my journey through a part of the ancient silk road
For a few years now I have been very intrigued by stories I’ve read or heard about the ancient silk road. More commonly referred to as the ‘silk routes’, these roads that were used for about 14 centuries were the important links in driving economic, cultural and political relations between various countries it passed through and played an integral role in connecting the east and west worlds with one another. Gaining its name from popular trade of silk from China, it transported a whole lot more than that, with the main route beginning in the east of China and stretching itself west, all the way to Constantinople and Cairo.
My urge to travel on these routes has been one that has developed over the last two years and knowing that doing so in one go would be impossible, I had made it a goal to complete this in small phases at various stages of my life.
My hunger for making this a reality found me booking tickets to the country of Uzbekistan. Of course, knowing where to begin was a tough task, but like any type of sign that we crave for at different times of our life, a video I came across suddenly on the internet last year based itself on the special bread that is very famous in the city of Samarkand. Being a bread lover, that’s literally all it took to make me decide to make Uzbekistan my first stop on the main route of the ancient silk road.
In early February of 2025, a flight from New Delhi took me to the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent. In all honesty, not knowing or learning previously a lot about this country, I was very unsure what to expect. However, the thought of it being a less-traveled country and one that isn’t so pumped with tourists all year round is something that really excited me. As a general rule: the fewer the people there, the happier the boy is.
Tashkent welcomed me with warmer than expected temperatures and the heavy winter jackets I had carried were rendered redundant. Walking around the different parts of the city in a jumper, I had seen an interesting contrast between Soviet (brutalist) and modern architecture. Tashkent didn’t have an overload of overly tall buildings – which I had liked. An early morning stroll to the Hazrati Imam Complex allowed me to see some of the first Islamic architecture of the trip and immediately I knew I had picked the right country to visit. My first taste of the local style in this square and the neighboring and not-yet-complete- Islamic Civilization Center really opened my eyes to just how intricate this type of architecture is. A short walk south was the Chorsu Bazaar. This place was an ultra large, half-covered and half-open bazaar that sold almost everything one could consume in one’s lifetime. The size of it was enormous – somewhat like the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, only far less grand. A highlight for me in Tashkent was definitely the Plov at the Central Asian Plov Center. In fact, im disappointed that it’s taken me this long to talk about the food in Uzbekistan. ‘Plov’, their national dish, has different varieties depending on the cities it comes from, but what they all had in common was that there were all f****** delicious. In the different cities I visited, I had tried the local variation and they all really didn’t disappoint. In addition to this was the Samsa. A dough triangle filled with various fillings that is baked in… you guessed it, a tandir (tandoor) oven and is the perfect balance between crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside. Wow.
My main mode of transport in Uzbekistan was by Train and that’s how I moved to the second city on this trip; to the famous city of Samarkand. Those paying attention earlier, would remember that this was the city with the famous bread, so you can only guess my excitement to finally be able to try it out. And boy, I did. A nice young lady I met at the bazaar guided me and helped me find the best one and ripping it plain or dipping it into hot tea was how I enjoyed mine. An extremely detailed description by one of the other locals I had met, described what they call ‘Osion non’ (Samarkand non), is named not after the Asian continent it sits on as false common belief, but instead after the river that runs through the region. This bread - which you can see getting ready to devouer – is said to be so unique to the city of Samarkand due to its unique air, water and local ingredients used and is believed that no where else in the world can this recipe be replicated to derive the very same taste. The city of Samarkand didn’t just have great bread however. The architecture here was to die for. In general, all the cities I had visited in Uzbekistan had architecture to die for. In Samarkand, the areas of Registan Square, Shah-i-Zinda and Bibi-Kahnym Mosque absolutely blew my mind. As you can see from the pictures that surround this, the intricate work of each element that encompasses hundreds of thousands of tiled pieces, come together to make compositions that are not only perfect in symmetry, but also in color and size, producing a stunning outcome on the larger scale. This was fantastic to witness both day and night.
The next city I had visited was Bukhara. A cold-snap and wintery slurry put somewhat of a damper over the city but that didn’t stop me from exploring! Entering the old town; yet more beautiful structures (some from the 10th century) jeweled the city, yet more friendly locals and yet more Plov consumed. It was evident here in Bukhara more than any other city on this trip that there were very mindful efforts to match the new buildings exactly in the same style as the old, making it a beautifully preserved medieval city. The old-town was undergoing a lot of construction, but there were still many nice places to visit. A highlight here was a very local pub I had visited. Almost alone inside, I enjoyed a couple of local brews accompanied by local snacks and nice conversations with the owner and his wife in the very broken English we could manage.
The last, smallest and probably most picturesque city I had visited in Uzbekistan was Khiva. This perfectly conserved and renovated old-town was a great way to end my trip. A very early sleeper-train took me from Bukhara to Khiva and majority of the journey was through an isolated desert that was covered in a blanket of snow. Khiva was by far the coldest part of my travels. -11 degrees welcomed me and all of the winter clothing I had carried was in use. This was the least of my worries however and the architecture surrounding me made me completely forget about the cold and instead just stand there in awe of what I was seeing. Khiva was a very relaxing city in which you could walk around in an hour but love it so much you’d want to do it a couple times more - and that’s exactly what I did. Every turn in Khiva seemed like a photo-op. This old-town was so photogenic. The highlight for me here in Khiva was the Sunset over the city. Taking it all in and reflecting on the events of the previous few months while enjoying a calming view of day turning into night over this city was a wonderful way to close out my travels. An early morning cab ride to Urgench took me to the airport, where I started my sooner-than-planned yet eagerly anticipated return back to Munich.
Overall, an amazing journey through a very small - but very beautiful - stretch of the ancient silk road. The architecture alone was well worth the money spent. the mesmerizing arches, domes and minarets. the pedantic tilework and handicraft of proper craftsmen. The unbelievable and intricate details of Islamic vernacular still stand strong in my mind even without looking at the pictures and I predict that they won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. The religion, the culture of the Uzbekis, which in turn determine their very conservative, yet friendly and accommodating nature was also nice to witness. The food! The amazing Plov, the various different breads and grilled meats I tried was quite memorable. For not knowing much about this country – let alone this part of the world – to having decided to visit it on a whim; i’m really glad to have made it to and through such a beautiful country. Having done so in a less popular time of the year, I had the cities even more to myself and also the opportunity to document these experiences through my phone and film cameras without many disturbances or distractions in-between. i had to unfortunately cut short my trip this time but My next visit to this region will definitely include the Pamir highway, where I plan on driving from one side to another, along the vast landscapes and tight bends of the Pamir mountains situated in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. To anyone reading this: go explore Uzbekistan – I highly recommend it. Or even countries like this that aren’t so mainstream. Somewhere you know very little about, somewhere where not so many others go and somewhere you can learn something from. Traveling, especially to the right places for yourself, allows you a chance to grow. Life is a journey; and the one thing you never do on a journey is stay in one place.
Until next time,
A.
