A month before the trip

Welcome everyone and thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to read my blog chronicling our trip to Dubai followed by The Silk Road - Journey to Samarkand. Even before starting the trip, events in the region have already altered the itinerary.

First, let me provide the basic itinerary. Although the main portion of the trip begins at the end of August, I along with two companions are flying to Dubai a few days earlier to experience the "over-the-top" aspects of Dubai. In Dubai we plan on going "Dune Bashing," sandboarding (maybe), indoor snow skiing (maybe), buying at the Gold Souk (definitely), and staying at the Burj Al Arab. The Burj hotel, the tallest hotel in the world, extends into the water and is shaped like a sail of a dhow, an Arabian vessel.

After Dubai we'll catch a Gulf Air flight to our next destination - Islamabad, Pakistan, the starting point of the main trip. With all the political antics of removing judges, the Red Mosque affair, not to mention the suicide bombings in the Tribal Areas near Peshawar our travel route has changed. The original itinerary included a night's stay and city tour of Peshawar followed by a visit to the Khyber Pass before motoring to Swat. Now, the Peshawar and Khyber Pass stops have been bypassed. A city tour of Islamabad may also be cancelled and the group won't see much of the city except from the hotel windows.

You might be thinking or saying right now, "Why and the heck are they going?" The answer is easy - experience this area now because the chance may never come again. Northern Pakistan is absolutely stunning and so a few days of inconvenience will be worth it.

As we travel the Karakorum Highway full of potholes, it will eventually take us to Kashgur, China where a market has existed for 2500 years. It was a major stopover on the Silk Road. After Kashgar we travel to Kyrgyzstan for a few days, then off to Uzbekistan with the romantic Samarkand and other cities. However, now Uzbek Airlines has air ticket problems so the time spent in Kyrgyrstan has been extended. This example of Central Asia travel is probably just the tip of the iceberg before heading home. I can only imagine dealing with customs between countries.

Due to probable limited Internet access while traveling I will attempt to keep everyone updated on our adventures when possible.