Destinations \ Railway Routes \ Silk Route and Trans-Asian Rail

Silk Route and Trans-Asian Rail

Route Map (42KB); Central Asia Map; China Map; The Great Silk Road is an amazing creation of mankind, a transcontinental route that connected the ancient civilizations of West and East and served not only for mutually beneficial trade, but for a religious, cultural, scientific and technical achievement exchange. It was in the middle of the second century B.C. that Silk Route began to function as a regular diplomatic and commercial artery. The widespread network of caravan ways crossed Europe and Asia from the Miditerranean coast to China. Caravans laden with silk from China, spices and precious stones from India, silver goods from Iran, Byzantine cloths, turkic slaves, Afrasiabian ceramics and many other goods. In the 13th century, a young Venetian named Marco Polo set out with his father and uncle on a great adventure. Following a series of Silk routes, they traveled across the vast continent of Asia and became the first Europeans to visit China. The ancient trade cities situated along the Silk Road overcame many devastating wars, destruction, fires, famines and deaths. Some of them disappeared from the face of Earth, leaving only anonymous ruins, other were burnt and perished several times, but were built anew to strike the world by their wealth, the blue of the domes and beautiful terra-cotta facades of mausoleums and mosques. Most countries along the Silk Road are connected by Rail and Auto Roads. Yet, there are parts where rail network is poorly maintained or does not exit at all. The car or a bus would be the only option unless you are willing to travel by camel, donkey and horse!
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