Uzebekistan: The Golden Road to Samarakand [Paperback]

Calum MacLeod (Author), Bradley Mayhew (Author)

Book Description

Series: Odyssey Illustrated Guides | Publication Date: November 3, 2008

"The best guidebook to bring is the Uzbekistan volume in the Odyssey series... It is one of those rare travel guides that is a joy to read whether or not you are planning a trip."—The New York Times

From the blue-tiled splendor of Tamerlane's Samarkand to the holy city of Bukhara, and beyond to the desert-girdled khanate of Khiva, Uzbekistan lays claim to a breathtaking architectural legacy. Bound by sand and snow, fed by meltwater from the Roof of the World, these fertile oases have attracted travelers and conquerors along the fragile threads of the Silk Road throughout history. This groundbreaking guide focuses on the wealth of sites and colorful legends along Central Asia's golden road.

Includes: informative insights into the history, religion and culture of Uzbekistan; special topics including the disappearance of the Aral Sea, and the life and death of Tamerlane the Great; up-to-date practical information for the traveler, covering visas, customs and travel agencies; hints for business visitors; environmental issues; useful maps, together with detailed plans of principal sites; and more. 108 full-color photographs, 23 maps

Editorial Reviews

Review

A quintessential, glorious guidebook. (Houston Chronicle )

About the Author

Calum MacLeod graduated in Oriental Studies (Chinese) from Wadham College, Oxford University. Macleod has traveled extensively through Russian and Chinese Central Asia, China and Indochina. He contributes regularly to a range of publications. MacLeod lives in Beijing, China.

Bradley Mayhew graduated in Oriental Studies (Chinese) from Wadham College, Oxford University. He has traveled and trekked across Chinese and Russian Central Asia, Tibet, Iran and Ladakh. He has led adventure tours along the Silk Road and is the author/co-author of numerous Lonely Planet guides, including Pakistan & the Karakoram Highway, Tibet, The Indian Himalaya and Southwest China.  Mayhew lives in Montana, when not "on the road."

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Airphoto International Ltd.; Sixth Edition edition (November 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9622177956
• ISBN-13: 978-9622177956
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #983,630 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bradley Mayhew was born in Sevenoaks, Kent in 1970 and currently lives in Yellowstone County, Montana. A degree in Oriental Studies (Chinese) at Oxford University kickstarted 20 years of independent travel in the remoter corners of Asia and a career writing guidebooks. With his classmate, he wrote the Odyssey Guide to Uzbekistan, the first guidebook to the country, in 1995. He has since written over 25 guides for Lonely Planet, specialising in Central Asia, Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, China and Yellowstone National Park.

In the course of his research trips he's been arrested in the Tajikistan Pamirs, forced to make a self-criticism in Tibet, slept in a cupboard in Nicaragua and spent way too much time eating mutton kebabs across inner Asia. Bradley has also written for Insight guides and Rough Guides and has lectured on Central Asia to the Royal Geographical Society. He was recently seen retracing the route of Marco Polo for a five-hour German TV documentary (Arte/SWR), airing in 2011.

Follow his blog at www.bradleymayhew.blogspot.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, November 5, 2009

By 

Laszlo Wagner (Hungary) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Uzebekistan: The Golden Road to Samarakand (Paperback)

I found this book just about perfect!
Unlike Odyssey's guide to neighbouring Tajikistan which I found carried too much dead weight with hundreds of pages on the history of past explorations, this book has hit the balance between history, sights and practical information very well.
The result is a guide that offers enough background info to be interesting rather than boring, enough info on where to go to let you go off the beaten track if you wish, and a range of accommodation options ranging from homestays to upmarket hotels, with actual prices noted.
And of course, as usual with this series, it has absolutely gorgeous photography, a very important point in a book about this country, where the stunning architecture is a main attraction.
As an added bonus, it even offers information on the most rewarding side-trips you can make to neighbouring Central Asian countries.
Really, it is better than I had hoped - if you want to visit Uzbekistan, take this book. It is better than Lonely Planet!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the pounds!, February 14, 2010

By 

Tchukon Shanks "Tchukon" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Uzebekistan: The Golden Road to Samarakand (Paperback)

Gave a really good overview of the country's history and culture. Last Spring I was on a tour and had an opportunity to see a couple of the other available guidebooks from fellow travelers. This one was by far the best tour guidebook of Uzbekistan. A great way to see the country is with [...]

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than Lonely Planet if you are going to spend a lot of time in Uzbekistan, October 6, 2009

By 

World Traveler (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uzebekistan: The Golden Road to Samarakand (Paperback)

If you are going to spend a lot of time in Uzbekistan, this book is a better buy than the Lonely Planet which covers each Central Asian country briefly in the regional "Central Asia" guide. However, there's too much focus on culture and history in this book and not enough focus on things to do. If you want to read a fiction/thriller that takes place in Uzbekistan and accurately captures the people and culture, check out The Opportunists, by Yohann de Silva. Here's the link: The Opportunists: A Novel