Who could have imagined that exactly one year later, New York Times authors Charlie Wilder and Tony Cenciola, sitting in quarantine because of COVID-19, would recount with gusto their amazing journey through 3 unique countries: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan - along the ancient route of the Great Silk Road.

"My husband Roham and I were two-thirds of the way through what I had dreamed of for years: along the Silk Road through the Central Asian countries of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, a part of the world that for centuries was the cradle of civilization-the holy grail of empire builders from Alexander the Great to Genghis Khan-but until recently was difficult, if not impossible, for residents of the West to visit.

For generations, the region's Buddhist and Zoroastrian temples, ornate mosques and madrassas, ancient bazaars and breathtaking natural landscapes were hidden behind the Iron Curtain and then shrouded in dictatorship, poverty, social upheaval and war. - writes the New York Times author.

In recent years, however, the situation has changed, as the region has enjoyed relative economic and political stability.    With Shavkat Mirziyoyev's accession to power came a time of reforms and the so-called "Uzbek dawn".

Borders are opening and visa restrictions are being lifted: Since 2018, citizens of more than 100 countries, including the United States, can travel to Uzbekistan without a visa for five days with proof of return flight, and the new electronic visa system makes long stays relatively easy. There are even plans for a "Silk Visa," opening access to five Central Asian countries. Domestic regional transportation has improved, thanks in part to China's trillion-dollar "One Belt, One Road" project, also known as the New Silk Road, a colossal infrastructure project stretching from East Asia to Europe aimed at expanding China's political and economic influence and which critics fear could lead to a debt crisis in the region. The authors began their journey from the Tajik-Kyrgyz border, saw the Hindu Kush mountains and the foothills of the Eastern Pamirs, and then visited Uzbekistan. After passing through the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, they decided to begin their journey from Holy Bukhara. Second only to Baghdad as the intellectual guiding star of the Islamic world, Bukhara was a center of trade, science, religion and culture for thousands of years. It was here that the great Persian poets Ferdowsi and Rudaki composed their greatest works, and where Avicenna, the so-called father of modern medicine, wrote treatises that have transcribed centuries of scholars and philosophers from Cairo to Brussels. - writes the author. Here they certainly visited the Lyabi-Hauz square, Poi-Kalon architectural complex, the ancient Ark citadel, the 350-year-old hammam Bozori Kord. In Samarkand the authors visited architectural ensembles of Registan Square, Ulugbek Observatory and Shahi Zinda Necropolis. After Samarkand the guests went to Tajikistan.