Hotel.

Day 3: Ashgabad – Cas Crater – 270 km (Sunday)

Breakfast at the hotel. Drive to visit "Altyn Asyr" Oriental Bazar- Jygyldyk located in 20km to the north of Ashgabat. It is one of the largest open bazaars in the world filled with colourful rugs, jewellery, carpets, silk and national Turkmen costumes and animals in other part. Lunch at Talkuchka bazaar. Drive to Gas Crater (268km) dubbed by locals as "The Door to Hell". En-route we cross Karakum desert, will make a stop at small nomad village and in the evening watch the spectacular and fascinating view of the gas crater. Dinner at Gas Crater. Overnight in a camp.

Day 4: Gas Crater – Gokdepe – Ashgabat - 310km (Monday)

Picnic style breakfast. Drive back to Ashgabat. Check in to the hotel. Free time. Drive to Gokdepe fortress and horse farm. Gokdepe fortress that was attacked in December 1880 by Russians under General Mikhail Skobelev. The siege of Gokdepe lasted twenty-three days, after which the city was taken by storm. Gokdepe Mosque was built to commemorate the defeat and is noted for its mintturquoise blue colored roof and white marble structure. Also you will visit Gokdepe museum that dedicated to the war. At the horse farm you can see proud of Turkmen national Akhalteke horses. Over the 30 beautiful horses, you can see at the horse farm. 5000 years ago, Turkmens begin breed Akhalteke horses. Unique breed on the world that not mixed with other breeds. Different rulers as Alexander Great, Darius I wants to own this horses. Overnight at Grand Turkmen Hotel.

Day 5: Ashgabat - Nokhur village – Kow Ata – Ashgabat – 150km (Tuesday)

Breakfast at hotel. Drive to Nokhur. The village itself fills a small depression valley in the mountains of the Kopet Dag Range, and the houses are built with local boulders cemented with mud. Apart from the main street through the middle of the town, the streets are so narrow that they only just fit a car between the high stone retaining walls on each side.The Nohkuri people who populate this remote mountain village are quite different to other Turkmen tribes. They live in a handful of villages in the mountainous border area spanning Turkmenistan and Iran. Nokhur is the largest village with just a thousand or maybe two thousand people. Lunch at the homestay. On the back way you will visit Kow-Ata underground lake which is located 107 km from Ashgabat. The Turkmen name Kow-Ata means "father of caves". At first glance, this underground area appears like a magnificent auditorium: the overall length of the cave is 230 m, its height reaches 20 m, and its width is at some points 57 m. The bottom of the cave is covered with lumps of dissolved limestone (stalagmites), and its warm and gushing water is clear and emerald colored. The water has a constant temperature of 33- 37°C. (you should swim in a lake). Drive back to Hotel. Dinner. Overnight at Grand Turkmen Hotel.