By Ashvini Ranjan
The air hostess on the Uzbek Airways flight from Tashkent to New Delhi was kind enough to permit me to occupy an empty window seat. For her, it was a routine request from passengers. Little did she realise my burning curiosity to see the rugged landscape below of the famous Silk Road that crisscrossed Central Asia in the olden times. The morning sun cast shadows on the hills and valleys with almost no vegetation in sight from a height of more than 35,000 feet the aircraft was flying. How did our forbears travel this harsh terrain with temperatures soaring up to 50 degree celsius or more during the day and freezing cold in the nights? How did they carry the heavy loads of merchandise on camels and mules that was the only means of transport then across Taklamakhan Desert and the Hindukush Mountains? Not to forget, the Himalayan ranges further south. As per records, silk being a lighter item and in great demand, was a major item of trade between China in the East and Rome in the West — hence the name ‘Silk Route’. What compelled conquerors like Alexander the Great, Chengis Khan and Timur the Lame to name a few, undertake such torturous journeys across these deserts and mountains to annex more territories? Was greed, pride and ego to amass more wealth so important to risk their own lives? The spectacular views of the landscape below, the stories I had heard from the sites we had just visited in Uzbekistan was too strong not to share with others.
