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May 7-18, 2013
With tour leaders John Sharp and Audrey Voth Petkau
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 five 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 act as the storyteller on this trip. TourMagination’s Audrey Voth Petkau will look after the tour logistics and your needs while traveling. A local 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, and 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 tour departs Tuesday night from Chicago on an overnight flight to Istanbul, Turkey, arriving late Wednesday afternoon. Enjoy a delicious meal together before going to bed for some much-needed sleep.
Welcome to Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, the center of the spectacular Byzantine Empire! The great city straddles the Bosphorus Straight to inhabit both Europe and Asia. Today's tour includes the renowned Hagia Sofia (Church of Holy Wisdom), for centuries the largest church in Christendom, built by Emperor Justinian between 532 and 537; the Yerebatan; and the Basilica Cistern, also built by Justinian the Great in the 6th century to preserve water against threats of siege. Later, you will enjoy wandering through the Grand Bazaar District where you can find opportunity for shopping for jewelry, leather products, and other souvenirs.
On Friday morning we will visit Topkapi Palace, home of the sultans of the Ottoman Empire. In the afternoon you will enjoy the spice market of the 17th century where you can still see a profusion of oriental herbs and spices. Following the market experience, we will head on to the Balat district to visit old Christian and traditional Jewish quarters and the Bulgarian steel church. Then we will board a private boat at Kabatas Pier to enjoy a cruise on the Bosphorus, the narrow body of water that divides the city and the continents of Europe and Asia. You will be escorted back to the old town and transferred to Istanbul Airport for a flight to Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
It will be early Saturday morning when we arrive in Tashkent, the ancient capital of Uzbekistan. After collecting our bags, our guide 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.
 Samarkand mosque
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 Zarafshan 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. (Fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Unruh journaled about Tamerlane and his famous mausoleum as her horse-drawn wagon rumbled by.)
Today we will drive to Serabulak on the way to Bukhara. It was in this stretch that the Mennonites were stranded between the Russian Empire of Samarkand and the territory of the Khan of Bukhara, who refused to grant them permission to settle, enter, or even travel through his territory. Here in the village of Serabulak, Mennonites spent nine months debating their final destination. The remarkable story here is that Muslim villagers invited pilgrim Mennonites to use their mosque for worship and community gatherings. In this mosque, called Kyk-Ota (Blue Grandfather), or in a tent outside, two Mennonite couples were married and twenty-one young people were baptized. We will stop in this village and savor that uncommon hospitality. While sitting in the coolness of the dome of the mosque, we will read from the journals of our spiritual ancestors who sojourned here 130 years ago. After tea with the imam, it’s on to Bukhara, the Pillar of Islam, for a late dinner and our hotel.
On Tuesday 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.
Today 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.
 Parquet floor crafted by Mennonites
Thursday we will visit this settlement and hear the villagers recount the stories their elders told them of the heart-wrenching deportation of Mennonites under Stalin in 1935. We will see a few remnants of the Mennonites who once lived here. Standing in the Khan’s Garden we will see the fields where Mennonite farmers introduced cucumbers, peas, tomatoes, and potatoes to villagers impressed by the strangers’ expertise. In the afternoon we will return to the walled city of Khiva and visit the Ichan-Kala Museum which features the Mennonites’ story. Just outside the inner wall, we will see the Nurullabai Palace with its parquet floor, doors, windows, and grand bed that Mennonite craftsmen built for the Khan of Khiva. In the evening we can stroll through the city on our own, bid its citizens a final Salaam Aleikum, and watch the sun set over the shadowed minarets.
On Friday 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 Saturday morning we will leave Tashkent for Istanbul, followed by our return flight to Chicago. Our Great Trek will be over, but the lessons from history and the friendships forged will long endure!
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