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Pictures of the SILK ROAD |
The Silk Road was used from about the 2nd to the 13th century. Silk, porcelain, laquer ware, paper, tea, spices, gems and perfumes were brought to the West. Stuff going to the East: Gold, silver, ivory, jade and other stones, wool, horses, glass, fruit and even acrobats and ostriches. The Silk Road never was a single track, but a network of caravan tracks that changed with wars, earthquakes, dry or wet periods. The Western end lied somewhere around Aleppo at the Mediterranean Sea, and the Eastern end around Luoyang in China, south of Beijing. In the middle lay the countries of Central Asia, which until 1991 were part of the U.S.S.R.: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. |
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You can see our route on the map on the left. Or, look at it in more detail in Google Earth (you must have Google Earth installed). |
We travelled a few weeks through these countries and through a small part of China. We enjoyed our time here, partly because of the beautiful things that can be seen. And partly because the people we met were very nice and gave us the feeling we were welcome. Of course, in 4 weeks you can only see a glimpse of these countries. Especially in Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan we've only been a very short time. Perhaps we can come back here someday to see more ? |
![]() TURKMENISTAN |
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Aşgabad |
Konye Urgench |
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![]() UZBEKISTAN |
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Khiva |
Buchara |
Shakhrisabz |
Samarkand![]() Tigers on the medressa |
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![]() KAZAKHSTAN |
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Turkestan |
Almaty |
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![]() KYRGYZSTAN |
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Bishkek![]() The greenest city in the world |
Lake Issyk-Kul![]() Great trekkings in high mountains |
The Torugart Pass![]() The most spectacular way into China |
![]() CHINA |
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Kashgar |
Turpan |
Tien Chi |