Central Asia

The names resound with the poetry of a bygone era and fire the imagination: Kashgar, Samarkand, Ashgabat, Tashkent, Khiva, Bukhara. Epic history is strewn across mountain range, desert and steppe, where ancient ruins and sublime minarets recall the great exploits of empire, from Alexander the Great to Tamerlane. Some of the world's greatest centers of civilization flourished in this area for centuries, and perhaps would be counted among the great cities today, were it not for the ravages of Genghis Khan.