Books on the Silk Road
Silk Road has always been one of those mystical places in this world that I wanted to visit - and my dream came true in September 2003, when I embarked on a month's journey to explore the eastern section of the Silk Road, starting from Xi'an, the ancient capital of China, and ending up in the former Soviet Union state of Uzbekistan in Central Asia.
Click on the name of the place and it will take you to the first day I visited that destination. Alternatively the full itinerary of my trip is below the map.
| Day | Date | Activity |
| 1 | 19 Sept 2003 | Flew from London to Beijing via Amsterdam |
| 2 | 20 Sept 2003 | Transit in Beijing, visited Juyungguan Great Wall, then flew to Xi'an |
| 3 | 21 Sept 2003 | City tour of Xi'an, visited the Shaanxi Historical Museum, Great Goose Pagoda and Shaanxi Provincial Museum |
| 4 | 22 Sept 2003 | Huaqing Pool and Terracotta Army Museum in Xi'an |
| 5 | 23 Sept 2003 | Cycling on the City Wall in Xi'an, Great Mosque, and then boarded the overnight train to Lanzhou |
| 6 | 24 Sept 2003 | Arrived in Lanzhou - City Tour of Lanzhou |
| 7 | 25 Sept 2003 | Bus to Xiahe |
| 8 | 26 Sept 2003 | In Xiahe, visited Labrang Monastery |
| 9 | 27 Sept 2003 | Bus back from Xiahe to Lanzhou, overnight train to Jiayuguan |
| 10 | 28 Sept 2003 | Tour at Jiayuguan Fort |
| 11 | 29 Sept 2003 | Bus from Jiayuguan to Dunhuang, visited Crescent Moon Lake and Singing Sand Mountain |
| 12 | 30 Sept 2003 | Visited Mogao Caves in Dunhuang. Bus to Liuyuan train station for overnight train to Turpan |
| 13 | 01 Oct 2003 | City tour of Turpan |
| 14 | 02 Oct 2003 | Visited the Karez underground irrigation system and Turpan Museum, then bus to Urumqi and visited Southern Pastures at Baiyanggou |
| 15 | 03 Oct 2003 | Went to Tianchi (Heavenly Lake) and then killing time in Urumqi in the afternoon, before an evening flight from Urumqi to Kashgar |
| 16 | 04 Oct 2003 | City tour of Kashgar - visited Abakh Hoja tomb, Id Kah Mosque and street market |
| 17 | 05 Oct 2003 | Sunday Market at Kashgar and final evening in China (or so we thought) |
| 18 | 06 Oct 2003 | Left Kashgar for Kyrgyzstan, and ended up getting very stuck at Torugart Pass, and spending the night in No Man's Land |
| 19 | 07 Oct 2003 | Finally entered Kyrgyzstan - a long bus journey to Naryn |
| 20 | 08 Oct 2003 | Left Naryn for Bishkek, stopping at Issyk Kul and Burana Tower, plus a whirlwind city tour of Bishkek |
| 21 | 09 Oct 2003 | Flew from Bishkek to Tashkent, a quick tour of Tashkent and then flew to Khiva |
| 22 | 10 Oct 2003 | City tour of Khiva |
| 23 | 11 Oct 2003 | Another morning city tour of Khiva, and a quick visit to Urgench |
| 24 | 12 Oct 2003 | Bus from Khiva to Bukhara, with a 5-minute drive in Turkmenistan |
| 25 | 13 Oct 2003 | City tour of Bukhara |
| 26 | 14 Oct 2003 | Another day of sightseeing in Bukhara |
| 27 | 15 Oct 2003 | Bus from Bukhara to Samarkand |
| 28 | 16 Oct 2003 | City tour of Samarkand |
| 29 | 17 Oct 2003 | Day trip to Shakhrisabz |
| 30 | 18 Oct 2003 | Another day exploring Samarkand |
| 31 | 19 Oct 2003 | Left Samarkand for Tashkent, and caught the flight back to London |
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