Sharing borders with all five of the other ‘Stans, Uzbekistan lies at the heart of Central Asia. lt was here that the ancient Silk Road traversed, that Alexander the Great conquered, that the great warlord Timur was born. Such a crossroads could not be anything but a cultural melting pot, and so it is that Uzbekistan boasts a proud artistic history and diverse culture, exemplified by the most magnificent cities in Central Asia.

April to June (spring)- or 1370 when Timur reigned and the arts blossomed

Visiting the Registan, a fantasy of majolica and azure, in Samarkand Strolling through Khiva’s perfectly preserved historic heart Taking a break in the shaded plaza of Labi-Hauz in Bukhara Stopping off in laidback Shakrisabz, the hometown of Timur Photographing the melancholy fishing boast left high and dry by the shrinking Aral Sea at Moynaq Crossing the Ferhana Valley, a fertile corridor beneath the majestic Pamir mountains

Read Tom Bissell’s Chasing the Sea-a journey to the Aral Sea and an insightful look at modern Uzbekistan, or The Ruba’iyat of Omar Khayyam-penned one-time resident of Samarkand

Listen to The Best Yulduz, by Yulduz Usmanova, Uzbek diva, backed by traditional and modern instruments

Eat shashlyk, barbecued mutton at its smoky best, and pulao, seasoned rice with mutton

Drink black tea by the bottomless glass cup, and ayran-a salty yet thirst-quenching yoghurt drink

Yol bolsin (may your travels be problem free)

Whit bearded old men whiling away the day in the shade; cotton fields, bustling covered bazaars; unnecessary red tape; lofty domes and minarets; nomad-designed carpet; the marriage of apricot brickwork and azure tile work

Sunset in oasis; towns; fresh watermelons on hot summer afternoons; spontaneous welcomes; invitations into family homes

After gasping for air at first sight of Samarkand’s Registan, ducking through the moonlit alleys of mystical Khiva and pondering the fate a dozen layers of civilisation underfoot at Termiz and Afrosiad, visitors are reminded that in another age this was not the end of the world but rather the centre of it. The recipients of this grandeur take history in their strid and, like their predecessors, open their homes just as the golden caravanserais (travellers’ inns) once swung their gates wide for peasants, merchants and the nobles of nobles.