The Silk Road Revisited

The Silk Road has long captured the imagination of Western armchair travellers: a network of trails across Asia from China, bringing silk, spices and other exotic goods to the European market. Few, if any, merchants ever travelled the whole length of the journey; trade was instead carried out between middle-men at numerous points along the way. Later, ships would prove a cheaper and often faster means of inter-continental exchange, though modern China’s Belt and Road Initiative has given the old Silk Road concept a post-modern twist, with an even more extensive range. Like many travellers, Nick Rowan (editor of Open Central Asia magazine) got bitten by the Central Asian bug during his first trip to the region and has returned many times since, both along and off the Silk Road. There lies the origin of his new book, The Silk Road Revisited (Hertfordshire Press, £34.99), which brings together a rich collection of photographs of people and places along the Silk Road, most taken by members of the Eurasian Creative Guild. Nick Rowan takes his cue from Marco Polo in starting his literary journey from Venice through Istanbul and into Central Asia before ending up in Xi’an, which can be more properly considered the beginning of the Silk Road — or Silk Roads, as one should say, as some of the routes veered off, avoiding deserts and other dangers. Though most of the trade was from East to West much else moved in the opposite direction, not least Buddhism and other “foreign” religions brought into the Middle Kingdom at various stages in its history. Some of those religions are discussed in the author’s text, along with snippets of history and legend and a bit of modern touristic information, though carefully avoiding controversial political issues. The story therefore jumps back and forth in time as well as in space, with a few recurring characters that obviously particularly fired the writer’s imagination. In many ways, the text is actually a teaser, not so much a detailed account of the different countries that exist as independent states today along the route but instead tempting potential travellers to visit and find out for themselves. What really makes the book a pleasure to handle, however, are the photographs, beautifully reproduced on glossy paper, each in its own way an invitation as well as a celebration of some the more remote parts of continental Asia and their peoples.

Friendly Steppes

The Silk Road, linking the empires of Rome and China, conjours up an atmosphere of mystery and exoticism by its very name. Actually, there were many branches of the Silk Road — just as there were many branches of the Great Wall of China — through a range of more northerly or southerly routes, binding West to East over the centuries. In 2006, the young Oxford graduate Nick Rowan (now working in the oil industry in London) spent four-and-a-half months travelling from Venice to Xian, in the hope of recapturing some of the spirit of intrepid traders of various nationalities, who would have spent considerably longer on their journeys, even if few covered more than one or two sections of the road. Inspired by the sights and sounds of Central Asia in particular, Rowan has written a travelogue recording his journey, during which he used many types of transport from buses to taxis to a clapped-out old ferry across the Caspian Sea, and even a few side excursions on horseback. Initially moving solo, he inevitably linked up with various people en route, both Western companions and, more significantly, interested locals. On the final leg of the journey, across China, he was joined by his younger brother. The resultant book is a mixture of travel diary and historical asides, as well as insights into aspects of economic and social development gained by contacts he had through an overseas aid charity. His narrative starts a little hesitantly — it is hard to say anything very new or remarkable about as well-chronicled a place as Venice — but he really gets into his stride when he reaches Iran and he encounters not only the architectural splendours of cities such is Isfahan, but also the engaging hospitality of the Iranian people, so different from what one might imagine if one just listens to Western propaganda. Turkmenistan wins the prize as the oddest country on his epic journey, but one senses that it is really Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan that win his affection. After them, China is something of an anti-climax. Reading Rowan’s book, one certainly feel one is accompanying him on the journey and can share his varying moods of excitement, frustration and boredom. He rather overuses certain adjectives (notably “stunning”), and a little tighter editing would have improved the text. But this is the account of a voyage that clearly was a type of rite of passage for the author and it is both enjoyable and informative for those who may never get closer to Kashgar or Samarkand than the comfort of their armchair.

Nick Rowan: Friendly Steppes: A Silk Road Journey, Hertfordshire Press, £14.95