One of the greatest historical treasures today, Samarkand in modern day Uzbekistan, is a name that has moved the trader, the traveller and the tourist through millennia to finish the laundry, do the luggage and leave. Inhabiting the same space in the world’s collective imagination as Timbuktu or Transylvania: located in the lore and legend but unlike Shangri-La, Utopia or Erehwon, equally truly located in reality.  

The sights of Samarkand stand by a dusty road, under the blue sky and the glowing sun rather than in the cold preservation of air-conditioned museums. And what sights these are! Madarsas (institutes of Islamic learning), mausoleums and mosques in brilliant blue mosaic, detailed with delicate calligraphy reflect the best of Timurid architecture.

 The greatest contributors to the architecture were the famous Mongol Timur and his grandson Ulugh Beg. The focus of this majestic city is the Registan complex, where Samarkand’s most famous structures of enduring beauty are. 

The Ulugh Beg Madarsa at Registan is overawing in its magnificence, its detailed mosaic and the surfeit of brilliant blue and raw gold. It brings home the splendour of the Timurid Empire, the prosperity that it had; the style and sophistication that shines everywhere in this region is here in one soul stunning dose. There are two other madarsas in the Registan complex. The Bibi Khanym Mosque was ruined in an 1897 earthquake but enough of it still stands to make the visitor realise the magnitude of its grandeur. The Shahi Zinda Street is flanked by the tombs of friends and family of Timur and Ulughbek. Timur himself is buried in the Gur e Amir tomb.

You can fly to Samarkand from Tashkent, though domestic air travel in Uzbekistan is not free of pitfalls: fuel shortages often mean that flights are inordinately delayed and flight safety is not exactly of international standards. There are bus services to Samarkand from many places in the country. Samarkand is served by a few rail connections – you could take a train from Tashkent. Road travel is by far the most reliable. Buses, comfortable coaches, hired cars (with drivers) or long distance taxis ply to Samarkand from most places in Uzbekistan.

Samarkand has a number of 4-star hotels that provide luxury tourist accommodation. Budget tourists have the options of B & B establishments that provide bed and board, mid-rung second-class hotels that are small and low on frills but nonetheless comfortable and clean.