M, Mum & me meandering museums, mosques, mausoleums, madrassahs, markets, megalomaniacs, mansions + more.

As a young fearless traveller, I would have a thousand dollars in my pocket, a change of clothes in my backpack and go trekking through Thailand and Indonesia “Lonely Planet style” on my own. Since then, travel is both shorter and more comfortable. Wheeled suitcases and fresh clothes everyday are the way to go. Then business travel became the norm and I would be on a plane every other day and visit new cities like Astana and stay at the best hotels and fly in style.

But when the Great Silk Road adventure beckons, all of these got mixed up. First in the mix is the family. I had planned this trip not only for the magical thrill it promises but also because unlike other places I know the cities on this route are developing really fast and in a decade we will not be able to experience it as it should be. Moreover, it is getting harder to get all of us together for an extended period of time. Even in this 3 and a half weeks itinerary, J could only be with us for the first third. M is heading off to university this October and her schedule will be dictated by Michaelmas, Hillary and Trinity terms, not to mention the summer programmes she would do.

Initially I was even more adventurous and wanted to take the family from Cairo to Capetown. I never quite summoned up the courage. So, for my sabbatical, journeying on the Silk Road from Beijing to Bukhara, seem like the perfect choice.

From east to west, we travelled via vans, trains and planes covering a distance of over 7000kms. In days of old, when caravans travel at night (to navigate via the stars and in cooler conditions) and provided one was not detained at any stops, this journey would have taken at least a year. We did it in three weeks and are now making our way back east again.

Presently, we are flying from Bukhara to Tashkent and from the capital city of Uzbekistan (and erstwhile capital of the unified Central Asian state of Takistan) to Beijing (capital of China and very soon of the world) before landing home this weekend.

There are so many sights, sounds and souls that impressed each of us and no doubt differentially so as well. I can only say what impacted me the most.

1. Heritage sites are best experienced in-Situ and raw
2. The ruins speak better to the ravages of time and of the ambitions and terrors that emperors, khans, emirs and their associates can inflict in order to grow their empires
3. But ultimately, countries are arbitrary and culture is the real common denominator and sadly, selfish cultures often ride roughshod over gentler ones
4. Various means have been employed to manage the people. Chief amongst these are words of prophets, relics of holy men, monuments of heroes
5. Some countries (well, one) went overboard to control the population and visitors in and out of these, with big brother intrusive checks
6. Peace, prosperity and progress are real outcomes to deliver if the population is to be kept loyal (and in check)
7. Nation building is hard and will take time and to an extent smaller, less resource rich countries with greater fear of failure are most poised to win
8. In the long run, empires rise and fall. What matters then is legacy. What have all these conquering, trading and learning really brought about?