The Silk Road was a network of trade routes that connected West and East, and Central Asia, today known as the Stans, was the heart of it.
From Alexander the Great to Marco Polo, many civilizations, empires, and traders have traveled across these lands leaving their footprints behind.
Today, Centra Asia is a culturally rich region full of history, mind-blowing architecture and where you find some of the most important cities in the Ancient world.
However, this remote part of the world is also home to a beautiful and accessible nomadic lifestyle that can’t be compared to anywhere else, as well as some of the most jaw-dropping mountains in the Asian continent.
I spent 5 months traveling in Central Asia and, in this article, I will tell you my journey through 80 photos which, hopefully, will inspire you to also travel the Silk Road.
A nomad lady baking bread with Lenin Peak (7100 meters) in the background, Kyrgyzstan
This is Tulpar Lake, a dreamy, alpine lake located in the Alay Valley in Kyrgyzstan, a few kilometers before Lenin Peak base camp
On the way to Lenin Peak advanced base camp, one of the most epic treks I have ever done
The landscape in this part of the world changes dramatically. These landscapes still belong to the trail to the advanced base camp of Lenin Peak
This is, officially, Lenin peak advanced base camp
The Pamir Highway in Tajikistan, often called the roof of the world and one of the most epic roads to drive through. In the end, you can see lake Karakul
A Marco Polo sheep statue and the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, at 4280 meters above sea level
Kyrgyz people doing a horse race. Note that this photo belongs to Tajikistan, not Kyrgyzstan. Most people living in the eastern Tajik Pamirs are ethnically Kyrgyz
Walking over the Pamir Highway, or M-41, once an important ”Silk Road” route, along which Marco Polo, as well as tens of civilizations and empires, traveled
More Kyrgyz people, this time practicing horse wrestling, a popular sport among Kyrgyz nomads
A Kyrgyz nomad milking her yak, somewhere in the Tajik Pamirs, very close the border with Kyrgyzstan
A Kyrgyz Muslim woman during her prayer time and her family, somewhere in the Tajik Pamirs
A nomadic yurt camp and some yaks
A Kyrgyz nomad separating the fat from the milk
A Kyrgyz grandfather and her grandchildren, inside their yurt
At the top of Gumbezkul Pass, a 5200m mountain pass that belongs to the Pamir range in Tajikistan
The Tajik Pamirs. Photo taken from 5000m above sea level. Can you spot a very tiny person?
Getting down from Gumbezkul pass, extremely steep, and so dangerous
Murghab’s main mosque, the main settlement in the Pamir Highway.
Murghab, the main settlement in the Pamir Highway, and a water tank which they still use from the Soviet Union times
Turkestan, the most important Silk city in today’s Kazakhstan
A beautiful Kazakh woman playing traditional music in Turkestan, Kazakhstan
A smiley Kazakh woman selling eggs in Shymkent, Kazakhstan
A cute nomadic Kyrgyz girl, somewhere in the Tien Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan
This is Tash Rabat, and the building used to serve as a caravanserai during the Silk Road times
Taking a break after a long trek with this beautiful horse, somewhere near Tash Rabat, Kyrgyzstan
Horse trekking, on our way to Tash Rabat Pass, at 4000m
Balbals, a sort of grave marked by the Turks during their journey through Central Asia – Kyrgyzstan
One of the most outstanding Silk Road Heritage sites in Kyrgyzstan, Burana is a minaret, the only thing that remains from an ancient city once called Balasagun, which was sacked by the Mongols in the 12th century and then finally destroyed in the 14th
Beautiful Song Kul, one of the most visited places in Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyz nomads live in these tents made of animal skin. They are called yurts
An epic sunset over a nomadic camp
More Kyrgyz man practicing horse wrestling, but this time in actual Kyrgyzstan
A young boy eating shorpo, a traditional regional broth
A nomadic Kyrgyz woman preparing some shorpo
Uzbek girls from Arslanbob, a town in Kyrgyzstan with a majority of Uzbek population
A Uzbek young boy and his donkey in Arslanbob, Kyrgyzstan
A beautiful yurt somewhere in the Alay Valley
The Alay Valley in Kyrgyzstan is one of the most beautiful places in the country. This picture was taken at more than 3000m above sea level
Walking along the Alay Valley in Kyrgyzstan
The former Aral Sea, what used to be one of the largest bodies of water on Earth is today a desert that has turned into a ship graveyard. Photo taken in Moynaq, Uzbekistan
Bukhara, the birthplace of Imam Bukhari, a Muslim scholar and narrator of Prophet Muhammad, who wrote the Bukhari Shareef, the most important book about Islam after the Quran
Chor Minor, a tiny mosque with very little historical importance but it is very cute and very different from any other mosque I had seen before, Uzbekistan
The city walls of Khiva
The Old City of Khiva, Uzbekistan
Khiva is my favorite city in Uzbekistan, as it is small, cute and very pleasant to walk around
An Uzbek family wandering around the old city of Khiva at sunrise
The old city of Khiva
One of the many boats you can find in Moyaq, Uzbekistan
In the dried-out Aral sea, we camped next to the ship graveyard
A wedding in front of the Registan, in Uzbekistan
Traveling on a Soviet train through the endless Kazakh steppe
The train station of Atyrau, Kazakhstan
A camel wandering around the city of Aralsk
The semi-abandoned city of Aralsk, Kazakhstan
Aralsk used to be one of the most important cities for the fishing industry in the Soviet Union but today, it is a city filled with abandoned factories. The disappearance of the Aral Sea is the planet’s worst environmental disaster
This Lenin bust is located of a hanging out area that belongs to an abandoned factory in the city of Aralsk
Dried fish is a popular snack sold during the long train journeys in Kazakhstan
Aralsk and the dried out Aral Sea
A statue of Yuri Gararin, the first person to ever go to outer-space, today one of the most heroes in the former Sovie
