CENTRAL ASIA
Central Asia
The madrasas and mausoleums of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, the blue tiles of the Timurid empire, and the hospitality of the steppe.
City guides
Start with a city
Every city guide has a timeline, stories of local figures, must-see sights, festivals and local etiquette.
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Charyn Canyon, Kazakhstan
A desert 'Valley of Castles' at the foot of the Tian Shan, a maze of red sandstone canyons.
Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, Turkistan, Kazakhstan
The 'second Mecca' of Central Asian Muslims, a Sufi saint's mausoleum ordered by Timur.
Ancient Merv, Turkmenistan
A Silk Road oasis once called 'Mother of the World', with ruins four thousand years old.
The 'Door to Hell' at Darvaza, Turkmenistan
A crater of fire that has burned in the Karakum Desert for more than half a century.
Itchan Kala, Khiva
An open-air museum on the Silk Road, Central Asia's best-preserved walled medieval city.
The Ark of Bukhara
The thousand-year-old palace of the Emirs of Bukhara, imperial memories within rammed-earth walls.
Po-i-Kalyan complex, Bukhara
The skyline of holy Bukhara: the Kalyan Minaret of 1127.
Gur-e-Amir, Samarkand
Timur's resting place: an imperial mausoleum beneath a ribbed blue dome.
Shah-i-Zinda, Samarkand
The street of the 'Living King': a blue lane of royal tombs from the 11th to the 19th century.
Registan Square, Samarkand
The blue heart of the Timurid Empire: the centre of an ancient Central Asian city, framed by three madrasas.