Eight years ago, Christian Aid sent me to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Before my visit, Central Asia was a place I hadn’t really thought about, that had no defining features in my consciousness. Yet once there, I was captivated by the two countries and wanted to learn more about them. My experience was shaped by the tension between the sense of an ancient heritage and modern soviet anonymity. Complex fluid identities were feeling their way through evolving nation-statehood – while remaining proud of their importance to the world’s history over the past 3000 years. I saw great beauty in the places and people I visited, facing hospitality and suspicion, and contrasts of arid and fertile landscapes. The fascination of my brief stay there meant I developed an addiction for reading about this region, from Alexander the Great to the Silk route travelers, Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, Tamerlaine, Genghis Khan, the Great Game, Andrew of Lonjumeau and Tavernier. I am now matching words to places and will seek out their 21st century reality.
In 10 weeks, starting the 20th July (and back for my brother’s wedding on the 2nd October), I follow the trail of different travellers through the route below
View Silk route voyage in a larger map
Although I have a rough plan of the countries and key cities I wish to see, my route is fluid. I will go where the trains, buses and my feet take me (hopefully not too much of the last means of transport). Given I have had to avoid Iraq and Iran, my trip will take me via the Caspian sea and then down to Syria through Turkey – therefore using at points the northern trade routes that branched off the main silk route – rather than follow the main route through Isfahan, Tabriz and Baghdad.
Follow my trip through Central Asia and the Middle East, as I travel from St Petersburg to Almaty in Kazakhstan and explore the silk route back to Turkey. I’ll provide regular updates, photos and videos.