ASIAN Geographic’s expeditions are back, and with it the trip that tops so many people’s travel bucket lists: the Silk Road through Uzbekistan. This is the country where caravans of camels once journeyed through the desert, travelling from oasis to oasis, and where the descendants of those camels still roam. The caravanserais where they would spend the night are still standing, too, as are the grand bazaars and the glittering monuments of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. It might feel as if you are stepping into a fairy tale, but Uzbekistan is very much real.
The first thing you need to know about Uzbekistan is that the past and the present stand inseparably side by side. Flying into the capital, Tashkent, everything looks glitzy and new, but this is a city striding confidently into its third millennium. It has always been an important regional hub – the main market is named Chorsu, meaning “crossroads” – and if it weren’t for a catastrophic earthquake in 1966, you would still be able to walk among monuments generations old. Some tourists do arrive and travel straight on to Uzbekistan’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites, but this is an opportunity missed: Tashkent sets the scene for your adventure, providing important historical and cultural context, and also offering some delightful attractions of its own.
Denne historien er fra AG 161-utgaven av ASIAN Geographic.
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Denne historien er fra AG 161-utgaven av ASIAN Geographic.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Wildlife Big Yellow Beauty
The popular "amelanistic" form of the Burmese python is considered among the most beautiful snakes - if that's your sort of thing
All That Glitters Is Gold
From Turkey to China, the yellow metal plays a central role in cultural practices and is coveted as a symbol of affluence and status
Chengdu Hotel Spotlight TRIKA TSANG INTERNATIONAL HOTEL
For an authentic taste of Tibet in the heart of Chengdu, the most luxurious option is the majestic Trika Tsang International Hotel.
The Mighty Yellow
Over 5,000 kilometres long and flowing through nine provinces and autonomous regions, the Yellow River is China's second largest, after the Yangtze, while its basin is deemed the cradle of Chinese civilisation
Conservation Yellow in Peril
While the demand for use in traditional Chinese medicine is putting seahorses under pressure, it is damaging non-selective fishing that is driving depletion
Revealed Doctor Yellow
Japan Railways' special lemony Shinkansen is a rare sight to behold
History Spiritual Rebirth
During the Spanish Golden Age, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan achieved the first European navigation to Asia via the Pacific, arriving in the Philippines in 1521 and claiming the islands for Spain. But by converting the first Filipinos to Catholicism, Magellan also instigated the Christianisation of the entire archipelago, a spiritual rebirth celebrated through the two most important festivals in the Philippines - Fiesta Señor and Sinulog.
Green Dreams
With its tea plantations and rice paddies, dense jungles and expansive forests, the region is well known as a green paradise. But many of the most impressive Asian landscapes have names you may never have heard of. Journey with us as we reveal just some of the incredible locations that make the rest of the world green with envy!
Life On The Edge
In the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, in the remote northern Russian Far East, indigenous ethnic groups like the Chukchi and the Yupik live in the most extreme conditions, hunting seals in their traditional kayaks as they have for millennia
The Karakoram Anomaly Decoded
For decades, scientists have believed that glaciers in the Karakoram Range are defying the trend of those across the globe-resisting glacial melt due to human-induced global warming. But as we trek up the Karakoram's second-longest glacier in July, as the United Nations announces the world's hottest ever month on record, does the melting ice beneath our feet suggest the so-called Karakoram Anomaly is slowing? Or is there a ray of hope it will continue to delay the inevitable?
