Central Asia & the Silk Road

Central Asia lies at the crossroads of history, an area steeped in antiquity protected by great deserts and awesome mountain ranges and the Silk Road a vital trade route for more than 2000 years. Central Asia is like no other place on earth. Much of its western boundary is lapped by the waters of the Caspian, the largest inland sea in the world. Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan lie to the south. Eastward are China and Mongolia, with Russia to the north.

Locked within the iron embrace of the former Soviet Union, the lands of Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Turkmen, Kazak, Uighur and Tajik were sealed off from the rest of the world. Spend time in Samarkand, whose shady gardens and magnificent architecture are the equal of the mosques and madrasas of Isfahan; Bukhara, once the site of Central Asia's most infamous slave market; and the secretive, walled city of Khiva, one of the many places in the region where the imperial powers of Britain and Russia played outthe moves and counter-moves of 'the Great Game'.

Everywhere you go you'll be met with keen interest, because the people of Central Asia spontaneously welcome visitors from other lands and have a special affinity with travellers. It could be no other way, for theirs is the timeless heritage of the fabled Silk Road.

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