Grand Turkmenistan: Merv to the Yangykala Canyon

Day by day

1. 01

   Arrival and Ashgabat

   • Meeting at the airport, transfer to the hotel, rest
   • After lunch, city tour: Independence Monument, Neutrality Arch, Earthquake Monument, Constitution Monument, Alem Ferris wheel, Gulistan Bazaar
   • Night drive with a stop at the Palace of Happiness
2. 02

   Mary and Old Merv

   • Drive to Mary (350 km), city tour: the Orthodox church of the late 19th century, the Regional Mosque, the Central Theatre, “Ruhiyet Koshgi”, the Central Park and the Mollanepes monument
   • Old Merv (UNESCO), with 4,000 years of history: Gyz Gala and Oglan Gala, Complex of Ashabs, Gyaur Gala, Erk Gala, Soltan Gala, the mausoleums of Soltan Sanjar and Ibn Zeid
3. 03

   Nisa and Darvaza

   • Flight to Ashgabat, Old Nisa, the sanctuary of the Parthian kings (UNESCO)
   • By 4x4 jeep to the Darvaza gas crater, stopping at the Water and Clay craters
   • Dinner at Darvaza
   • Overnight: traditional yurt camp
4. 04

   Ashgabat: bazaar and horses

   • Back to Ashgabat, stopping at Altyn Asyr (Tolkuchka), the largest bazaar: carpets, silver, souvenirs
   • The horse farm: Akhal-Teke horses, a tea break and a short show
   • Gypjak Mosque and the mausoleum of the late President S. Niyazov
5. 05

   Turkmenbashi and Yangykala

   • Flight to Turkmenbashi, brief city tour and local bazaar
   • The Yangykala Canyon, the “Grand Canyon of Central Asia”: pink, white and yellow sandstone and the “crocodile’s mouth” rock, with a stop at the Gozli Ata shrine of a 14th-century Sufi
   • Overnight: tent near the canyon
6. 06

   Nokhur and Kow-Ata

   • Drive towards Ashgabat with a stop at Nokhur village in the Kopet Dag
   • Kow-Ata underground lake: a cave 230 m long, up to 20 m high and 57 m wide
   • Check-in in Ashgabat, rest
7. 07

   Departure

   • Transfer to Ashgabat international airport

Route