Travelling along the Central Asian section of the ancient trading routes between China and Europe. Visiting the cities of Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. There are a large number of UNESCO World  Heritage Sites on this trip, covering religious buildings, fortifications, bazaars and the scientific and cultural aspects of the country. (Picture shows Bibi Khanym Mosque, Samarkand ) HOW TO GET THERE We travelled as a couple with a personalised itinerary provided by the tour company Avantour ( based in Tashkent), who booked our hotels, rail tickets, guides and drivers for our journey. We flew from Manchester (U.K.) with a connecting flight from Istanbul to Tashkent.    ROUTE Headed out from Tashkent we went to Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva then flew out from Urgench to Istanbul and then back to Manchester. TASHKENT Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and the biggest city in Central Asia. Most of the old buildings in the city were destroyed by the earthquake of 1966, a...