What child has not responded to the ring of those names, Bukhara, Khiva, Samarcand, and their images of cupolas and courts and shadows in the sand, images glinting with the scarlet thread of cruelty and spilt blood, names composed of syllables more haunting than the names of any other cities on earth ?
It started at the flea market, an old book about Marco Polo ....
My trips along the Silk Road led me through beautiful countries, where lost cultures mixed with modernity.
Following the footsteps of Great Silk Road tracking indigenous heritage and ancient ways of living. Staying with hospitable nomad families, experience yurt life and ride horses in Turkmenistan or simply chill on beautiful beaches of Issyk-Kul Lake under the setting sun. Visiting villages where life seems little changed over the centuries, traditional home-cooked recipes, or escape into the wilderness of the Caucasus mountains.
The story begins in China, in the second century BCE.
At that time wanted Wudi, an emperor of the Han Dynasty, protect the northern border of his kingdom from the attacks of nomadic horsemen from Xiongnu that threatened China and Central Asia. Through an alliance with Bactria he tried to defend themselves against this enemy. This political and diplomatic relations then caravan routes originated in the west of China.
The Silk Road - or the power of these caravan routes - primarily served the trade: China supplied mainly silk, whose production it had a monopoly until the fifth century, and received gold, metals and gems.
Also philosophies and religions spread over the Silk Road. The most important spiritual achievements of the Silk Road: the freedom to think freely. Communication with other cultures has broadened the horizon.