Silk Road

This article is an itinerary.

The Silk Road crosses Asia from China to Europe. It is not really a single road, rather a collection of related trade routes. One poem calls it "The Golden Road to Samarkand" [1].

Understand

Caravans have been traveling the Silk Road for over 2000 years, and Chinese silk was reaching Rome before the time of Christ.

Ideas also traveled this road. Both Islam and Buddhism reached China by this route and some Silk Road areas have important relics of those religions. Various ideas from the East also reached the Islamic countries and sometimes Europe.

Marco Polo followed this route, reaching China overland via Khotan and beginning his homeward journey with a ship on the Maritime Silk Road from Quanzhou to Iran.

Many travelers today follow all or part of this ancient path by train, bus and private car. Some Wikitravel itineraries partly follow the Silk Road.

• Istanbul to New Delhi over land
• Europe to South Asia over land
• On the trail of Marco Polo

Prepare

This is not an easy route or one for the novice traveler. Consult a travel medicine specialist about vaccinations and about medicine to take along. See also Tips for travel in developing countries.

If you are doing the full route, bring phrasebooks for at least Chinese, Russian and Persian.

Note that parts of this route may be difficult or impassable in winter, and various borders may sometimes be closed for political reasons. Check country listings for details.

Get in

You could start a Silk Road journey from anywhere in Europe or China, but the obvious jumping-off spots are the two ends of the historic road, Xian and Istanbul.

To explore just the central part of the road in Central Asia, it would be easiest to fly into a city in that area with good air connections — Tashkent, Almaty or even Urumqi.

Route

Xi'an to Dunhuang

The main caravan route from China to the West

• started in the capital Chang An, what we know today as the great city of Xian
• headed west to Lanzhou and north along the Hexi Corridor to Dunhuang and the end of the Great Wall of China

Around the Taklimakan Desert

The caravan route splits in two around the Taklimakan Desert. The northern route has much better infrastructure compared to the southern route and is therefore the recommended route. The southern route is also called the Jade Road. It was from this road that the famous Hotan Jade was imported into China. Two cross-desert Highways bisect the Taklimakan connecting the northern and southern rim of the desert; they can be used for those who want to get a taste of both routes. (More likely you've had enough of the dirt tracks of the Southern Route and just wanted to get back to civilization.)

• Northern Route: Dunhuang, Hami, Turfan, Korla, Kuche, Kashgar

• Southern Route: Dunhuang, Cherchen, Khotan, Yarkand, Kashgar

The two routes rejoin at Kashgar in the far west of China.

Beyond Kashgar

After Kashgar, the main route goes across the Pamirs into Central Asia. There are 2 boarder crossings between China and Kyrgyzstan, The Irkeshtam Pass (easier) and the Torugart Pass (harder). Irkeshtam is the main caravan route while Torugart is more scenic.

Once in Kyrgyzstan, cross the Pamirs to reach the Ferghana Valley. The key cities are all in Uzbekistan. They are Kokand, Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara.

Continue on to Turkmenistan, stop by Merv before crossing into Iran for the holy city of Mashhad. From Mashhad, Tehran is 1 night's train ride away.

From here on, the Silk Road branches off again.

• The southern route crosses through Baghdad,Iraq into Damascus,Syria before eventually ending up in Alexandra,Egypt. (Given the currently situation in the Middle East, the route is not recommended)
• The northern route involves crossing into Turkey to reach Istanbul. The fastest overland option is the aptly named "Trans-Asia Express" train between Tehran and Istanbul. Interesting stops in between are: Tabriz and Cappadocia.

Other routes

There were also

• alternate routes — for example:
  • crossing into Central Asia further North from Urumqi into Kazakhstan
  • passing North of the Caspian Sea instead of through Iran
  • reaching the Mediterranean in what is now Lebanon or Israel rather than via Istanbul
• branches off the road for example:
  • South from Xinjiang into Pakistan and India via what is now the Karakoram Highway or via Ladakh
  • South into Afghanistan and India from points further West on the road
• a Maritime Silk Road — from Chinese ports like Nanjing and Quanzhou to India and the Arab countries
• a "Tea and horse caravan" route [2] much further South, from Chengdu through Yunnan and parts of Tibet to Northern India

Sleep

The traditional inns of the area are called caravanserai. They are built around a walled courtyard and have stables for the horses and camels. Some still exist; anyone traveling this road should try to stay in them at least once.

Stay safe

The whole area is Muslim which implies at least:

• a tremendous tradition of Muslim hospitality and wonderful treatment of visitors
• some conservatism, especially in matters such as womens' clothing
• risk of foreigners who do not understand Islam giving offense
• complicated politics, mixed with religious issues
• considerable hostility toward both Western and Russian influences

Some of the people are still nomadic herdsmen, and even in the cities tribal loyalties may run strong, which implies at least:

• tremendous hospitality again
• suspicion of outsiders, even from neighboring tribes. Foreigners are sometimes exempt
• many of them are heavily armed

That said, with a bit of common sense and goodwill and a lot of flexibility on the part of the traveler, the risks are moderate.

See individual country and city listings for more.

This is a usable itinerary. It explains how to get there and touches on all the major points along the way. An adventurous person could use this article, but please plunge forward and help it grow!