People and Places along the Silk Road

Images of exotic landscapes and people, fostered by accounts of individuals like Genghis Khan, Tamerlane and Marco Polo led Sandy and Rick Martynec to retrace segments of the Silk Road during summers for the last eight years. Starting in Istanbul and ending in central China their trips wound there way through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan. While much has changed over the millennia, many of the fabled cities like Bukhara, Samarkand, Kashgar, Urumqi and Turpan have districts that have changed very little. Many of the people who live in the area are the descendants of the traders and raiders who produced such a rich history.