Soviet boulevards, palatial metro stations and the Chorsu Bazaar
Tashkent was largely rebuilt after an earthquake in 1966, so it is more a modern Soviet-planned city than a Silk Road relic, but it rewards a day or two. The metro stations are decorated with chandeliers, marble and cotton motifs, the Khast Imam complex holds one of the oldest surviving Qur'ans, and the green dome of the Chorsu Bazaar shelters mountains of spices, bread and dried fruit. The Central Asian Plov Centre cooks plov in giant cauldrons. Fast trains run on to Samarkand and Bukhara.