Uzbekistan

In focus: The Silk Road

For centuries, great caravans of merchants made their way through deserts, across steppes and over mountains, creating trade routes between the great civilisations of the Mediterranean and China. Camels, horses and mules transported everything from gunpowder to spices and, of course, silk. Art and religion spread both East and West and grand cities with impressive architecture sprouted alongside nomadic tribes of eagle-hunters. There’s no single road, but one of its best-known routes wound through central Asia, and some of the Silk Road’s greatest cities are in Uzbekistan: Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, of which the Old Town of Samarkand is perhaps the most evocative.

“While you’re here, visit a silk factory,” says Exodus Expert Tom Harari. “The Chinese held on to the secret of silk-making for a long time but did eventually give it up. Today, this region is one of the main silk-producers, and it's still done in a traditional way. Boiling the cocoons, unravelling the thread and spooling it before weaving cloths and rugs – the latter of which take a tremendous amount of skill and time. The whole process is fascinating and left me in awe of the men and, mostly, women who worked there.”

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