Central Asia isn’t the easiest place to travel through. You’ll need to invest some serious time tracking down visas, permits and the latest travel information, preferably months before you depart. You won’t meet many travellers on the road and there are certainly no video cafes serving banana muesli. But this is part of the attraction of a land that has been largely off-limits to travellers for the last 2000 years.

Travel today is generally getting easier every year, with new accommodation options, vastly improved food and a network of shared taxis that will shuttle you around cheaply and in relative comfort. Do your research on Central Asian epic history in particular and you’ll find the region quickly addictive. The more you put in, the more you’ll get out of this Asian heartland.