| Great Trek Tour |
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May 24 - June 4, 2009
With Tour Leader John Sharp In 1880-81 five wagon trains of Mennonites left European Russia and headed east to Central Asia along the famous Silk Road. Seeking freedom from conscription and new economic opportunities, this group went east instead of west to North America as 18,000 did a decade earlier. In the last two years, new details of the Great Trek have emerged in the remarkable Silk Road cities of Khiva, Samarkand and Bukhara. John Sharp, history professor at Hesston College who has a passion for the Anabaptist story, and has studied primary and secondary sources on the Great Trek, will be the leader on this trip. Local guide Marina Allayarova, an expert on Uzbek life and culture as well as the Mennonite experience, will join us in Tashkent. Amidst the splendor of the Islamic architecture of the Citadel in Bukhara, the striking beauty of the mausoleums of Samarkand, or within the spectacular wall of ancient Khiva, the Mennonite Great Trek story will emerge through journals and letters of trekkers, archival documents, and current reflections. The highlight of this tour will be the grand opening of the Ichan-Kala Museum of Khiva which will feature the life and contributions of Mennonites to the citizens of Khiva and Ak Metchet, 1884-1935. Click here to read past blog posts from this tour. Sunday-Tuesday, May 24-26 The tour departs from Chicago on an overnight flight to Moscow, Russia. In Moscow we will connect with our flight to Central Asia and the city of Tashkent. We will arrive in this ancient capital of Uzbekistan early Tuesday morning. After collecting our bags, our guide Marina Allayarova and the coach driver will take us to our hotel for a much-needed rest. We will enjoy our first lunch at an Uzbek restaurant followed by a tour of the City of Parks. We will see glimpses of Tashkent’s 2,000-year history that will include a statue of Tamerlane at the Amir Timur Square, the 16th-century Kukeldash Madrasah, and Independence Square. We will marvel at the cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic nature of the Uzbek people, a legacy of life at the crossroads of the greatest trading route in history. Mennonites who camped near Tashkent commented on its multi-racial character, and their children played with Chinese, Arab, and Cossack neighbors. In the evening Dilaram Inoyatova of the National University of Uzbekistan, a specialist on German settlements in Central Asia, will speak to us about Mennonites in Khiva and Ak Metchet. Wednesday & Thursday, May 27 & 28 This morning our coach will take us to one of the oldest cities of central Asia, Samarkand, Pearl of the East. Mennonite wagon trains took this route to Bukhara and Khiva by way of Samarkand. We will see the fertile oases of the Ferghana Valley that impressed Mennonite farmers in 1880 as we drive the most famous trading route in the world. The Silk Road connected China in the east to Rome in the west and to India in the south. Arriving in Samarkand we will have a late lunch, followed by an afternoon tour of the city’s famous madrasahs, minarets, and, of course, the celebrated Mausoleum of Tamerlane. (The journal of a 14-year-old Mennonite girl in 1880 described the beauty of this famous mausoleum as her horse-drawn wagon rumbled by.) Thursday will be devoted to touring the splendid ancient sites of Samarkand, visiting a carpet factory, watching silk production, and shopping. Friday, May 29  Serabulak Mosque Saturday & Sunday, May 30 & 31 Bukhara, the capital of the Samanid state of the 9th and 10th centuries blossomed into Central Asia's religious and cultural center. Saturday we will visit the Citadel of Bukhara, where the Mennonites petitioned the Khan for permission to settle or travel through his territory. It will be hard to imagine plain Mennonite emissaries entering the magnificent throne room of the Khan, asking permission to travel through his land. We will also visit the monumental 150-foot Kalan Minaret, the elegant Ismail Samani Mausoleum, and ancient madrasahs and mosques, beautifully decorated with brilliant blue and green tiles. In the afternoon we will experience the first shopping malls of the Silk Road, the multi-domed markets along the route where merchants led their camels. Today, in these domes we can buy silk scarves, carpets, woodcarvings and jewelry. In the evening we will enjoy Uzbek cuisine and a cultural fashion show in an ancient caravansary. Sunday will be a traveling day through the Kyzyl Kum Desert to the walled city of Khiva, the most intact and remote city of the Silk Road. This was the most difficult part of the journey for many Mennonites of the Trek. In the comfort of our air-conditioned bus, we will read of their cantankerous camels, skilled guides, sandstorms, illnesses, the birth of a baby, the Great September Comet of 1882 and more. Monday & Tuesday, June 1 & 2  Sunset in Khiva Wednesday & Thursday, June 3 & 4 On Wednesday morning a short drive will take us to the Urgench Airport for a return flight to Tashkent. Looking down from the plane we can contemplate the courage of our ancestors traversing the hot, arid sands of the desert on camels and horses. Back in Tashkent, Uzbekistan’s capital, we will transfer to our hotel, eat lunch and have a leisurely afternoon for shopping, walking, resting or swimming in the hotel pool. In the evening we will celebrate our “farewell dinner” over local cuisine and shared reflections. Very early on Thursday morning we will leave Tashkent for Moscow, followed by our flight home to New York City. Our Great Trek will be over, but the lessons from history and the friendships forged will long endure! For further information regarding the complete tour fare, please This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . We would be happy to be of assistance. |
