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ADVENTURE JEEP-TOUR THROUGH KARAKUM DESERT
Route: Baku - Turkmenbashi - Yangykala - Bolshoy Balhan - Balkanabat - Ashgabat - Darvaza - Damla - Kune-Urgench - Dashoguz - Shavat (Uzbekistan)
Duration: 7 days / 6 nights
Day 1 / Baku - Turkmenbashi - Yangykala
Ferry from Baku to Turkmenbashi. Arrival to Turkmenbashi seaport, border formalities, met by our guide.
Drive to Yangykala. Overnight in Tents. The red and orange canyons of Yangykala and Yangusu are relatively easy to access, further canyons inhabiting populations of Urial sheep have to be visited on longer off-road rides across the amazing plateaus and canyons of the vast area. The Karabogaz Gulf an enormous sea basin, stretches to the north and west of the area.
Day 2 / Yangykala - Bolshoy Balhan
Drive to Bolshoy Balhan (The ridge of Bolshoy Balhan (Big Balhan) is the pearl of Turkmenistan indeed. It looks like a huge stony island amidst lifeless scorching sand, saline and takyrs (flat clay areas) of low-lying Western Turkmenistan. That's why it has its own unique and natural flora and fauna reserve): sleeping in
tents.
Day 3 / Bolshoy Balhan - Balkanabat - Ashgabat
Drive to Ashgabat via Balkanabat. Arrival and accommodation at Hotel. Overnight.
Day 4 / Ashgabat - Darvaza
Breakfast at Hotel's restaurant. Sightseeing tour of Ashgabat including: Arch of Neutrality, Lenin Square, Ertogrulgazi Mosque, Local Russian Bazaar. Drive to Tolkuchka bazaar: Oriental Market (The Tolkuchka Bazaar) in Ashgabat should not be missed. This colorful bazaar is where practically the entire country comes together to trade on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Anything and everything is sold here from camels and cars to antiques, carpets, and jewelry.). 
Afternoon drive to Darvaza: Overnight near Gas Crater in Tents. At the heart of the desert lie the Darvaza Gas Craters, one of Turkmenistan's most unusual sights. Remnants of the Soviet-era, one of the craters has been set alight and blazes with an incredible strength that's visible from miles away. There are acres of free camping sites nearby and the fire crater is best seen at night, when it also becomes an attraction for huge and largely harmless spiders that run into the fire for reasons best known to
themselves.
Day 5 / Darvaza - Damla
Drive to Damla. DamIa is the furthest of a few Yomud and Teke tribe oasises in the Central Karakum desert far off the main road with characteristic flat roof villages and yurts in almost every single household. You can witness simple and beautiful nomadic ways beyond any civilization. In order to reach the small settlement one has to cross into the Northern Karakum across the Uzboy one of the former riverbeds of the Amudarya River. The track across the dunes and salt marshes is a challenge for every driver and passengers allowing time to refresh only in Bekuri Oasis along the way and giving a good impression what travel in the Karakum has always meant to the nomads.). Overnight in tents
Day 6 / Damla - Kune-Urgench - Dashoguz
Drive to Dashoguz via Kune-Urgench: once the capital of the Khorezm Empire, is a center of World Heritage including Gutluk Timur, the tallest minaret of Central Asia and the Turabek Khanum Mausoleum. Its twelfth century dome is probably the most spherical and perfect of the Turan, and is one of very few tiled domes of that age worldwide. Kunya Urgench strikes with its characteristic conical domes later to be copied in Bukhara. Arrival and accommodation at Hotel in Dashoguz.
Overnight.
Day 7 / Dashoguz - Shavat - (Khiva)
Breakfast at Hotel's restaurant. Drive to Shavat Border. Crossing the border. Completion of our services.
** If you like this tour but you have not your own vehicle, our company will prepare this tour with all necessary transport and facilities.
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