On the Silk Road

I spent four weeks traveling in Central Asia—Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan—tracing the Silk Road from the ruins of ancient caravan cities to bustling village markets and over rugged mountain ranges. This was the first global trade route and the center of the world from 200 BCE to 1500 CE. Here, the world’s religions blossomed; languages, ideas, arts, technology, and cultures were exchanged; and great empires rose and fell. The people I encountered in Central Asia are living reminders of the many cultures that once traversed this ancient route.