Central Asia
The vast plains of the piece of orient that lies between
China and the Middle East remains a mystery to most of
its visitors. Without larger numbers of western tourists
or expatriates taking its sandy and stony paths, the area
has lagely kept its reputation as a closed and secretive
society, which perhaps has only recently been brought
towards the edge of the European eye.
Central Asia or Turkestan is the heart of the Silk Road
as it became known to the west with Marco Polo. To scratch
the surface of its secrets, the main equities the distiguished
traveller should bring are time and patience.
Covering a vast territory, 5 independent republics in
the heartland, and over 30 entirely different ethnic groups
Central Asia features some of the worlds most unique heritage,
landscape and tradition and is commonly difficult to be
put in context with much of what is known to the western
traveller.
The most commonly known associations to the Central Asian
part of the Silk Road include Tamerlanes cities of Samarkand
and Bukhara,
the mountain passes of Kyrgyzstan over to Kashgar in China
and perhaps the colourful bazaars of the region. Less
directly associated but imediately connected to the history
of the Road connecting the antique Rome and the court
of the Chinese Emperor, are the thriving handicrafts,
the Shaman
traditions, the Heavenly
Horses of Ferghana now known as the Akhal Teke and
the Pamirs and Tien Shan Mountains as some of the remotest
and most challengeing climbing and trekking areas in the
world.
Join us on a voyage through this exciting area which is
certainly worth more than a single visit!
Click here
to continue reading about the History of Central Asia
and the Silk Road! |
|
