Private Train on the ‘Silk Route’

Unlike the traders of yesteryear with their cumbersome caravans, this journey on the ‘Silk Route’ is accomplished in some comfort by private train (avoiding the need for long road journeys), partly on the ‘TransCaspian’ line, a major move by Russia in the 19th-century era of the ‘Great Game’, when imperial Britain and Russia manoeuvred for influence in ‘the lands of Tartary’. In his book, ‘News from Tartary’, Peter Fleming explains, “Tartary is not strictly a geographical term, any more than Christendom is. Tartary is where the Tartars came from... and has held good for almost all the lands from the Caspian to Korea.” Discover remote UNESCO World Heritage sites including Parthian Nisa, Zoroaster’s Merv; ancient Bukhara, Tamberlane’s Samarkand and Khiva oasis. Travel through the Karakum desert to the Tian Shan mountains and experience the cultural heritage past and present of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

In the legendary cities of Samarkand and Bukhara the legacy of Tamberlaine survives in the great mosques and medressehs. Bukhara was once the most important city in Central Asia and Samarkand was a great trading centre where the caravan routes from China, India and Europe met.