Tours on ancient town of Turkmenistan.

The brief description of route of tour across Turkmenistan from Kunya-Urgench to ancient Merv:

Check point “Shavat” - Dashoguz - settlement Boldumsaz - town of Kunya-Urgench - historical and cultural memorial estate «Old Kunya-Urgench» - Ashgabad - settlement Kaka - town Tedzhen - historical and cultural reserve Ancient Merv - Mary - Bairam-Ali - Ashgabad.

Distance route: 1212 km.
Season: year round.
The best time for an excursion: June - September
Duration: 6 days and 5 nights.

The detailed program of tour day by day on historical and cultural memorial estate «Old Urgench» and ancient town Margush - Gonur depe:

Excursions on Silk Way of Turkmenistan.

1 Day. Check point “Shavat” - Ashgabad (222 km).
Meeting on check point “Shavat”. Transfer: check point «Shavat» - town of Dashoguz - Kunya-Urgench (108 km). Arrival in Kunya-Urgench. Lunch at local restaurant. Visiting of mosque Dash (1907 - 1908), mausoleums Nadzhmetdin Kubra (XIV century), Sultan Ali (XVI century) and Piryar Vali (XVII century).
Transfer to historical and cultural memorial estate «Old Urgench» (3 km). Visiting of mausoleum Tyrabekh Khanum (XIV century), Kutlug Timur's minaret (XIV century), the mausoleum Sultan Tekesha (XII century), mausoleum Il Arskan (Fakhr d-dina Razi) (XII century) (time of directory 1156 - 1172), minaret Mamun (X - XI c.c.), a portal of a unknown construction (XI - XII c.c.), mosques of dynasty Sifi, visiting of fortress Kyrk-Kala. The end of excursion.
Transfer: Old Urgench - Kynya-Urgench - Dashoguz (97 km). Arrival in Dashoguz, transfer to airport (14 km), start evening flight to Ashgabad. Arrival in Ashgabat. Meet at the airport. Transfer to hotel, accommodation, dinner and overnight.
2 Day. Ashgabad - Mary (381 km).
Breakfast. Departure from Ashgabad in 6 o'clock in the AM. Transfer: Ashgabd - settlement Anau - mosque Seyit Dzhamal-Etdin (20 km.) arrival to ruins of ancient mosque Seyit Dzhamal-Etdin (the rests of architectural architecture Timurids of XV century), excursion on ruins of a mosque, walk in vicinities.
Transfer: mosque Seyit Dzhamal-Etdin - settlement Kaakha - ruins of site ancient settlement Abiverd (108 km). Arrival on site of ancient settlement Abiverd, visiting of a site of ancient settlement, walk in vicinities.
Further transfer: site of ancient settlement Abiverd - site of ancient settlement Ulud depe - tomb Malik Adzhar Palvan (55 km). Visiting of ruins of site of ancient settlement Ulug depe, walk on vicinities. Transfer to tomb Malik Adzhar Palvan (1,5 km). Excursion in vicinities of a religious monument, descent to a burial place.
Transfer: tomb Malik Adzhar Palvan - settlement Tedzhen - town Mary (197 km). Arrival in Mary, transfer to hotel, accommodation. A lunch at local restaurant. After a lunch excursion on ancient sites of ancient settlement and ruins of ancient Merv. Visiting of ancient monuments.
Transfer: Mary - settlement Bairam-Ali - site of ancient settlement Abdulla-khan Kala (XV century) (32 km). Visit of the historical and cultural reserve ruins of ancient Merv.
Visit to the ancient settlement Abdullah khan Kala (XVth century). The ancient settlement Abdulla-khan Kala of Abdullah ibn Burayda is located in the Vekil Bazaar area of the Merv oasis. The structure was built towards the end of the eleventh century under Seljuk rule. It was recently restored in 1990, which fashioned its surrounding area as a namazgah. While the restoration has been faithful to the original style of its interior, the exterior has been largely altered. Older drawings indicate that the new dome raised on a new drum stands about two meters taller than the original structure. 
Transfer to mausoleums Askhabs (6 km). Musoleums Askhabs associates of prophet Mohammed were called - Bureid ibn Al-Khuseib al-Aslami and Al-Khakim ibn Amr Al-Gifari. After death, places of their burial places were local sanctuaries around of which in XV century representatives of dynasty Timurids have constructed a religious complex. Their tombs from a black marble are decorated by a relief groove with vegetative ornaments and inscriptions. Behind tombs two cost restored aivans.
Transfer to ruins of fortresses Big and Small Gyz kala (2 km). Visit of ruins of fortress Small Gyz Kala. 
Fortress ruins Small Gyz kala, in the historical and cultural park ancient Merv is one of ancient and historical sights of Mary Region. Approximate age of construction VI - VII century. Uniqueness of a construction in corrugated walls from not burned brick. Small Kyz kala small fortress badly remained up to now. The architecture of walls Small Kyz kala of a calla, most likely too reminded a goffering which is formed by the linked semicircular or polygonal pilasters.
Visit of ruins of fortress Big Gyz kala. Greater Gyz kala - small fortress, badly remained up to now. Big Kyz kala consisted of two floors. The first floor had five rooms, and the ladder conducting down passed through an arc-shaped corridor. Planning of the second floor can only be imagined by the remained fragments. The second floor also had about five rooms located around the courtyard. Big Kyz kala with corrugated, as if put pleated, like an accordion, walls. They are put on earth ramps with an easy inclination. Small windows are hidden pleated walls.
Transfer and visit of the mosque of Kyz Bibi (600 meters).
Visit of the medieval town Sultan-Kala.
The ruins of Merv are comprised of five walled cities dating from the VIth century BC to the XVIIIth century, known as Erk Kala, Gyaur Kala, Sultan Kala, Abdullah Khan Kala and Bairam Ali Khan Kala, grouped into three settlements corresponding to three periods, the ancient, medieval and post-medieval Merv. What would later become a major medieval city, and whose ruins are now known as the Sultan Kala, initially arose as a suburb beside the Majan canal outside the fortified ancient city (the ruins now known as Gyaur Kala) sometime before the eighth century. 
Visit Sultan Sanjar mausoleum. Gaunt and huge in the middle of Sultan Kala is the mausoleum Sultan Sandzhar, completed in 1140 as Moscow was being born. Its other dome, 38 metres high and originally clad in blue tiles, was said to be visible a day’s march away. A second inner dome appears to be supported by a lattice of brick ribs but these are probably only decorative.
Transfer and visit of citadel Shakhriar Ark (800 m).
Transfer and visit of a minaret and Hoji Yusup mosque (800 m).
Transfer and visit of the mosque Beni Mahan (3 km).
Visit of the ancient settlement Erk kala. Hill Erk-kala, settles down considerably to the south Yaz depe, adjoining with medieval Old Merv. In VI - IV c.c. Up to B.C., in days of domination of the Persian tsars, the strengthened city borrowed the area in 12 hectares here settled down. He has been enclosed thick - 6,5 m in the basis - by a fortification. Excavation have found out to Erk kala the layers concerning by times of tsar Dariya and Alexander the Great.
Visit of the ancient settlement Gyaur kala. The end of an excursion across Ancient Merv. Transfer: Ancient Merv - town Bayramali - airport of Mary (29 km). Arrival in the airport, departure to Ashgabad (40 minutes). Arrival in Ashgabad, meeting at the airport, transfer to hotel, dinner and overnight.
3 Day. Trip on site of ancient settlement Gonur-depe (250 km). 
Breakfast. Trip on excursion in the ancient country Margush (125 km, from them the road passes of 50 kilometers on desert). Lunch on the way. Visiting and excursion on ancient excavation of capital of the ancient country Gonur depe. Returning in Mary, on a way visiting Prthian fortresses and a caravan-serai Gebekly. Arrival in Mary, visiting of a town ethnographic museum. Dinner and overnight in hotel.
4 Day. Mary - Ashgabad (326 km). 
Breakfast. Transfer: Mary - settlement Dushak - mausoleum Abu Said (95 km). Excursion to the mausoleum, walk in vicinities. Transfer: mausoleum Abu Said - settlement Dushak - settlement Tadzhen - Ashgabad (231 km). Lunch in a way. Arrival in Ashgabad, transfer to hotel, accommodation, dinner. Evening walk on Ashgabad. Returning in hotel, overnight.
5 Day. Excursion on Ashgabad, visiting Old Nisa, mosques Rukhy (33 km).
Breakfast. Excursion in museum of a Turkmen carpet. In museum some hundreds the best samples of carpets of Turkmenistan are collected, the oldest carpet is dated XVII century. Here there is a second-largest carpet in the world a carpet of manual work - «Golden Age Great Saparmurat Turkmenbashi», the area of a carpet makes 301 square meters, the carpet - more than ton weighs.
Visiting of a national museum of history of Turkmenistan, a monument of Independence of Turkmenistan, the Arch of the Neutrality, a memorial architectural ensemble "Earthquake". A lunch at local restaurant. After a lunch a trip on ancient site of ancient settlement Nisa (18 km).
Ancient site of ancient settlement Nisa date I in the millenium up to BC. The site of ancient settlement consists of two fortresses: Old and New Nisa. Old Nisa was an imperial residence in Parthian, the New residence carried out functions of capital of Parthia. During existence Prthian Old Nisa referred to in honour of tsar Mitridata I under which order the town has been constructed. During this period Nisa was capital of empire, but later the capital has been transferred to Asia Minor. With arrival Sasanids Nisa has absolutely lost power, the town has been plundered and forgotten.
The new stage in history Nisa begins with its ocurrence in structure Arabian Khalifats. The town again has risen, but to reach former power and could not. The beginning of final decline concerns to XI century, in 20th years of XIX century Nisa already represented ruins.
Further transfer to mosque Turkmenbashi Rukhy (15 km). The mosque is located in Niyazov Kipchak's native village Saparmurata in 15 kilometers from Ashgabad.
The mosque is a great architectural construction of an epoch of Saparmurata Niyazov. The total area of a mosque makes 18 000 square meters, height of a mosque - 55 meters. Near a mosque is four 80-ти a meter minaret. Capacity of a mosque for 7000 men and 3000 women. In 2006 of president Niyazov have buried in a sarcophagus which is in the center of the mausoleum. Here remains of its mother, the father and two brothers who have lost during earthquake in 1948 are based. Returning in Ashgabad, transfer to hotel. Dinner and overnight.
6  Day. Ashgabat.
Transfer to airport. Departure from Ashgabat.

Note:
Author program of Alexander Petrov. Copying and introduction -  from the sanction of the author  petrovsra@mail.ru

Photos
Alexander Petrov.