Testimonials

Tour Name: Xian to Tashkent May 2011

Iman,
The six of us had the most wonderful time and thank you for all your planning and assistance you gave us before we left. It was way above expectations and I have set out a report below for your information.

Guides: From Yuan in Xian, Brad in Lanzhou, Lily in Dunhuang, Lucy in Turpan, Albert in Kashgar, Ulan in Kyrgyzstan to Nadia in Uzbekistan - they were all of a very very high quality. Caring, extremely helpful and very very informative. As a tour guide in Perth myself, I really appreciated their outstanding contribution to the enjoyment and understanding of the places we visited. We have learnt a great deal about their countries, the political, social and historical aspects and we found we could have really interesting and lively discussions.

Hotels: all the hotels were of a high standard. The only one in doubt was the one in Xiahe but that was probably the best available there. All were 4 -5 star, clean and very comfortable.

Food: Far too much!! We dined in style but were embarrassed by the amount of food we left at each meal! We enjoyed the variety, and found that the meals in Uzbekistan much better and more interesting and appetising than we were led to expect. The guides made sure our every whim was attended to, beer, coca cola and of course tea were included in the meals. We particularly enjoyed Ulan's meal of bread, cheese, tomato when we first arrived in Kygysztan - a change from the Chinese meals we had enjoyed for nearly two weeks!

Transport: the buses were comfortable, the steps a little high for some of us! The drivers were all very pleasant and very helpful and caring.

Shopping: We all had a great time shopping in markets, bazaars, stalls and have brought home many handicrafts, pashminas, jewellery. The guides were helpful with their advice and assistance if we needed it.Wand and friend picture
Sites: So many extremely interesting places visited, all of us probably with different memories. We were all interested in the history of the Silk Road, the religions, the trade - visited wonderful Buddha caves, sand dunes, mosques, saw snow capped mountains, deserts, markets..........

It was a very busy trip, we were on the go all the time, with little sleep some nights, long road journeys and a full itinerary of wonderful sites to visit - and we are so proud of ourselves that really we did not miss anything at all. We had the most memorable time and enjoyed it all very much.

Wanda and friends Perth Australia

I've just been talking to Bill Woodehouse and reminiscing about our never to be forgotten travel experience. I could do it all again tomorrow - but my bank balance tells me I can't.

Can't thank you enough for your work on making this a possibility for Australian senior citizens.
For me this was a dream of my childhood that came true.

Ann Kiping Perth Australia

Tour Name: Xian to Tashkent May 2011

Dear Iman
Just to tell you we really enjoyed our 3 week trip from Khiva to Kashgar! Particularly the 6 days in Kyrgysztan were unforgetable due to the very well experienced team we had there headed by Ulan.We had a great time staying either at small hotels, home stays or yurts. Unforgetable lanscapes,mountains, lakes and Tash Rabat!Finally the land border passage from Kysrgysztan to China at theTorugart Pass at 3700 m will be remembered by many reasons. One was by having to say good bye to your team and the other not so good was waiting for about 3 hours for your Chinese local agent to show up and drive us down to Kasghar. It was here indeed in China on those 5 nights we stayed there, where we had to complain at the condition of the hotels offered. However your prompt reaction after I contact you in Australia sorted out the matter. Nevertheless going along the Karakoram Highway...and standing at 4700 altitude at the Pakistani China border at the Khunjerab Pass was worth everyting, an event to be forever remebered!

In Uzbekistan we also had a great time on the 11 nights we stayed there in good small hotels some boutique style and always very clean, even the yurt in the desert..., which was the only place in the whole trip we ate fish from the artificial lake nearby, both at dinner and lunch! Good driver throughoutt the journey and excellent guides particularly in Samarkand and Bhukara! Outstanding guides, one being a professor/lecture at the University and the other an high ranking staff of the local Museum.

Well done Iman and Ulan! I will definitively recommend you to my friends and if I go to Tajikistan and elsewhere in the Region will use your services for sure!

Best Regards
Joao and Joana Tome from Portugal

Tour Name: Beijing to Tashkent July 2011

Dear Iman
I would like to thank you for the fabulous trip that you organized for my sister and I. The guides and drivers were excellent and it all ran like clock work. I will thoroughly recommend your company to my friends and colleagues.

Yours sincerely

Mariette

Tour Name: Beijing to Tashkent:

Hello Iman,
Ben and I just wanted to send you an email to say thankyou for our wonderfult trip in August. We did the Beijing to Tashkent trip and loved every minute of it. Our accommodation was clean and always in great locations. The food was fantastic - always far too much, but we did our best! But the guides were the best. It was great to get a different guide for each area because it meant we were dealing with local people who knew the best places to take us. They were all so knowledgeable with great English skills. They made sure that we knew the best places to explore with any free time we had, and always ensured that we were fine when catching trains or buses.
We had never been on a tour before and we were a bit worried. But having finished your trip we would recommended it to anyone.
Thanks again,

Melissa and Ben Melbourne Australia

Tashkent to Xian 4th May 2010

We would like to give you some feedback on the Uzbekistan tour that we are about to finish.

I want to start by saying that we have had the most delightful tour that we have experienced for many years. The tour leader/guide, Rustam Nazarov (or Rusty as he likes to be called), has shown exceptional flexibility, organisational skills and possesses an incredible knowledge of Uzbekistan history, traditions, culture and sights. He has proven to be proactive, resourceful and trustworthy and have never doubted his judgement or advice, especially when choosing restaurants or tweaking the schedule to best suit our needs. We have appreciated his professionalism and candour and his affable nature, keen sense of humour and huge sense of responsibility that has demonstrated throughout the trip. We would highly recommend him to any future clients as he is a true ambassador for this wonderful country of Uzbekistan .

As for the logistics of the trip, we have to say that, with the exception of the President Hotel in Samarkand , all of the hotels have been very good, clean and the staff have been extremely friendly. The President, however, suffers from a general lack of professionalism and sense of duty by the staff and presently has aspirations above its ability to deliver i.e. it wants to compete with the European standard but has a little catching up to do. In hindsight, we think that the Malika Prime would have suited us better. The itinerary has been spot on, the drivers very competent and the water allowance most appreciated.

So to sum, we have had an extremely enjoyable trip, made all the more so by the enormous competence of the team looking after us. We have never had to worry about anything and planning of every detail seems to have been considered. The greatest attribute though was Rusty, who understood exactly what are needs were and adapted as necessary throughout to accommodate them.

Thank you so much for giving us the most conducive environment for allowing us to learn so much about Uzbekistan .

Kind regards
Maria and Stuart United Kingdom

Tour Name: Heart of Central Asia 5 Stan tour Departure date 12 April 2010

We highly recommend Iman and Silk Road Adventures. Right from my first email Iman has been extremely helpful and put up with my constant questions, little or big!! We did the 5 Stans tour and anything I wanted changed or added he was very helpful and did everything I asked for if it was possible. The biggest hassles in these countries are the visas and they helped us get all the letters of invitations and all the places/sites to go etc. In Australia we don't have the right embassies so things are a bit more time consuming and Iman was always there to help with any problems or queries we had.

We did have some problems while on our trip which was nothing to do with the company and their help during this time was excellent. They compromised and came up with alternative plans, guides and drivers without a problem. We knew they followed our journey all the way and were interested in our comfort at all times.

A special thank you to Iman, Ulan and Anvar for a fabulous, unforgettable trip.

Sharyn & Stewart Millar
Perth , Australia
April 2009

Tour Name: Heart of Central Asia

Thank you very much for a wonderful trip and experience through the Stan countries. I loved it all its beautiful sightseeing, especially the people. It was the most enjoyable trip I have ever had. It is very safe place to visit. Thank you for planning such a wonderful trip – we look forward to the next one

Mike and Jen
Austria

August 2009 Tour Tailored made Pamir Highway Tajikistan

Thank you very much for your service, the care of the guide and of course the beautiful mountains of Tajikistan' The trekking in the mountains, the enthusiasm of the people who organised and guided us' 'The first couple of days were hard but once I got into it, I enjoyed the scenery and the quietness.

We are looking forward for your Karakorum adventure next.

Greg and friends
Germany