Soon after her seventieth birthday, Rohan had a dream – for her eightieth she would go to Uzbekistan. In particular, she wanted to visit Samarkand and Bukhara, towns with histories going back two and a half thousand years and which, as early as 100BC, were important trading posts on Rohan’s much-loved Silk Road. Over the years, the trip for Rohan became more and more a reality and moreover, one she wished to share. She very much hoped my sister Sarah – whose eightieth birthday would be at much the same time – could come with us. That I would accompany them was a given!

While Sarah immediately accepted her invitation, I was more reticent. For me, the prospect of traipsing all day for a week from building to building, or from one site to another in the baking heat, did not appeal – I feared that by that time (I would be in my early eighties) my body would be unable to cope and would find myself a bystander and a burden. Moreover, the idea of living in heartless hotels with nothing familiar or homely, and then eating in restaurants and drinking water that carried the risk of gastro-enteritis was a challenge too far. Finally, and most importantly, I was very aware that, despite my obligatory health insurance, if I fell seriously ill the care I might get in Uzbekistan would be far from ideal and it would take around a day to travel the 3250 miles back to the UK for treatment. 

With Rohan unyielding and with all the  arrangements made, two weeks ago the three of us set off and for all of us the trip was wonderful (see first illustration). Each of us will have seen the trip differently and this blog is about my experience on a holiday in which my fears and concerns turned out to be unfounded. Indeed, all were brushed aside by eight days full of new and unexpected experiences. Of particular importance were the buildings we saw, the behaviour of those we met and how being there allowed me to fill in so many holes in my knowledge of the history of countries of Central Asia and beyond. Moreover, it inspired me to think and make further enquiries. In my experience, the best holidays are those that open the mind.

Large parts of both Samarkand and Bukhara were packed with grand buildings – mausoleums, madrasas, mosques, minarets and the occasional palace – mostly dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries. Most have been restored over the years and were now as they would have been originally with their outsides peppered with diverse blue and turquoise tiles (see second illustration). Inside many of the ceilings were adorned with complicated stalactite shapes, while the walls were painted or decorated with mosaics. While these buildings did not appeal to me aesthetically, as historical monuments they were indeed extraordinary. 

Now to the openness and kindness of those we met. Uzbek people of all ages have a reputation for respecting older people and indeed that is what we found. Rather than the European approach of looking away or ‘through’ others, Uzbeks seek eye contact with ‘open’ and generous faces greeting us with smiles, sometimes even asking us to have photographs taken with them. They made it clear that they loved the fact that we had bought and were wearing traditional Uzbek clothing. And there was more, if I dropped my walking stick or was seen to be a bit wobbly there were immediately people around offering help. Over the years I must have visited umpteen countries but never have people been as warm and as accepting as these and for visitors like us, this really made a difference.

The trip to Uzbekistan of three people in their eighties worked. It was the dream of my wife Rohan whose foresight and determination made it all possible. I am a very lucky man.

The first illustration shows a photo of we three travellers – Rohan, me and Sarah – in Bukhara. Rohan is wearing an Uzbek cotton jacket, Sarah a jacket she had painted herself and I, on my head a tubeteika. The second illustration shows a photo taken by Rohan of the early seventeenth century Shirdar madrasah – a Muslim boy’s school – in Registan Square, Samarkand. 

For helping me write this blog, I would like to thank Umida, Zara, Sarah, Rohan and Vivien.