Most of the silk trade flowed in an east–west direction, the route followed by this guide, which covers the whole road and some of its most important tributaries from Xi’an to Antakya (ancient Antioch) on the Mediterranean coast, ending at the western hub, Istanbul.
Footsteps in the sand in Maranjab Desert, Iran.
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Enjoying coffee in Turkmenistan.
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In the same way that original journeys along the Silk Road would have been divided into logical sections, so too is this book. The first section is devoted to China, the second to Central Asia and the third to Western Asia. The borders of modern nation states are a relatively new construct, but for ease of planning, the three main sections correspond to countries, and within China, provinces. Each chapter includes information about border crossings, so that readers wanting to cover whole stretches of the route can still see what’s involved. But even today it isn’t always easy. Just obtaining the required visas to travel from one Central Asian country to another can be particularly difficult. But negotiating local bureaucracy was always a requirement for Silk Road travellers (except during Mongol times when you were given a passport which covered the whole route), and the challenges of dealing with border guards, for example, are part and parcel of the Silk Road experience.
Karakoram Highway in China.
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There are a number of countries on the route that can be considered dangerous for visitors from the West. Travellers should consult updated advice from their own governments and agencies, and think twice before heading into war-torn Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria or even Pakistan and Tajikistan, for example. However, all countries share that same vital ingredient without which the Silk Road could never have blossomed, namely hospitality. A mural found at the ancient site of Penjikent in Tajikistan depicts the rituals of hospitality as practised by the Sogdians back in the 7th century AD. The vast majority of people and places will still give the traveller an equally warm welcome today.
