Grand Asian Caravan

Our Journey begins in the bustling city-state of Singapore. Meet your Tour Leader and fellow travellers this morning for a welcome meeting.

Today we head across the border to Malaysia and to Johor Bahru Sentral station where we board our first train on the journey to London. Connecting via Gemas we will continue to Kuala Lumpur.

We continue our journey up the Malay peninsula through lush tropical forest and plantations to the Thai border at Padang Besar where we join the overnight sleeper service to Bangkok.

With just 30 hours in Thailand's colourful & flamboyant capital today our local guide will share some of the classic highlights as well as some less well known aspects of this amazing city.

This morning we escape the city this morning to explore the calm and cool gardens and private collections of the Prasart Museum before joining our overnight train to Nongkhai and the Laos border.

Tree-lined boulevards blend Buddhist temples with French colonial era architecture. Our sightseeing includes the 16th century Pha That Luang and Wat Si Saket. This evening enjoy a sunset stroll along the banks of the Mekong River.

A day to further explore Vientiane from the unique Buddha Park with its multitude of Buddhist and Hindu statues, Patuaxi, often called the 'Arc de Triomphe' of Vientiane and Wat Phra Keo with its collections of Lao and Khmer works of art.

This morning we rejoin the train north to the beautiful UNESCO city of Luang Prabang. Our city tour today explores Wat Xieng Thong, Wat Mai which highlight the history, culture and architecture of Laos. With its headwaters from the Tibetan Plateau, the Mekong River was the main route of trade and conquest for centuries, today we cruise upstream and enjoy the tranquil countryside and visit the Pak Ou Cave monastery.   

Today we explore more of the city, as well as the Ok Pop Tok Living Crafts Centre. Set in lush gardens and located on the banks of the Mekong, the Living Crafts Center is the perfect place to learn more about the fascinating world of Lao textiles. This afternoon we visit the Kuang Si waterfalls.

This morning we board the train for the recently completed 750km rail link from Luang Prabang to Kunming, China.  The journey will take us through the incredible scenery of northern Laos and southern Yunnan Province.

The climate and relaxed ambience of Kunming is perfectly suited to a leisurely walk, and our sightseeing today will take us through the old alleys to Cuihu Park, with its many bridges and pagodas, and nearby the Yuantong Buddhist Temple.   

Beyond the city we visit the enchanting 'Stone Forest' - these unusual and unique karst stone formations are a highlight of Yunnan Province.

Back aboard the train enjoy some stunning scenery as we travel to Chengdu (Sichuan Province) famous for giant pandas and spicy food.

This morning we enjoy a tour of the city. Sichuan cuisine is renowned in China and internationally, we sample some of its classic dishes this evening before boarding the overnight train to Xining, Qinghai Province - high on the Tibetan Plateau (2275m).

We arrive into Xining, capital of China's Qinghai Province and a cultural crossroads of the Muslim, Tibetan and Han peoples brought together with the trade of the ancient Silk Road. We enjoy just a brief introduction to the city and province before we board our onward train to the Tibetan plateau and Lhasa.  

Across the 'roof of the world' aboard the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. At an altitude of 4000m and 5072m at its highest point - this is the world's highest railway, this remarkable engineering feat links Tibet and the city of Lhasa to the world - by train.

While it is the Potala Palace that dominates the city skyline and our sightseeing, we also visit Norbulingka Palace, the summer residence of the successive Dalai Lamas and Drepang Monastery.

Considered the most sacred temple by Tibetans, the Jokhang was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 2000. Surrounding the temple, Barkhor Square allows us to see some of the daily life and rituals of the city.  This afternoon we will visit Sera Monastery, once home to over 6000 monks, while today just 600 monks remain in residence.

We depart Lhasa and descend from the Tibetan Plateau to Xining where we connect for a train to Jiayuguan, the western frontier of the Great Wall of China. 

We arrive in the afternoon to this remote town catching glimpses of the Great Wall.

The Great Wall extends 7300 km and we find ourselves at the western end. We take time to visit Jiayuguan Fort as well as the Great Wall Museum to uncover the secrets of this engineering feat. 

A final morning to explore. This afternoon we board our overnight train to Xinjiang Province, skirting the northern fringes of the Taklamakan Desert to the city of Urumqi.
 

Bound by the Tien Shan and Altai mountains to the north and the Taklamakan Desert to the south Urumqi is one of the most remote cities in the world and our gateway to Central Asia. The Xinjiang Regional Museum houses one of the most extensive collections of Silk Road artefacts.  Tonight we join the international train for Khorgos, close to the China/Kazakhstan border.

We cross the Tien Shan mountains through the Dzungarian Gate - through which over many centuries the Silk Road caravans and conquering armies traversed the Tien Shan mountains separating China & Central Asia. We enter into Kazakhstan and head for the spectacular Charyn Canyon which stretches 154 kilometres and is up to 300m in depth. Its many weathered and colourful rock formations are said to be as impressive as those of the Grand Canyon. Onwards to Kazakstan's largest city and  former capital, Almaty is a surprisingly green and relaxed town. 

We explore the city; Panfilov Park, Zenkov Cathedral, State Museum - and ride the cable car to Kok Tobe for panoramic views of the city and surrounding Alatau mountains. 

Wander the streets of this beautiful city, sitting in the shadow of majestic mountains. This evening we board our next train to Turkistan. 

An ancient and holy city, Turkistan is known as the 'spiritual capital of the Turkic world' and home of the UNESCO World Heritage site commissioned by Tamerlane as a mausoleum for the 11thC Sufi Sheikh, Khoja Akhmet Yassawi. Soaring almost 40m and capped by the largest turquoise tiled dome in Central Asia it is one of the best-preserved buildings of the Timurid period. 

We spend the day exploring the splendours of Turkistan including the impressive Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, a UNESCO World Heritage site. This evening we board the train west to Aralsk. 

The receding Aral Sea has left once thriving ports marooned in the steppe and Aralsk's Old Harbour, museum and surrounding lake-bed lay witness to the environmental tragedy. We travel across the steppe to the Syr-Darya river and the Kokaral Dam built to try and save the Northern (Small) Aral Sea from further depletion.

 We learn more about the fascinating history of this region and the impact of the reclining Aral Sea on the people of Aralsk. Beyond the city we visit Tastubek on the lake shore and meet some of the fishermen still relying on the diminishing lake for their livelihood. 
 
 

This morning we board the train to Aktau watching the vast steppe stretch out from the window. 

Set up as a workers town for the port and petrochemical industry all addresses in Aktau consist of just 3 numbers; City Block Number/Building Number/Apartment Number.  We enjoy a morning at leisure. This afternoon we take a tour of the city including Shakpak-Ata Mosque. 

Aktau is our gateway to the unique geological formations of the Mangyshlak Peninsular with its multi coloured rock strata, canyons and strange geological formations such as the Valley of Balls and Sherkala Mountain. Here too the unique 10thC underground mosque of Shakpak-Ata.  
Late this evening we head to the airport for our flight to Baku. 
 
 

An early morning flight takes us across the Caspian Sea to the port town of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. After a morning at leisure we start to explore the city in the afternoon with our local guide. Discover the incredible ancient and modern architecture as well as the old walled city. 

Today we explore the Gobustan and Absheron peninsulas discovering 'mud volcanoes', Zoroastrian Fire Temples, ancient petroglyphs -  and Roman legionnaires graffiti! 

Today we make our way to Sheki travelling through beautiful landscapes. Sheki is one of the most ancient cities of Azerbaijan and is rightly called the architectural reserve of the country.  The Palace of Sheki Khans is a rare and stunning example of combining the national and palace architecture traditions.  We also visit the workshop of a shabaka maker, a style of window making that has been used inAzerbaijan since the 11th-12th centuries. Tiny glass pieces are assembled by the master with wood elements that fix each other without glue or nails. 

Today we cross the border to our next country of Georgia. We start to sample the incredible food and wine of Georgia.We explore Telavi and learn about the traditional wine making of Georgia below ground in qvevri. We enjoy lunch with a local family and take part in a bread baking and churchkhela making master class.
 

We reach the capital, Tbilisi, full of colourful houses in the Old Town. We discover the history and influences that have shaped the city and its architecture, and ride the cable car to the ancient fortress of Narikala offering panoramic views across the city. 
 
 

Beyond the city we discover the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Georgia's ancient capital, Mtskheta, where Christianity was proclaimed the state religion in the 4th century. We continue along the Georgian Military highway deep into the Caucasus Mountains where we ascend to the Gergeti Trinity Church (2170m) enjoying spectacular views of the surrounding peaks of the High Caucasus. 

Today we journey across the border to Armenia and journey to the idyllic town of Dilijan. We visit Haghpat Monastery nestled in a forested area and sample Haghpat local tea with pastries at Fialetovo village.

Leaving Dilijan we visit Lake Sevan and the village of Noratus, one of the oldest settlements in Armenia and home to some ancient khachkars (headstones). From there onwards to the Selim Caravanserai, built  to protect the Silk Road caravans that crossed the Selim Pass (2410m). We stop in the Arenia region for some wine tasting before visiting Noravank Monastery and finally Khor Virap with its incredible vistas across the Aras river valley towards Mount Ararat. 

The vibrant capital city of Yerevan awaits. One of Yerevan's highlights is the Matenadaran, home to over 17,000 ancient Armenian manuscripts. Beyond the city we will visit the UNESCO World Heritage site of Geghard, a rock-hewn monastery dating from the 4thC and the pagan temple of Garni built in the 1stC in the Greco-Roman, pre-dating Armenia's adoption of Christianity as the state religion in 303. We enjoy a traditional Armenian lunch at the house of a local villager. 

Yerevan is a wonderful walking city with wide tree-lined boulevards, pavement cafes, elegant boutiques and abundant public artworks; the open-air Cascade sculpture garden, art gallery and staircase leads us to Freedom Square, home of Yerevan's grand Opera Theatre. Northern Avenue, a new pedestrian thouroughfare leads to Republic Square with its imposing Soviet-era neoclassical buildings. We enjoy a city tour including the Vernissage Market before joining the overnight train to Batumi, Georgia's summer playground on the Black Sea. 

Once a strategic Roman port, today Batumi is a hedonistic Black Sea resort town and the southern gateway to the Caucasus. We visit the beautiful Batumi Botanical Gardens, set on 108 sub-tropical hectares along the Black Sea coast. 

The 300km section by road today is the only significant road section on the whole journey from Singapore to London, yet there is a railway line linking Tbilisi with Kars - it is just not yet open to passenger trains. Freight only. 

Once a thriving city on the Silk Road, Ani was one of the world's largest cities. Sacked by the Mongols, hit by an earthquake in the 13th century the city subsequently fell off the trade routes. The city may no longer stand but the archaelogical site tells stories of ancient times. Ani is a widely recognized cultural, religious, and national heritage symbol for Armenians sitting just over the border in Turkey. 

We join the Dogu Express this morning for the scenic journey across the eastern Anatolian Plateau to Turkey's capital, Ankara.
 

Without the  the tourist crowds of Istanbul, Ankara offers a more relaxed and authentic Turkish experience. Our sightseeing inludes the citadel and Roman ruins, the Museuem of Anatolian Civilisations and Anitkabir - the mausoleam to Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Turkish Republic  who declared Ankara its capital in 1923. We enjoy discovering the city with our local guide. 
 

For our final train service across the Asian continent we boad the high speed train to Istanbul, the eternal crossroads for East to West and our gateway to Europe and our final leg of this remarkable journey.   

Our sightseeing today will take in some of the most elegant buildings of the Ottoman period as well as the classic sights of the city; Rustem Pasha Mosque (1562), Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern and the Grand Bazaar.

One final day to explore the captivating city of Istanbul. We visit the Yilidz Palace and Spice Bazaar. Your afternoon is at lesiure; eat fresh fish sandwiches by the pier, explore the Roman history of the city or treat yourself to a hammam. This evening we join the overnight train to Veliko Tarnovo - Bulgaria's historic and cultural capital.

Sited on 3 hills and the Yantra River this charming town rose to strategic and cultural importance during the Middle Ages. Its unique architecture displayed in the many palaces and  mansions, churches and  cathedrals.

Enjoy a morning stroll through the beautiful old town before joining the train to  Bucharest, Romania.

We discover the wonderful and eclectic architectural mix of Bucarest's old town; the Stavropoleos Monastery and the imposing 1100 room Soviet-era Palace of the Parliament. This evening we join the overnight train to Budapest, Hungary.

We take the funicular up Castle Hill to Buda's Old Town and Trinity Square, home to 13th-century Matthias Church and the Fishermen’s Bastion with sweeping views over Budapest.

Our sightseeing continues with a cruise on the Danube River offering the best vantage point for many of the city's landmarks.

We join our train to Vienna, Austria with a free afternoon to explore this beautiful city.  

Our city tour reveals the rich history, cultural influences and elegant architecture of Vienna. The Schonbrunn Palace of the Imperial Hapsburg dynasty highlights the wealth and opulance of the city. 

A free day to further discover Vienna with your Tour Leader. This evening we join the overnight train to Paris (connecting in Stuttgart). 

Join your tour leader for a walking and metro tour taking in the city's landmarks. There are so many museums to explore, or wander the streets and the banks of the river. This evening we will enjoy our farewell dinner to celebrate our remarkable overland adventure from Singapore to London. 

Some free time to enjoy an early morning stroll down the Champs Elysees or perhaps explore a different part of the city before boarding our final train: the Eurostar from Paris Gare du Nord to London St Pancras. Our incredible journey complete.
Tour ends on arrival at St Pancras Station, London.