Gill and some Uzbek students

Following the Silk Road through Uzbekistan

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October 19th 2015
We entered Uzbekistan along the Fergana valley. This is a valley of cotton, nicknamed "white gold" in Uzbekistan. It is also a valley of suspected Islamic militancy. The flat countryside is a shock after Kyrgyzstan's endless mountains. We climb out of the valley across the Kamchik pass, 2268 metres, the only way for the Silk Road to progress west. The pass is a security zone, heavily policed be ... read more

Asia » Uzbekistan » Samarkand

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Russia conquered Uzbekistan in the late 19th century. Stiff resistance to the Red Army after World War I was eventually suppressed and a socialist republic set up in 1924. During the Soviet era, intensive production of "white gold" (cotton) and grain... ... read more