Samarkand, Uzbekistan Jewel of the Silk Road

Uzbekistan, a land in Central Asia, which is once home to the legendary Silk Road

an ancient trading route between China and the Mediterranean. When most think of important ancient cities, most Mayans think of ancient Egypt or Rome

but I'm going to show you another, located at the heart of Emir Timur's empire

I am here, in the jewel of the Silk Road, Samarkand. welcome everybody to beautiful uzbekistan here in central asia no name makes you think more of

the legendary silk road more than the great city of samarkand which is where i am right now once

the beating heart of a powerful empire that stretched all the way from the western mediterranean

to central asia and beyond samarkand is a real treasure of the silk road and i started my day

here at the beautiful mausoleum of Amir Timur. Before I show you the mausoleum, let me take you back in time

Amir Timur, the conqueror of worlds, was a Turco-Mongol conqueror and a very, very powerful

man. Known back at home as Timur Lane, his imperial conquest back in the 14th century

called 17 million people, but he spread the lives of talented artists and architects

from lands that he conquered and put them to work to build his capital, Samarkand

His mausoleum is laced with gold and his tomb, made of jade, lies in the centre

Legend says it's cursed. On June 20th, 1941, the tomb was opened and there was an inscription saying

Whoever opens my tomb shall unleash an invader more terrible than I

Within just a few hours, Adolf Hitler invaded Russia. Welcome to Rajasthan

This is one of the oldest parts here in Samarkand Hundreds of years ago this was wall bazaars Now it filled with three of the most beautiful madrassas i think i ever seen in the world you have tilakoya sheridan and ulubek let take a look inside

so inside the talakuri madrasa is something i really have to show you this in front of me is

the Tarakuri mosque, a working mosque every Juma which is every Friday. This mosque is sublime. Take a look at this

Here are the stalagots which are a symbolization for when Prophet Muhammad

peace be upon him used to pray inside the caves Wow it's heavy groove

So what better way to feel like a Uzbek than to dress like a Uzbek

this right here is traditional clothing it's so heavy i haven't felt clothing like this so heavy

in a very long term beautiful detailing and this will set you back around 500 because the

craftsmanship is phenomenal wow i love it this is good yes Can you hold it Can I hold it

Oh, it's heavy. Sometimes they say it can wet a... And sesame seeds inside the middle is really good for digestion

So that's why they put this inside, because the bread actually is very dense and super heavy

That's the heaviest bread that I've ever felt. It's beautiful. wow look at it steaming beautiful and this right here is uzbek's national dish this is pilaf

this is a mix of rice carrots chickpeas raisins and i got the lamb meat on top let's try it

really good

not greasy carrots are good raisins have sweetness and the meat is incredible

one place of course that I had to see here in beautiful Samarkand

of course was the Bibi Hanim mosque this right behind me it's so huge was actually one of the

largest mosques in the Islamic world and actually one of the most impressive it's so big just to

give you some small amount of context I have a 16 millimeter lens on my camera this is a very very

very wide angle lens and still none of it really fits into the frame this is one of the first times

I've had this experience where I can see the edge but it's just so gigantic it's not even

fitting into frame it's spectacular the level of detail is phenomenal and being here it's

this is one of the most important sites here in Samarkand and being right here

with hardly anybody around is an honor let's head inside and as you pass through the incredible entrance you have the facade of the mosque just here

spectacular detail i i'm really lost for words being here it's so sublime it's so beautiful i

don't know how many adjectives i can say to describe this area of the world because it's just it blowing my mind it phenomenal in history and culture in food in hospitality The dome actually behind this facade is the largest in Central Asia Blue in colour because blue

reminds people of the sky, the clear blue sky which is closest to Allah. And it's humongous

Wow. I couldn't come to Samarkam without coming to the famous Siob market, the largest here

They're selling so much pomegranate juice here. I guess it's in season

It's so good