Dreams of Samarkand

It is not often that I write about places that I haven't visited (with the obvious exception of the overwhelming dreams related to my epic trip to Guymon, Oklahoma), but I guess my upcoming flight home has me thinking of travel. For some time now I've wanted to visit Samarkand, the old capital of Tamerlane's empire and a central city along the Silk Road. The desire only grew stronger because of my CIEE Silk Road experience from a few summers back (I had it as far west as Kasgar, which is practically passing out of China and into the wilds of Central Asia) and the Silk Road courses I teach at Champlain. So, since I'm here in Abu Dhabi for the year it seems only natural that I take the plunge. In the middle of the spring semester I have a two week break, the last week of March and the first week of April. What better opportunity for a trip to Samarkand? For that matter, what about expanding it to include a lengthy trek along the Silk Road, both east and west of Samarkand - or maybe even visiting all the Stans: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Khrgyzstan and Tajikistan - or, for that matter, throwing in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well? As anyone who knows me can attest, dreaming insanley large is an essential part of who I am (and it makes me both charming and maddening at the same time). The first step is getting to Samarkand itself, which is proving to be much more difficult than you would think. Just check out the map - it simply is not that far away from Abu Dhabi. You cross over the Persian Gulf, then Iran and Turkmenistan, and, huzzah, you're in Uzbekistan and Samarkand. It shouldn't even be that long of a flight, if only you could get there. My initial attempts to arrange something on Travelocity or Skyscanner, using the most general parameters, kicked back that there were no flights. Really? Not one flight that ran from anyplace in the UAE to Samarkand, ever? Think about that response for a moment. If you enter just about any starting and ending points into a search engine it will get you there, even if there is no direct flight - otherwise no one would ever be allowed to leave Vermont. Friends of mine who are more technologically sophisticated than me came up with options that went through Moscow, and which cost a fortune. Hmmm, Moscow? I have my Lonely Planet Guide to Central Asia back in my office in Burlington, so I guess I'll just have to check it out there. Maybe you just need to fly into another city in the region and take a train/taxi/camel back to Samarkand and it all becomes easy. At this rate I'll never fulfill my Aurel Stein dreams. And speaking of which, I definitely want to go to Kabul, Afghanistan and pay a visit to Stein's obscure little gravesite there. I am pretty tenacious so we will be discussing this further.