Travel Journal

In early May this year I was lucky enough to take a group of clients to visit the Silk Road, comprising of visiting Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. I had been lucky enough to visit this region in 2007 and so was looking forward to seeing how things had changed in the intervening years.

Our first stop was Kazakhstan and its capital Almaty, and we used this as a base to tour out to some local sights. Our first trip out was to the Charyn Canyon, a larger sandstone canyon, before carrying on to Sarry and the Kolsai lakes. The following day we headed back to Almaty via the Kaindy lake. Almaty had changed beyond recognition from my previous visit and was now a modern European-looking city. Almaty boasts one of the most magnificent WW2 memorials I have seen dedicated to the troops that defended Moscow form the advancing German troops in late 1941.

From Kazakhstan it was on to Kyrgyzstan, a country where 84% of the land is mountainous so a scenic view is never far away, subject to weather conditions of course! Lake Issy Kul is the main draw here and our visit, staying in an ensuite Ger camp was amazing. We had another couple of nights in Karakol by the lake before heading around the Lake to take in the sights of Cholpon-Ata before heading back to Bishkek.

An early morning flight took us to Osh and into the Fergana Valley, the breadbasket of the Silk Road which extends across 3 countries and is the region’s most fertile region, if you can’t grow it here you can’t grow it anywhere! This area is also the home to magnificent ceramics which my group were quick to snap up on a factory visit.

Next on the list was the lesser-known Tajikistan, A country I first heard about in the 80’s comedy spy caper “Spies Like us”. After visiting Khujand we headed up to Iskanderkul Mountain Lake, a 4-hour drive through mountainous valleys leading to this magnificent lake, trapped in the mountains thanks to a century’s old earthquake.

Our next stop was our first entry into Uzbekistan and the jewel in the Silk Road crown, Samarkand which was just as amazing as I remembered. With so many iconic sights such as the Bibi Khanym, Shah -I-Zinda Mausoleums and the world-famous Registan, there is no doubting you are at the center of the Silk road. Next stop was Bukhara, another famous desert trading post which is home to famous sights such as the Ark of Bukhara, the Kalon Minaret and Chor Minor.

Travel further through the desert from here and you will reach Turkmenistan and the ancient city of Mary, named for the mother of Jesus as in Kerait tradition this is where she is buried. The main reason to visit here are the ancient ruins of Merv, the oldest and most preserved oasis city along the Silk Road, a site of five walled cities that were spread out over an area of 100 square kilometers.

The capital of Turkmenistan is Ashgabat, a capital city completely rebuilt following a huge 9.0 earthquake in 1948. The city has more white Italian Marble than any other city in the world and is a unique mixture of Soviet Style ministries and Bellagio marble fountains.  There are magnificent mosques and other impressive monuments, especially, most of the many traffic roundabouts in the city. You never know what to expect in a city that only allows White and Gold cars to be driven on the cities near deserted roads. We had a great day seeing the main sites and the very impressive war Memorials plus the famous Akhal – Teke horses, the pride of the Turkmen People.

From here it was back to Uzbekistan and the autonomous region of Karakalpakstan to visit the amazing Nukus Art Museum, described by the Guardian as The lost Louvre of Uzbekistan: the museum that hid art banned by Stalin, this museum in a bleak outpost has one of the world’s greatest collections of avant-garde art, rescued from Stalin’s clutches by an electrician named Igor Savitsky.

From Nukus we drove through the desert to Khiva, a well-preserved, ancient Silk Road city, often referred to as an open-air museum due to its intact historical center, Itchan Kala, surrounded by towering mud-brick walls. We had a our last days here exploring the old town and dining in shaded squares, a lovely end to a long but incredibly interesting tour of the five stans.