Visited the "5 'Stans 2 years ago on an Elder Hostel trip, where I've wanted to go since I was 10. Started in Tashkent and worked our way west. It is amazing and wonderful. The mosaic and inlaid decorations of mosques and madrassahs took my breath away. People were very friendly but unused to seeing Americans. Our time in Turkmenistan was interesting. The capital city is built entirely of white marble and if you live there your car can only be white or silver. It's evident it's a police state as locals are careful not to say anything negative about the President. And while horse meat is for sale in the other 'Stans, in Turkmenistan horses are revered and a national symbol. This journey was actually the last on my bucket list. Now where do I go?
34
“Controversial belt and road initiative”... For a number of years I have accepted and even adopted the criticisms attached to any description of the “belt and road” infrastructure initiative. However, ever since I became aware of the deep prejudices underlying the reporting of almost any story that covers China, I now question these descriptions and wonder if they are simply slurs. No evidence supporting this bias is provided here in this otherwise excellent report.
Did you realise that the worst motives are always assumed for any Chinese initiatives, and yet without evidence? Did you know that there is no evidence that any massacre occurred in Tiananmen Square? I was shocked when I learned that from a Daily Telegraph report on a WikiLeaks dump of cables from the US Embassy in Beijing. Google it. That is what I did. Then question every bias in this newspaper (especially regarding the HK so-called democracy movement, which is proving to be anything but that).
13
@Andrew China is still luring them in. Hasn't lowered the boom yet. You'll see.
9
I suppose the Uighurs took themselves off to the camps, for a bit of r & r.
73
One of the few on-line NYT articles where the jumbo photos are justified, and actually quite pleasant.
22
I can't think of anything more disgusting than being rubbed with honey and ginger by strangers.
14
I remain upset when I think about the zillions and zillions of silk works whose lives were destroyed boosting those merchants who roamed the silk road ... to say nothing about the millions of slave laborers used by those merchants to harvest, weave, and carry the silk over the centuries.
Say something about that will you!
11
Article needed many more pictures. I was disappointed in the actual writing, didn't seem compelling. Lots of "stan" countries but no rhythm section propelling the narrative forward. Amazing views (where are the pictures), hospitable locals (where are the pictures), indifferent to the food (where are the pictures, and every country/culture has amazing food if you know where to find it).
32
@Ignatius J. Reilly
I agree. The puctures were grainy and uninteresting, and there were too few of them!
9
Reading this story makes me grateful that I chose a $14k two week trip in 2014 with my university travel organization that featured five star hotels, great food, in private homes and good restaurants, wonderful local guidesand private bus and van transportation. I would still like to see the Pamirs but not like this. My 75 year old body couldn't take it. Mir travel was main trip organizer and they did a great job.
20
Every since taking a course long ago in non-Russian literature of the Central Asian Republics, the beautiful writing and poetry pulled me to that region, and it has been my many-decades dream to go when it opened and then when the political violence subsided. It is wonderful for the world that we have come to that point, and I look forward to making my own Silk Road visit. Meanwhile, it was lovely reading the stories of your travels and seeing the compelling photos.
27
Thank you for a pleasant distraction from current events.
38
Charly thanks for the inspiring travel story.
17
For a stateside taste of this culture's art, architecture and cuisine, visit the Dushanbe Tea House in Boulder, CO. You won't be disappointed.
14
I'm not jealous - honest.
19
Thank you for sharing your story!! This sounds like it was an amazing trip that many of us will never entire to take. Great descriptions of scenery, scenes and people. Glad it was a safe journey. Cheers.
23
The "tightly controlled police state of Turkmenistan" may be closed off to Chinese investment but it's certainly not closed to foreign travelers. For my part it's one of the most remarkable places on the Silk Road, not only for the screwball modernist architecture of its capital, Ashkhabad, but for the ancient historical sites of Nisa, Merv and Kunye Urgench. In addition to which the nation's inhabitants are among the most hospitable (as well as among the most striking in their appearance) that I've encountered anywhere. Not nearly so heavily touristed as Uzbekistan there's much that's worth seeing there- i.e., the Silk Road in a rather more pristine condition.
25
I lived in Dushanbe in 2003 and 04, and traveled throughout this region. Khiva, once a great slave trading center, now specializes in knit socks. The silk factory in the Ferghana Valley is not to be missed. Cocoons arriving at one end, a gift shop at the end; inbetween the amazing process of producing ikat silk.
We also traveled to Moynak, which used to be one of the largest fishing ports in the Soviet Union--now 60km from the Aral Sea. We walked through the ships graveyard. Locals have cannibalized iron sheeting from the ships to add to their houses. Moynak has a wonderful modern art museum; many abstract pieces were squirreled away for safekeeping during Stalin's time.
Plov is delicious!! I have never succeeded in duplicating it.
22
Samsas (similar to Indian samosa, rich with the fat of the sheep’s extra tail flap, plov, manti, lagman, muz kaimok (ice cream) and the best melons and produce I’ve ever had. Uzbek food is delicious and unfortunately hard to come by unless you are in Brighton Beach or Los Angeles.
The first time I saw the Registan I dropped to my knees and began to pray, it was that profoundly moving.
Peace Corps 2000-2001
31
Wonderful. Always wanted to do this journey.
10
I did most of the same trip last summer. A trip though Kazakhistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. A highly recommended trip. Uzbekistan had a lot of lovely monuments, and a lot of history which intersected with Indian, Persian and Turkish history.
28
Ms. Wilder describes at length the wonders of Islamic Bukhara and its scholarship, science, architecture and religion, all of which are spectacular. She then refers her hotel, a 19th century Jewish merchant’s home. Nowhere is there any mention of the centuries-old, culturally unique Jewish community of Bukhara whose synagogues, houses of study, homes and businesses, many of which still remain, date back many hundreds of years and are truly worth exploring.
53
@UESLit
Exactly, and despite mentions of old Jewish quarters in this article, nowhere is it noted that the Jewish populations of these regions plausibly claim their origin to the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem in 587 BCE and the Persian Empire, their settlement pre-dating Islam by 1000 years, many in cities like Samarkand involved as merchants and financial agents of the Silk Route. With the breakup -of the Soviet empire and the rise of dictators like Islam Karamov, of Uzbekistan, most of the Jewish population emigrated to the US and Israel in the 1990s.
25
Thank you for this wonderful report! (You related just enough discomfort to temper intense envy.)
Seeing the fellow riding his donkey past fields of (mostly) cotton and a diverse collection of goats being led to pasture, reinforces a feeling that it is important to maintain these human-scale alternatives to our factory-scale farming. However, the local's sarcastic appreciation of the beauty is a reality-check; most people would rather enjoy the distance from nature, the comfort, our western ways provide. Your husband is right, though, it *is* beautiful!
31
Thanks. I too have always dreamed of traveling though Central Asia. Maybe someday.
13
Please tell me that there’s a book or documentary coming out so we can see and learn about the rest of the trip. Such a wonderful article.
12
@EH Smith A terrific overview of the entire Silk Road can be seen in Curiosity Stream in a 15 episode series taking you from Venice, Italy to Xi'an, China.
https://curiositystream.com/series/382/the-silk-road
7
@EH Smith My thought exactly!
2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSC5DB47riY
A Conversation with Colin Thubron, Travel Writer
Take a magic-carpet ride along the length of the most storied of ancient trade routes, the Silk Road, with Colin Thubron, one of the world's greatest living travel writers. Mr. Thubron describes his journey of some 7000 miles-by local bus, truck, car, donkey cart, camel, and foot-out of the heart of China into the mountains of Central Asia, across northern Afghanistan and the plains of Iran into Kurdish Turkey, which led to his bestselling book, Shadow of the Silk Road.
27
The long-term Uzbek President's name was Islam Karimov, not Kadyrov. Kadyrov is the leader of Chechen Republic - a part of Russia. And you absolutely do visit Central Asia for its food - very diverse but always delicious. I am just stunned by the comment about the food – nothing could be further from the truth,
54
Absolutely agree - after living and traveling all over the world and spending over two and a half years in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, I too was shocked by the dismissive comment about the food: a truly fantastic cuisine. There is even local literature devoted to just the bread of Samarkand.
27
How do I get a job like this?
25
'For lust of knowing what should not be known
We take the Golden Road to Samarkand.'
James Elroy Flecker.
22
There are few places in our world today where you can feel far, far away from globalization. Central Asia is one of them. A visit last fall to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan was one of the most interesting trips I've ever taken. Yes, the distances are long, and yes, the roads are terrible, but the combination of exquisite Islamic architecture, global history, and astonishing natural beauty are worth it. It's an eye-opening, jaw dropping destination - pack a good pair of boots, a bit of patience, and your ability to feel wonder and awe. You won't be disappointed.
88
As African countries who earlier accepted "lucrative" deals and loans from China, these central Asian nations should be wary of the supposedly "free" Belt and Road Initiative being pushed on them by China. Many countries who "signed on" are now regretting their decision amid mounting billion-dollar debts that they cannot pay to China, that China is demanding. China is in a position to influence and pressure these small powerless nations.
China is buying influence, and ways to put its thumb on the necks of fractional rulers in Central Asia.
China's is putting countries into severe debt, so it can later annex these countries - as it did to Tibet and the tribal areas of the Uyghur peoples.
49
@Incredulous of 45 This is all highly debatable. But consider that, even if this were true, it would make China not much different than the Western world, which has dominated and stolen from countries the world over then held them subject through debt and IMF loans. I understand the concerns about China, but coming from Westerners, it sounds a lot more like sour grapes than honest warnings. It sounds, in fact, like the West is angry someone else is getting into the game of exploitation.
47
@Incredulous of 45
China is simply trying to guarantee its supply lines in the event that western countries shut down their seaborne supply lines. They are not doing the belt and road initiative to conquer the world - they are doing it to make sure that what they see as their "century of humiliation" never happens again. That's why a number of the Belt and Road projects are uneconomical - because they are being put in place for emergency situations, not for ordinary trade situations. Your comment demonstrates the usual ignorance about China and its history.
22
This was so good so interesting and evocative. We are lucky readers indeed.
37
In 1964 I took an extended Intourist group tour of Moscow and the 'stans. It was a memorable experience. The hotel accommodations were adequate and the food was passable, but unremarkable.
By day, we would board an Intourist bus for a guided tour of the environs, conducted by a local guide. In the evenings we were free to roam. Fortunately, several members of our tour group were fluent in Russian, so we were able to participate in local social activities. The people were invariably friendly, sometimes curious, never haughty or condescending.
In Bukhara, groups of students would gather around our hotel to practice their foreign language skills. On one day, the tour bus took us on a picnic beside a cold mountain river in the High Pamirs. The tour guide grilled shashlik for us, and we chilled our wine in the stream.
Thinking back, I'm sure I saw the Soviet Union at its finest hour. Things worked. People were relaxed and sociable. Several of the European members of my tour group affirmed that Soviet citizens appeared to be as well housed and fed as working-class people in France and Germany of the time.
I'm delighted at the prospect of the region being opened up by the Belt and Road initiative. It's essentially a new Silk Road that will bring a renaissance to beautiful and neglected parts of the world. The purpose of the project is not at all sinister. The Chinese are helping to build the roads, railways, and ports that will engage more nations in international trade.
25
@AynRant
" Several of the European members of my tour group affirmed that Soviet citizens appeared to be as well housed and fed as working-class people in France and Germany of the time."
Sounds similar to Bernie's Soviet love as it collapsed in front of his face. Socialism is fundamentally based on the fantasy that you can get something for nothing. It's a lie. Thermodynamics tells you it's a lie. And yet suckers and dreamers continue to fall for the lie.
The fact that you don't recognize another totalitarian state trying to gain power in the world for what it is tells me a lot. China is not anyone's friend.
8
@AynRant "The purpose of the project is not at all sinister." It's a power grabbing scam of indebtedness. Where have you been?
7
@AynRant : China has done the same thing to Ecuador. Rafael Correa told the IMF to jump in the lake, to cement his Socialist credentials and escape the country's debts. He had nowhere to turn but China. His country quickly found out the meaning of "ruthless".
Ecuador has new highways and bridges, and Quito has a new airport, but China owns their oil production for the foreseeable future. Part of the price tag is lots of Chinese-built hydroelectric projects, destroying rivers to make power they don't need, and some, though built, are not even operating. They imported Chinese labor, then abandoned the workers when the projects were finished. If you mention "environmental impact", the Chinese fall down laughing.
8
If you are in Tashkent, be sure to visit Ice City. The prices for a full day of ice skating are just part of the draw. You'll also experience a new culture where skaters do not circle the rink in an orderly, counter-clockwise fashion but dart across where their whims take them. It is disorienting and frustrating at first until you catch the vibe and then move in seemingly random fashion with joy. Small moments like these are why we travel! We also dined at Western-style restaurants and had fantastic meals with strong Italian coffee for a fifth of what we would pay in NYC. On the other hand, please avoid the Radio Tower, a truly dreary tourist site which gives you a view of one of the least appealing views of any major city in the world. This is only for those who want to see what life was like in the Soviet era. Finally, try all types of plov. They are all magnificent in their own unique style.
15
The area around the TV tower in Tashkent is also the site of Repression/Purge-era executions, although that fact isn’t advertised. Many, many thousands were shot there in the mid/late 1930s.
I lived three years in Uzbekistan and two in Tajikistan as an American expat. My time in Central Asia is a true highlight of my life, and this is a region close to my heart. I love it there. I also lived two years in Russia, but do not recall it nearly as fondly - oh so cold on so many levels...
7
Went on a terrific Road Scholar trip of 5 Stans last year. One highlight was the Savitsky Museum in Nukus, a nothing town about 2 hours from Khiva. Although not on the Road Scholar itinerary, a few of us took a taxi there and what amazing art--suppressed during the Soviet era for not embodying the Soviet "aesthetic," and considered decadent.
21
@Citizen NYC
I have signed up to be part of the same tour this April. There is a possibility it will be cancelled as a result of the Corona virus travel restrictions.
4
Thank you for this amazing article - would love to see even more photos!
79
I went to Uzbekistan in 2015. I would add that March is a very good time to go, though the weather is a bit unpredictable (it snowed just before I got there and just before I left, with a heat wave in between). There are fewer tourists, and the Navruz (Nowrooz) holiday is wonderful to be a part of. The people are very friendly and the sites incredible. The restaurant food is good but with very limited variety. On the other hand, if you eat at someone's house you'll be pleasantly surprised.
You can check out my photos here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/10186213@N07/collections/72157651939222206/
42
@Robert W. Thank you so much for sharing your photos. It appears to have been a magical adventure.
13
@Robert W. Thank you for the link to your fantastic photos! I was there for the first time decades ago (late 1960-ties) as a uni student, then from Poland. With mandatory Russian learning (5th grade on) in all Polish schools, we could communicate with the locals - who didn't like speaking Russian even then. Having sympathy for Poles, as another Soviet occupied nation, who fought Germans in WWII, they did speak Russian with us, and invited us to their homes for feasts, with the food markets/ stores empty of products and customers. The same hospitality I was fortunate to experience in the Caucasus: Armenia, Georgia, etc. - as a student, then a US govt consultant in the 1990-ties. I visited also some of the "-stans" in the 1990-ties consulting w/the US govt programs for the newly emerging economies.
All looks much better now, cleaner, and more relaxed. People's faces have smiles - very rare then. There is more color in the clothing women wear. Without your photos this nice article would be a little dry - thank you again! You have a great eye, and a good camera - or, was it the iPhone? Only in the NYT, only on a full moon.
17
@Robert W.
These shots are stunning.
11
“It was tortuous. We hoped it would never end.”
Like so much of life. (Except this trifecta of Trump, Virus, Market sell-off!)
So wonderful to read these stories in the Times that, even if “tortuous,” involve nothing of the above Trifecta.
Every day the Times provides something unexpected to make like worth living.
43
@TheraP
Given the context, I think Wilder meant to say "torturous."
1
The founder of the Moghul Empire in India, Babur, descendant of the Timur, mentions longingly of Samarkand (in Baburnama), a city to which he could not go back, as a city of gardens, as the most beautiful in the world. He and the courtiers he brought with him should have conveyed a sense what gardens in Samarkand looked like as exemplified by the gardens around so many Moghul structures around Delhi and Agra.
26
Was any of this trip funded, in any way, by China?
China's Belt and Road Initiative (glancingly mentioned in the article) includes plenty of funds for promotional pieces like this.
10
This being NY Times, it's obligatory to insert a line or two to cast suspicion against China: "... a mountain laced with gold deposits that the Tajik government recently traded away in a “secret deal” with China..." It also offer up a rare link to a non-NY Times article called "Tajikistan: Chinese company gets gold mine in return for power plant." China bashed, again.
15
@Observer If it is truthful, how is it bashing?
23
@Peter B Maybe because Americans are so blind to the way in which they have done exactly the same things -often far worse -of which they are accusing China to many other countries in the world. The bashing is endless but, coming from the US, also deeply disingenuous.
1
I believe much of the world is well and truly fed up with China.
2
This was the year I planned to go Uzbekistan in May. Last night I sat down to book my Aeroflot tickets. Fortunately I checked Uzbek travel restrictions and discovered that if I live in or been to any of a number of countries with current COVID outbreaks, including the U.S., I'll spend a lovely two weeks quarantined in a Tashkent hotel on arrival. Best check the country restrictions before buying a ticket.
33
We lived in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan for 2 years back in 1998-2000 working at the US Embassy. The people were what made it beautiful for us.
26
Where is the video?
Where are the photos (more needed)?
An almost wow article.
10
@Robert I can see everything in my imagination. Beautifully written. I think it needs no artificial enhancement. My, but the country looks like southern Idaho!
4
@vandalfan ditto that. i thought of Southern Idaho as well, where I lived for 4 years waaaay back in the day. Maybe I'll make it to Tajik in the next few years.
3
I was in this area the fall of 1976 for a joint US-USSR meeting of climate scientists held in Tashkent. We were there for nearly two weeks. On one weekend we were helicoptered from an airport in Kyrgistan to an observatory station on the Abramov glacier. I think it is on the border of Tagikistan and Uzbekistan. After the USSR dissolved the station was destroyed in the war mentioned. On another weekend we flew to Samarkand and Bukhara. Neither looked like the beautiful pictures shown here. They were dusty, dirty towns with bushes growing on top of the magnificent buildings. We thought it was pathetic that these beautiful structures had been neglected by a government that was in pitiful decline during those times where things were about to go even more wrong in neighboring Afghanistan with Soviet misadventures.
20
We were on a Smithsonian Journey trip to the 5 stans - one of the most memorable trips for us - but not without some hardship during border-crossings. And yes, the food is not what you go for - but the architecture and the cultural features are amazing - go if you can
10
Fantastic.
It's been 25 year since I travelled the Karakorum highway and you've got me convinced it's time to get back to this wonderful patch of planet and enjoy on the Pamir highway. Thanks for the story.
5
Right, I was riding mountain bikes through here in the early 90’s. And reading about Westerners who had been traveling the Silk Road since the 60’s. So how can it be said that “until recently, it has been difficult, if not impossible, for Westerners to visit”??
14
Not sure if the readers know, but the Black Death which wiped out half the population of Europe, and lavished for nearly 600 years, is said to have been brought to Europe from Asia by the Mongols along the silk route. Looks like history repeating itself.
5
Thanks for reminding the readers about biases
19
@Andrew I think you misinterpreted the thrust Krzysztof's comment. It is a statement, not a put down.
1
@Krzysztof
Viruses often travel along with goods and people.
The Indo Europeans also brought bubonic plague with them along an even more ancient silk road.
It's an inescapable part of global civilization
4
What a disappointing read. I was waiting for the word "Oriental" to appear. And who says "you don’t visit Central Asia for the food"?
13
Did I miss it? Where is the map depicting the Silk Road? Always add a map to travel articles.
168
"overlooks a vast reservoir"
LOL, until you look at it on a map. It's tiny.
2
I want to do this trip!
3
The title feels really misleading after reading the article considering this wasn't an Asia - Europe trip...
1
Nice story! I have a trip to Uzbekistan planned for early/mid-April. What would you say about visiting in the midst of this contagion? I'm not as worried about getting the virus as I imagine they are about a tourist inadvertently coloring in the Corona map for Central Asia. I saw that Uz not surprisingly banned travelers from Italy and Iran. USA next?
2
@David A.
Don't miss the Savitsky Museum in Nukus, Uzbekistan. It has spectacular paintings that were suppressed during the Soviet era for not embodying the Soviet aesthetic. Nukus is a nothing town about 2 hours by taxi from Khiva. It is not to be missed.
4
What incredible landscape.
8
Incredible photos.
4
The good news is that Chinese produced fentanyl is cheap to produce and a hundred times more potent than good old opium based heroin, so you won't see much drug running on the silk road any more.
10
Please add a map to this wonderful story. Thanks.
44
Too much road, not enough silk.
6
For an excellent book on this, see " In The Shadow of the Silk Road", Colin Thubron.
6
@joel strayer and while reading listen to On The Steppes of Central Asia by alexander borodin. and dream.
7
@david Oh Heaven! Thank you (Book is ordered.) Music ready. What a grand way to spend a day. Create a playlist and read.
1
Enticing! Any chance you are related to Billy Wilder ?
3
I have always wanted to travel in the “stans” on the way into India as the Mugals did long ago. Fascinating!
17
Very well written. A nice blend of history and culture along with a realistic portrayal of ordinary life that seems timeless. Excellent photography helps to evoke the content and spirit of the write-up.
7
I worked as a ceramic guest at the ceramic factory in Tashkent Kent in 1996 for 6 weeks. A most generous people with a deep appreciation of all the arts, open to us, and so very welcoming. The USA gave very little support to this country and after I left all the wonderful ceramic in the museum garden, 10 yrs of visiting artist work, was destroyed by A slow insurgency.
13
Thanks for opening up this part of Asia for the adventurous tourist. It does have some wonderful sites, as your trip proves, and will probably become a destination, modified to be sure, on the bucket list of many.
3
Thanks Ms Wilder. Great article! And thank you Mr Cenicola for the stunning photos! I am so deeply envious of the journey, especially after reading Peter Frankopan's book on the region and it's history. A real eye-opener. Well, I'll continue to dream...
7
Wonderful story and photos! It would be a dream to travel here one day.
3
Loved this piece so much. I did a similar Silk Road route a few years ago, and have been encouraging people to go. What a beautiful part of the world to be explored.
6
Beautiful. Thanks for taking us along on your journey.
7
amazing. thanks for sharing!!!! only hope one day I can be so lucky as to visit this path.
3
This is a great piece. The design and turquoise color of the mosques reminds me of those in Shiraz, Isfahan and Tabriz. Despite the Soviet's policies, the Persian identity of Tajikistan has remained intact.
12
Great article, I've always been interested in this part of the world.
The pictures are great, but a map(s) would have been really helpful here to help us follow you along the journey.
4
I have always found the Silk Road fascinating and assumed such a journey today was difficult. Glad the political situation has stabilized enough that tourism for the somewhat faint of heart is possible. I hope Ms. Roberts thinks of expanding this article into a book with many, many more photographs -- or perhaps the Times could provide online access to photos that didn't make the cut for the article.
2
@Scott Farris Well, you can check out my photos from there:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/10186213@N07/collections/72157651939222206/
6
@Robert W. Thank you! These are wonderful., equal in quality to the Times photographer. When did you make the trip?
No idea why I referred to Ms. Wilder as Ms. Roberts. Wish the Times had a recall feature on comments when you realize you've made a mistake.
1
@Robert W. Great photos. Thank you for sharing. This is much better.
3
I have always found the Silk Road fascinating and assumed such a journey today was difficult. Glad the political situation has stabilized enough that tourism for the somewhat faint of heart is possible. I hope Ms. Wilder thinks of expanding this article into a book with many, many more photographs -- or perhaps the Times could provide online access to photos that didn't make the cut for the article.
I had the great good fortune to tour the Silk Road stretch in Uzbekistan some years ago. The sights and sites are as magnificent as described by this article.
We went in September and witnessed mountains of delicious melons, as well. Thank you for the reminder!
3
Adventurous but very interesting journey. Had I been young I would have certainly followed their footsteps but now that I am in my late 80s all I can do is sing the romantic American song “dream, dream all I can do is dream”!
4
This has been on my list for 2 years now. I'm hoping to go next summer. Thanks for this timely article.
1
"Regional transportation has improved, in part because of China’s controversial, trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, also known as the New Silk Road, a colossal infrastructure project stretching from East Asia to Europe that aims to expand China’s political and economic influence and which critics worry could lead to a debt crisis across the region. "
Oh, look "concern" about China slips in.
2
Much of this is not available to most travelers, but even the more travelled road is fantastic. I am so grateful to have traveled Iran, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan --- the geography and the stunning Islamic architecture, even were the people not so welcoming, would have been more than one could hope. And that's just using pretty conventional tours.
Just wondering why you called them yurts rather than gers.
2
Brought back fond memories. Certified Silk-Road-A-Philes, my wife and I traveled much of the same route in 2017. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgystan -- all wonderful countries; interesting peoples, unique cultures, storied histories and dramatic geographies; and all recovering from the depressing effects of former Soviet domination.
Anecdote: while bathing in the buff at a natural hotsprings off the Pamir Highway, I met an elderly German who asked where I lived. I said, Idaho. He said, what town. I replied, a small village (63 residents) an hour's drive north of famed ski resort, Sun Valley. To my shock and dismay, he said, "Oh, you must mean Stanley, I've been there. " Small world.
92
What a lovely description!
2
Beautiful and inspiring. Thank you.
1
"I had to agree with the adage that you don’t visit Central Asia for the food."
I appreciate the honesty in this well-written and fascinating story. It sounds like a wonderful adventure off the well-trodden tourist trail.
10
Years ago I made my way through Uzbekistan, passing Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkent.
It was a trip that I will never forget.
The most amazing feeling, was standing at the market at Bukhara, overlooking the textiles, the shops, knowing very well that I was standing at a market that has been there since the city was formed some time in the very far distant past.
From the 6th century it was already a major political, cultural, economical hub, and here I was, some one who has made her life in international trade, standing on the Silk Road, at a market where International Trade was already the daily bread of this place since, well, I am sure that since before recorded history, when the first person stopped here to trade, and every one has stopped by ever since, even today's freight merchants, like me.
It's really just a road through a market. But that same road has been the life line of international trade between empires long before my Ireland or my New York were a thing.
And there I was, looking at the merchants, and the freight companies advertising right next to them.
I felt humbled. Of course I bought some things there, some plates and carpets. Then I laughed at thinking that me, even me, a girl in international trade, had been a part of that place, since I came there from New York, to trade.
I'll always carry that in my heart.
102
@AutumnLeaf Great comment
You must write a book about the trip.
I read several books dealing with "great game" dealing with the skirmishes between the British and Russian empires in this area, fascinating.
It is stated there that Tamerlane reached the outskirts of Moscow, but his empire broke after his death into the emirates which were the base of the current states in this part of the world.
2
This is a part of the world that I have wanted to visit ever since reading about it. Thanks for the article.
3
loved it! more and detailed maps would have helped.
2
@dr paul Absolutely needed a map overview and several more detailed maps.
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Thanks for the piece! A view into a unique place of the world -- refreshing to read.
Wonderful account! I really wanted more pictures, though! I agree you don't want more pictures embeded in the article itself, but it would be so nice to have a few more places linked up with pictures! Thanks again!
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Well done. I travelled the Pamir Highway and into the Pamirs numerous times in 1989-1992, until the civil war forced us out. Great country, still filled with shangri-la places and people!
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Well written. One wonders how the Coronavirus will affect, if not devastate, this part of the world.
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@Timothy D. Naegele So far there have not been any cases in the region. It is interesting how people are expecting for the virus to arrive, as if it is the latest model of iPhone.
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@Timothy D. Naegele
Actually that was the farthest thing from my mind. But I imagine like everywhere else, older folks will be hit hard and most everyone else will get through it.
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If you are interested in the Silk Road, I suggest reading Kate Harris' Lands of Lost Borders. Two women spent 10 months biking the ancient Silk Road. This book captures both the inner journey and outer journey.
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