Traveling today’s Silk Road

“The Silk Road is rising again,” said
Wade Shepard in Bloomberg.com.
As a massive investment in infrastructure
begins—led by $800 billion from
China—the legendary trade route is being
reborn as a network of highways, railways,
and airports that link 65 countries.
“For travelers, this means a wealth of
new destinations to explore.” The full
journey, from western China to northern
Greece or vice versa, might require
months. But two weeks or so can be time
enough for highlights, starting with three
days in Xian, China, once the cosmopolitan
heart of the Silk Road and now a bustling
city of 12 million. You’ll want to see
Tang West Market, where the ancient trade
route began. Then, while wandering the
narrow alleys of the city’s Muslim quarter,
“be adventurous and try foods you’ve never
tasted before”—persimmon doughnuts, say,
or spicy camel skewers.
Next stop: Uzbekistan, whose ancient cities
remain “remarkably intact.” Though
Genghis Khan sacked Samarkand in 1220,
the city’s medieval quarter still stands, along
with such “eye-popping” sites as Registan
Square, completed in 1660. “Then it’s off
to Bukhara, a city studded with glistening
turquoise domes, ornate mosques, ancient
forts, and layer upon layer of living history.”
Try to find time, too, for Khiva. “It’s
an incredible example of traditional Islamic
urban design, and its 2,000-year-old inner
fortress, the Itchan Kala, will send you
traveling back through time.”
In Azerbaijan, the capital, Baku, has
clearly “awakened from its post-Soviet
slumber.” The city where East truly
meets West is now “ripe with Old
World charm and modern-day glitz.”
Some centuries-old caravansaries, the
inns with an open courtyard where
travelers once stayed, have been
converted into fine restaurants. The
adventures to be found just outside
the city might be what you remember
most, though. Gobustan National Park
has thousands of prehistoric rock carvings,
some 20,000 years old, “plus volcanic
mud pools for skin-softening soaks.” At
Alat, a new port, you can catch a ferry for
a beautiful ride across the Caspian Sea to
Kazakhstan or Turkmenistan. “Who do you
know who has ever done that?”
A 23-day Silk Road tour with Wild
Frontiers (wildfrontierstravel.com) starts
at $5,161.