Tourists. Hundreds of them. We’d only seen a handful in the Caucasus and even fewer in Turkmenistan. Then all of a sudden there were loads in Bukhara and now even more in Samarkand. We even checked in to what can only be described as a backpackers hostel - the first hostel we’d seen since Istanbul. It was packed, we were lucky to land the last bed in the building.

 

It seems Samarkand is the main dot on the map for the surprisingly large number of backpackers ‘doing the silk road’. It made sense when  we looked at the place though. The buildings of the Registan complex really were bigger and shinier than any of the historic sights we’d seen since... well, Istanbul again.

 

The history section sounded familiar - founded in 5th century BC, a cosmopolitan city by the time Alexander the Great got there in 329 BC, then Silk Road hub from 6th century to 13th century.

 

All these ancient silk roads cities seem to have the same story of being part of a half a dozen different empires as the years go by. What impresses me is that so many great leaders/war makers manage to set off from Turkey, China, Siberia, Persia, Arabia or wherever and end up making a clean sweep. There seems to be a whole list of guys who managed to win everything from the Mediterranean to the Himalayas.

 

Anyway, Samarkand was a bit special in that it was the meeting point of the main the Silk Routes from China, India and Persia. The Western Turks ran the show for a bit, then the Arabs, the Persian Samanids, the Karakhanids, the Seljuk Turks, the Mongolian Karakitay, the Khorezmshah and finally, as with everywhere else, Jenghiz Khan came along and obliterated everything circa 1220. Luckily, the equally brutal Timur later decided to make Samarkand his capital. In 1370 he ordered the construction of all the snazzy buildings that are still standing (thanks to lots of restoration) today.

 

JL