Based in Tashkent, Aliya is the manager of our longest-standing partner in Uzbekistan. We have been working together since 2013 – they were the first to see the benefits of working with individuals, at a time when Uzbek tour companies were still exclusively focused on group tours.
A former librarian at the national library of Uzbekistan, Aliya is known for her attention to detail and kindness towards customers. She loves animals, and has been thinking for a while to open a shelter for stray cats. She once adopted a bunny smuggled across the Turkmen border by 2 tourists. Her favourite country to travel is India.
Since 2007, she has been running the show at the company. In this time, she has made good contacts with tour operators in the rest of Central Asia, so we also like to trust her with complicated multi-stan tours.
What Aliya says:
Each request is tailor-made to reflect your expectations of the tour. Guests enjoy a first-class service, 24 hour support services of guides and local agents, vetted drivers, a reliable visa support service and an attentive approach to work.
Thank you Aliya for organizing our trip through UZ. Everything was great organized. Drivers, transfers, guides, plane and train tickets perfect. It were 18 days of a relaxed trip. No worries. I can and will recommand Aliya to every one who in considering to make a trip through UZ.
Excellent job. Thanks again
A very positive experience! Smooth and fluid communication since planning trip several months ago until coming back home. All questions and requests were answered and attended, Ms. Aliya Japarova is very kind and professional. Excellent, friendly and helpful drivers (language barrier didn’t matter), specially Furkat and Timur. A high quality selection of local guides, all of them very good Spanish speakers: Ms. Asiya, speaks Spanish perfect, very warm an nice person that makes you love Uzbekistan since first second; Mr. Sadullo, tons of knowledge about Bukhara; Ms. Evgenya is so nice and she helps you to enjoy Samarkand learning and having fun at the same time. I am very grateful with all of you, I think the best of Uzbekistan is people!
Best regards and rakhmat, or as we say in Spanish: muchas gracias!
Dear Aliya,
We had a great time in Turkmenistan and the Aral sea! Our guides Kamal and Maksat were great. We have been traveling for almost a month in Uzbekistan now and the trip to the Aral sea is still one the best experiences.
The trip was very well organised. However, the hotel Gypjak in Ashgabat was way below standard and the only bad experience we have had this month. The location was way off, it was far from the city and impossible to go anywhere without our guide (and we booked and payed for an extra day to have a free day). The rooms were very dirty, and there was really really nothing there, not even a single drop of water (which is very inconvenient since it is not possible to go anywhere ourselves; we had to wait for five hours after our arrival to have a glass of water…! How is this possible for a hotel?!)
We suggest to not book this hotel anymore in the future. But besides this, we had a very wonderful trip! Thanks again
Best wishes
Christine and Nikki
Aliya made my ten days in Uzbekistan the trip of a lifetime. Since the very first contact she was courteous and professional, patient and flexible to accomodate my travel needs, always with impeccable English. The visa on arrival support was organized without any fuss and getting the actual visa in Tashkent airport was a breeze. Aliya was kind enough to meet me after my arrival to the hotel to provide me the travel documents, a personal touch that said a lot about what was to come. The guides were all excellent, but Mumin in Bukhara and Leonora in Samarkand went the extra mile to show me their magnificent cities with an enthusiasm that made me eager to come back. The drivers, Ivan and Shavkat, were careful, punctual and very friendly. The accomodation provided was good and getting much better along the route. I cannot recommend Aliya and her team strongly enough and I am sure I will rely again on their efficiency and warmhearted professionalism when I return to their beautiful country.
Big thanks to Aliya,
we can recommend the services to everyone.
one week in Uzbek: Tashkent, Khiva, Bukhara, desert yurt camp, Samarkand.
Our special wishes in the tour planning were well implemented. All guesthouses, tour guides, the driver … everything was super organized. Us (family: 2 adults, 2 children: 12 and 9 years) enjoyed it very much.
Greetings from Germany.
We had a wonderful tour of Turkmenistan. Aliya was constantly in touch with us from several months ahead of the tour, arranged the invite letters and patiently accommodated all our requests for changes to the itinerary. The guide, driver and vehicle in Ashgabad were all perfect. We are already looking forward to booking our next tour to Central Asia in April 2019 with Aliya and the Caravanistan team.
Thank you Aliya for arranging, tours, visas etc, Meeting us at our hotel, was so nice to put a face to my many emails.
Uzbekistan is our most recommended country.
The guides and driver that Aliya had organized were perfect, very informative but a lot of fun, Thanks to our driver (Doug) we could relax and enjoy the scenery, had some moments with other drivers.
Turkmenistan what can I say. Different. The only negative thing was expecting us to get up at 4am to catch flight to Mary. Back at 9pm.
We opted out. I looked up there were more suitable flights. What was the reasoning for this. ?? Also a great guide and driver. Border crossings so easy.
BUT will recommend your company to others and hope we can convince friends Central Asia a great holiday destination.
Thanks again
Harriet
Aliya arranged everything concerning my wife’s and my trip to Uzbekistan. She was professional, courteous and full of integrity. In short, she was a credit to her country and I have no hesitation in recommending her to other people who wish to visit Uzbekistan.
Aliya is great! She helped us with visa application, responded our mail immediately. She also met with us in the hotel when we first arrived at Uzbekistan. The tour she organized for us was very good. We really enjoyed our trip.
Super-efficient Aliya arranged my Uzebekistan Visa on Arrival, my tours of Samarkand, as well as rail & air tickets in Uzbekistan. Aliyah met me at my Hotel on arrival, something I did not expect her to do, but a very warm welcome made this trip even more special.
Uzbekistan impressed me from the day I arrived – the friendly & warm people, always willing to help even if language was a barrier. Fantastic high-speed Rail service, lovely comfortable Hotels. I always felt safe in the cities, even when walking around Tashkent, Samarkand & Bukhara in the evenings. Eleonora our guide in Samarkand is tops, very well informed, and accommodating with special requests.
Unexpected last-minute changes were dealt with efficiently and with a smile – I am a travel agent from South Africa, and I give 10/10 to my colleague-in-travel!
It was a great tour. Thank you for helping us with the early arrival in Ashgabat. The guide was very good informative.
We arranged visas our self through London, but needed to be picked up at the border crossing from Shavat to Turkmenistan.
Everything went as planned, bring a lot of USD to Turkmenistan, you will get at least double the official rate.
Make sure you have Konye Urgench in your visa if you want to see that city as well on your way to Darvaza.
We do recommend Caravanistan.
Aliya is wonderful- so patient since I ask a lot of questions when I’m planning a trip. My trip to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan was determined at the last minute and I went during low season. My main issue was visa. Aliya was very patient since we went back and forth and she answered a lot of my queries with clarity and transparency. I feel that without her help, I would not be able to get the visa into tough Turkmenistan. All went well and she sent documents promptly.
We spoke on the phone as well and it was just lovely that things moved along with quick and ease-m definitely dealing with a professional.
The one thing that I love the best was not- at any point- made to feel pushed into settling with an itinerary or product. This is how travel companies should operate. When I landed, she came to my hotel and we had all the payment completed. Although I have all documents printed, Aliya gave me the contract and visa documents for Turkmenistan. Like this small attention to detail and thoughtfulness. Aliya also helped me with money exchange and buying train tickets….really appreciate her doing this considering it was snowing in Tashkent. Overall, what a trip and looking back, I’m glad I took the trip. Great information on caravanistan and of course- great help from Aliya!
I wish Central Asia the best- definitely an upcoming region.
2018 was the end of my Central Asia trip. More adventure awaits
Aliya and all her colleagues did SUPER job !!!
A huge thanks to all of them !!!
Warmest Regards
Minas
Aliya was extremely organised, had wonderful communication and helped us change plans at the last minute. As a younger couple on what is typically an ‘older person’s tour (or so we kept being told!) we were able to adapt the tour as needed to suit our interests. Our drivers were wonderful and overall our tour guides were informative and pleasant. I would highly recommend Aliya as a tour operator and Uzbekistan as a destination.
Aliya organized our trip to Turkmenistan and we couldn’t have been more pleased! My husband and I traveled with our two small children (age 2 and 5) and the trip was extremely smooth. We had a fantastic English speaking guide, Sary, and overall had a terrific time. Thank you!
We have booked German-speaking guides via Aliya in 3 cities – Tashkent, Bukhara and Samarkand. We were very pleased with both the guides and the organization.
Kamol, our guide in Tashkent, was the best, very knowledgeable, excellent German, a nice young man.
In Bukhara Galina was our guide. She has been working as a guide for a long time and has a lot of experience, we have enjoyed the city tour with her.
In Samarkand our guide was Ruslan, who came as a replacement for the booked guide. He was nice and tried very hard, but he lacked a lot of knowledge about the city and his knowledge of German was not very good.
_____
Wir haben über Dich deutschsprachige Guides in 3 Städten gebucht, Taschkent, Buchara und Samarkand. Wir waren sowohl mit den Guides als auch mit der Organisation sehr zufrieden.
Am besten war Kamol, unser Guide in Tashkent, sehr gutes Wissen, ausgezeichnete Deutschkenntnisse, ein netter junger Mann.
In Buchara war Galina unser Guide. Sie arbeitet schon lange als Guide und hat sehr viel Erfahrung, wir haben die Stadtführung mit ihr genossen.
In Samarkand war unser Guide Ruslan, der als Ersatz für den gebuchten Guide kam. Er war nett und hat sich sehr bemüht, aber es fehlte ihm viel an Wissen über die Stadt und auch seine Deutschkenntnisse waren nicht sehr gut.
Best regards
Aliya made her best to make our trip a reality. We were not even sure we would get a visa, but got one upon arrival Tashkent Airport. Aliya is very knowledgeable and takes control. She even came to our hotel so that we didn’t have to visit her office. I have the highest recommendations of her work and service. Our trip to the Aral Sea was a success.
Travelling to Uzbekistan involves extensive planning as this is not your usual travel destination. Most citizens require an LOI (Letter of Invitation) before applying for a visa and this can take months to process. Luckily, Aliya was always on hand to help out. She was extremely patient in addressing our enquiries and concerns. Tour guides spoke good English. The only downside was the drivers, who could only speak a smattering of English. This wasn’t really a huge problem as their role was to bring us from one destination to the next. I’d definitely recommend my friends to approach Aliya if they have travel plans to Central Asia.
Aliya organized a tour for myself and a friend in Turkmenistan. We are independent travelers, but the Turkmenistan’s requirements make that a bit difficult! Our tour guides through the desert and north Turkemenistan were great!
We had a fantastic time in Kyrgyzstan. Both our guide and driver were incredibly friendly and helped us have a very pleasant stay. And they did manage to locate good vegetarian food for us. We particularly enjoyed our visit to Arslanbob. The homestay was great, and we found the local people to be very friendly and outgoing.
Sincere thanks for all of your efforts to make our tour of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan so enjoyable. We’ve already told many friends about our visit, and they might just be contacting you in the near future!
I have just finished my tour that you organised.
Thank you, Aliya. It was all amazing and so well organised. We particularly liked the guides in Khiva and Bukhara. The accommodation was universally excellent. Shiva is such an immersive experience and Bukhara has some great sites. The Registan in Tashkent is truly amazing. Thank you again for organising our wonderful trip.
My only comments for improving the trip would be to fly from Khiva to Bukhara. It is a long and uninteresting drive. Also, a warning to tourists that they need to get a permit to take out carpets. I bought a beautiful small carpet in Bukhara and had it as part of my hand luggage. There were major problems at Tashkent airport. Fortunately, a kind officer allowed me to pass thru. (If it had been in my main luggage it may have gone unnoticed).
I have just returned from Uzbekistan and can highly recommend Aliya. I had a particularly complicated trip with multiple visa entries (with children) for Uzbek and entry to Tajikistan, different drivers, hotels, flights, and remote access requirements. This was handled with exceptional efficiency. Then my travel plans changed and, at the last minute, i had to change all my plans, re-book hotels, drivers and flights with limited notice – which the company did with complete efficiency again – the change also resulted in an unexpected refund which was repaid without request. At one point I left our passports at a hotel, discovering this as i was about to enter an airport 3 hrs away!! The company had arranged for a driver to return the passports before i even realized I had left them behind. I have traveled extensively for the last 30 years and have NEVER experienced such attentive efficient honest and supportive help. Highest recommendation.
We recently (July 2015) went with Aliya tours to Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara. Excellent, full service, very professional guides. Everything was great the entire time we were in the country. They had a range of tours available and were able to alter them according to what we wanted. They also helped with visas and that process was about as straightforward as it could be.
hey
It was good, most tour guides didnt have an Uzbek accent but all was fine
Uzbekistan has to be the most beautiful country in Central Asia.
Its cheap and most people are very friendly. Company is very professional, Aliya Japarova is an angel….. My trip to UZ was cancelled twice due to Russian visa (non having one), once from Georgia and the other from Armenia. Ive visited Iceland thrice and Scotland once but I never imagined Central Asia was so nice….only thing I hate about UZ is the constant police checking and the declaration of money LOL. I saw a beautiful Russian orthodox church in the heat of Samarqand.. A police officer stopped me (maybe my beard was the reason) but the hotel manager came in quickly and told the police officers to not bother me…. Id return to UZ any time I can… I am impressed with Georgia and Armenia too, but my heart and mind are set on UZ it is like a spell (same stuff I think about Island)
But i dream everyday of Uzbekistan…… Samarqand, Bukhara, Khiva ….without being a Muslim myself I adore Muslim architecture!!!!!!
I took several day tours with Aliya in Uzbekistan, and had a great time. Very well informed and interesting guides, thanks!