[sitar & percussive instruments play in bright rhythm] ♪ ♪ (Rudy Maxa) I'm bargaining my way through a bazaar at the crossroads of the oldest highway in the world, where Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan once marched their men, where Marco Polo traded silk and jewels, here in Central Asia's Uzbekistan.

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (Rudy) Ancient Silk Road towns, stunning tiled mosques, desert fortresses springing from the sand, Uzbekistan is a portal to the ancient world where spices, silk, and ideas passed from China to Rome.

Its people have endured much, from the heat and the sand to wave after wave of conquerors.

How is it then that they're possibly the most hospitable people in the world?

That's one of the many wonders and contradictions of this tenacious, tumultuous, and tenderhearted country.

♪ ♪ Landlocked between Russia, China, India, and Iran, Uzbekistan is a flat, arid plain famed for its desert cities Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva and bordered by spectacular mountain ranges.

It's cities are striking Silk Road towns all tiles and trade.

For the tourist, Uzbekistan is a feast of color; turquoise domes, silk clad women, bright beautiful bazaars, a riot of fresh fruits and vegetables and shimmering carpets.

It's modern yet exotic, tourist friendly and overwhelmingly hospitable.

Uzbekistan is not entirely the undiscovered, but it feels that way.

2000 years ago, caravans traveling the Silk Road stopped here to trade.

Along with their goods came a mix of ideas and people that shaped the world.

Centuries of trade are in the blood of locals dealing at the Sunday market at Urgut, just outside the legendary city of Samarkand.

Women gather to try on wedding hats while the men shop for long, quilted robes.

A little long in the arms here.

I feel like I'm putting on a carpet.

Colorful fabrics are hawked along with wheels of bread and plump tomatoes.

This is one of the world's most colorful markets.

It takes the occasional Western visitor to remind you of what century it is.

The Silk Road was actually a network of caravan trade routes that stretched some 7000 miles, from China to the Mediterranean.

Caravans laden with goods including silk, musk, rubies, pearls, and rhubarb stopped here to buy and sell.

The ethnically Persian Sogdians who lived in the city of Samarkand were renown in China for their talent as merchants.

Sogdian was once the common language of the Silk Road.

Over the centuries, many of the world's religions traveled this network.

Buddhism made its way from India to China along the Silk Road.

Samarkand, known as The Gem of the East and The Land of Scientists, Samarkand was the nexus of the Silk Road.

Today, this city is a mix of broad boulevards and dramatic, historic sights.

The center of Uzbek towns is called the Registan, or Sandy Place, because the ground was covered with sand.

This was the heart of medieval Samarkand.

Austere, simple, symmetrical, and striking, Uzbekistan architecture is manifested in the 4 M's; mosques, madrassas, mausoleums, and minarets.

These madrassas, or religious schools, were the best universities for both Islamic and secular study in the 15th century.

The imagery on the Sher Dor Madrassa is unusual because it depicts living things.

It's a practice forbidden in the Islamic world.

Many of these mosque ensembles fell into disrepair, but during the latter part of Soviet rule, they were restored.

Today, few are active religiously, mostly functioning as museums with little craft markets.

Former student cells are now boutiques.

In one little shop, Bobir Sharipov sells a variety of traditional instruments, and plays them all expertly.

What are these instruments?

I haven't seen any of these.

They're all traditional Uzbek, and some are Central Asia musical instruments.

This is one of the popular musical instruments in Central Asia, tar.

And this part is interesting.

It's made from the membrane of the bull's heart.

The membrane of a bull's heart?

Correct.

I wonder who thought of that?

♪ ♪ (Rudy) I like that!

It's from the Silk Road, music of the desert ones.

♪ ♪ (Rudy) Uzbekistan is alive with music.

Traditional and classical music merged with a modern beat in many of the local groups.

Jack Clift is an American musician and producer who fused folk and swing with an Uzbek band called Jadoo.

♪ ♪ The modern nation of Uzbekistan was founded in 1924 when Stalin created 5 new republics out of Soviet territory in Central Asia.

The region's history is a tangled web of migrations and invasions, and you can see it in the faces of the people.

Who lives in Uzbekistan today?

Well in terms of nationalities, Uzbeks would be more than 80%.

The others would be Russians, Kazakhs, Tatars, Ukranians, Koreans, and Tajiks.

Also very minor groups of Turkmans, Karakalpaks, and Uyghur.

That's quite a soup.

Yes.

(Rudy) In 1360, a young man of Turko-Mongol descent set about to become one of the most powerful rulers to ever dominate Central Asia.

Timur, also known as Tamerlane, amassed a huge empire and made Samarkand his beloved capital.

He enslaved artisans, scholars, and theologians from India, Persia, and Asia Minor and brought them home with him to beautify Samarkand.

The result stunned travelers and lit the imagination of poets around the globe.

[vendors calling] (Rudy) Step into a Samarkand market and step back in time.

In early summer, the markets are full of cherries and apricots.

By late summer, huge melons roll out on the merchant's tables.

Lamb is a staple, and the national dish is a pilaf called plov.

Alexander the Great encountered plov in his conquest of Central Asia.

It's an ancient dish with roots in Persia.

Plov is, first of all, is the national dish, of course.

Ingredients are meat, lamb, onion, yellow carrot, oil, and spices.

What makes it different from region to region?

What else will you add?

For example, Farg' ona, really, their plov is almost red.

(Rudy) You live in Tashkent What color is it there?

Normally yellow.

All the peoples consider that their recipe of the plov is the best in Uzbekistan.

Is the only right.

Really?

Oh, here it comes.

So this is the Samarkand presentation of plov.

Yeah.

You see rice on the bottom?

Carrots here, and then the meat on the top?

Mmmm.

Like it?

Um-hum.

(Rudy) After years of Soviet occupation, Uzbekistan remains a secular country.

Since independence, restrictions on religious practice have loosened.

Devout Muslims from throughout Central Asia come as pilgrims to Shah-i-Zinda, a fabled and holy site.

Here on the site of the tomb of the prophet Mohammed's cousin, Timur built spectacular mausoleums for his family, advisors, and generals.

This street of tombs is a place you couldn't dream up, so stunning are the tile work and bright blue domes.

As colorfully clad visitors walk from tomb to tomb, it seems time is arrested somewhere back in Silk Road days.

It's traditional for elders take their grandchildren on a pilgrimage.

What do you do in a pilgrimage?

What is your trip all about?

[speaks in his native lauage] [man interprets] He is 75 years old, so he's preparing for next life after this life ends, and have good pilgrimage before going for different life.

So it is nice to travel with your grandfather on his pilgrimage?

[man interprets] It's a very great pleasure for him.

(Rudy) Thank you so much.

Rahmat!

♪ ♪ It's no surprise that these Silk Road towns overflow with silk, wood carvings, ceramics, carpets, and jewelry.

For world shoppers, Uzbekistan is a veritable jackpot.

Apparently these are made of wool, and these are what shepherds and men of the mountain wear to protect themselves from the cold.

I think city boys with no hair could wear this quite nicely as well.

What do you think?

Is it me?

♪ ♪ In 1992, an Afghan master craftsman founded this workshop to revive the lost tradition of carpet weaving in Uzbekistan.

Using natural dyes and traditional techniques, locals re-create ancient rugs.

What accounts for the dramatic difference in price in some carpets?

It depends usually to the quality, what it's made of, made of the silk, or it's made of the wool.

Silk being much more expensive?

Silk itself is expensive.

Silk is more strong.

Silk is the lightest and the strongest material in the world.

That's why they make parachutes from the silk.

The more knots per centimeter, the more expensive the carpet?

More expensive--it's just like the megapixel of a camera.

Where's this silk from, by the way?

Uzbekistan itself.

See, I am not supposed to buy a carpet on this trip.

No problem.

I really am not supposed to.

I've been told no carpet on this trip.

I like this carpet, this one, yes.

This is a beautiful carpet; this is silk.

And Saddlebag design.

Saddlebag design.

Here, This looks like saddlebag.

This part goes on the camel.

These 2 sides on the side of the camel.

Just like the art.

Yes, I know, it's just like art, and it's much cheaper here than if I were to buy this in the United States?

Exactly, you're buying from the workers.

Yes!

I need this carpet.

I must have this carpet.

(Zainab) Congratulations.

(Rudy) Thank you.

I'm gonna get in so much trouble!

[laughs] You won't.

You will be happy with it.

♪ ♪ (Rudy) What would the Silk Road be without glorious designer silk scarves?

Valentina Romanenko invents silk fashions that reflect the mixed cultures of Uzbekistan.

The 21st century dips into the 11th in a fashion show her studio in Samarkand.

♪ ♪ From Samarkand, at the foothills of the Pamir Mountains, the Silk Road headed to Bukhara to begin the long journey west to Persia.

If Samarkand stood at the nexus of trade along the Silk Road, the city of Bukhara epitomized learning.

Samarkand is "the beauty of the earth," a traditional saying goes, but Bukhara is the beauty of the spirit.

Marco Polo's father and uncle spent time here and described Bukhara as a large and splendid city, the finest in all of Persia.

In March the year 1220, Bukhara residents saw an endless wave of Mongol invaders at their gates.

The Mongol leader, Genghis Kahn, ordered the citizens of Bukhara killed and the city burned to the ground.

He spared one minaret that he thought uncannily beautiful, the Kalyan Minaret that still stands today.

It wasn't until the 16th century that Bukhara recovered and the city was rebuilt.

Whereas Samarkand is large and spread out, Bukhara's historic center is compact-- bazaars and domes, pools, and fortress walls, all in easy walking distance.

In the shade of a tree or inside a cafe, men spend hours playing backgammon.

They call backgammon "narde" here.

The rules are a little different than I'm used to, but they don't know I'm a shark.

One, 2.

Double 6's.

(man) Oh!

Oh my... No, no, no, no.

Ooh, can't move.

That's it.

That's it.

This guy rolls double 4s, double 3s, whatever he wants.

Mom always told me never play narde with a guy in the town square Bukhara.

Here I am.

So am I gammoned?

Yes.

After a solid trouncing at narde, I need a rest.

This may look like a hole in the wall, but wait'll you see inside.

Boutique hotels and family owned B&Bs are on the rise in Uzbekistan.

The exteriors often belie lovely interiors.

Owners are happy to show off their rooms and amenities to prospective guests.

There's an old Bukharan expression, "Work like a slave, relax like an emir."

In true Uzbek fashion, I'm having a cup of spice tea, along with some raisins, nuts, and halvah.

My snack led to a dinner invitation from the owner of the Silk Road Spices Tea Shop.

I joined Mirfayz Ubaydov and his son Mirshahob in the local market to shop for the meal.

[Mirfayz speaks in his native language] [Mirshahob interprets] Tomatoes.... carrots.

garlic... onion... meat... spice, lots of spices.

(Rudy) Ubaydov's family has been involved in the spice trade for 650 years.

So he's getting the deep friendship discount?

This is... Oregano.

Oregano.

For salad.

It certainly is oregano.

That is as fresh as--it was probably picked an hour ago.

Why are the vegetables so wonderful here?

They're grown organically; they're grown with the sun.

There's no chemical added to make it become bigger or... Redder.

...redder.

I want to bury my face in these tomatoes behind you here.

(Rudy) This professional shopper introduced me to the best Uzbek ingredients.

That yogurt's got a kick!

You just bought 3 kilos of apricots, a half a bucket of apricots for 80 cents.

That's correct.

This is a lot more fun than shopping at my local supermarket, I gotta tell ya.

This guy is a pro-- I think he tasted half of everything here.

He went through this market like a bullet train.

[sizzling of grease] Afterwards, Mrs. Ubaydov cooks all the ingredients in a wood fired pot.

Beef, vegetables, spices-- all carefully layered and then covered to cook for 2 hours.

What is this dish called?

Dimlama.

Oh, this is lovely.

Enjoy.

Is this an Uzbek dish?

[speaks in his native language] (Rudy) Uzbek dish made Bukhara style.

I can't wait to try it.

Thank you.

Bonne appetite!

Bonne appetite!

Just outside of Bukhara, one of the largest and most important Sufi Muslim sites, the tomb of Bakhauddin Nakhshbandi draws pilgrims throughout Central and South Asia.

Nakhshbandi was born in the early 14th century and grew up at the cycle of an ancient Sufi sect, to which he later lent his name.

He prohibited his followers from recording his words and actions and taught them to be sober and tolerant.

The shrine is infused with an air of devotion and peacefulness as pilgrims chant and walk around his shri 3 times in prayer.

The road to my next destination, the town of Khiva, is a day's journey through the desert.

Many visitors to Uzbekistan choose to use the capital of Tashkent as a base, and then make forays to the smaller cities.

Tashkent, with its broad boulevards and parks, retains little of its ancient look due to a 1966 earthquake that leveled much of the town.

Here are the country's premier restaurants and hotels, the Intercontinental Tashkent first among them.

Nothing is lacking here for the visitor, and all of the country's main sites are just an hour or so away by air.

Uzbeks are crazy for football, and the Bunyodkor team, based in Tashkent, features some key players including superstar Rivaldo.

[singing in her native language] ♪ ♪ Also in Tashkent is Uzbekistan's musical superstar Sevara Nazarkhan, a performer who blends the haunting sounds of the Silk Road with a contemporary flair as she sends her voice soaring into the stratosphere.

[singing in her native language] ♪ ♪ My music is different.

Sometimes I'm doing traditional stuff, traditional songs.

Sometimes I'm doing pop music.

And sometimes I'm doing a really mixing of traditional and really modern music.

So I'm mixing them.

♪ ♪ [birds sing] Tashkent is surrounded by dramatic mountain ranges.

Just a look at these rugged peaks and it's easy to imagine Silk Road merchants and explorers chest deep in snow, barely surviving the mountain passes, only to swelter in the endless desert plain below.

♪ ♪ My caravan is headed across the desert to the ancient kingdom of Khorezm and its famous city Khiva.

Nomads have raised sheep and camels here for millennia.

Out of the middle of nowhere, off the desert road, I came upon a group of camels and behind them, a family living in traditional yurt.

(man) This cradle and young child.

Ah, we have a baby here, a beautiful baby.

What is her name?

[ph.]

Dhaharan.

It's a boy!

We interrupted your lunch I see here.

I'm very sorry.

[speaking in his native language] Well, it's nice of them to let us come in to the yurt.

Rahmat!

Thank you very much for having us in your home.

Khorezm is part of Karakalpakstan, a region in western Uzbekistan and home to almost equal numbers of ethnic Karakalpaks, Uzbeks, and Kazakhs.

Miles from nowhere, the desert city of Khiva is a sudden surprise.

A crenellated wall surrounds the city.

Centuries old in places; newly restored in others.

The 4 city gates were closed at night to protect the town from sieges and roaming bandits.

It's a lonely outpost, once dividing Persian and Turkic kingdoms.

Inside the walls, old Khiva is immaculately restored, a magical little time capsule.

The streets are as strange and evocative as a dream.

As one 19th-century traveler put it, "Khiva is a leaf torn from the enchanted pages of the Arabian Knights."

19th-century travelers here lucky enough to have survived the desert found a wild, rough-and-tumble town with a huge slave market.

Khiva's glory age came in the 1600's when Uzbek tribes formed their capital here.

Russians and British played tug-of-war over Central Asia, with Russia finally conquering Khiva in 1873.

Khiva's iconic minaret is truncated due to the untimely death of the 19th-century Khan who commissioned it.

The Kunya-Ark was Khiva's fortress and residence of the Khan.

Inside the summer mosque, local masters tiled intricate climbing patterns.

The Tosh-Khovli Palace, built as an alternative residence for the Khan, contains some of the loveliest courtyards and tile work.

The Harem Courtyard gives a glimpse behind the screen at an isolated, lonely world.

♪ ♪ Here in the palace courtyard, I encounter some of the oldest music of my journey, the bakshi, a bard in the spirit of Homer, a storyteller and singer of epic poetry.

Norbek bakshi speaks, chants, and sings of love and heroism with a combination of joy and lament, a piercing, bold sound.

Norbek is descended from generations of bakshi, one of the last of his kind in the world.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ From a Silk Road hub, to a kingdom of learning to a desert outpost, the glorious cities of Uzbekistan blossomed from commerce and interaction as ideas traveled side by side with silk.

But might can make ashes of ideas, and this is a country that's been forced to rebuild itself time and time again.

It's endurance is tribute to its people, tenacious, capable, and wise, with a sudden sweetness, a genuine warmth as welcome as a slash of green oasis in the desert.

I'm headed home laden with silk, spices, and loads of glorious HD footage.

Reporting from Uzbekistan, I'm Rudy Maxa.

Xayr!

Some visitors fly around Uzbekistan, but if you have the time, the best way to see the country is by car, though some roads between towns are marked by potholes.

If you don't speak the language, you'll be at a disadvantage, so a guided tour ought to be considered.

Use an Internet search engine, type in touring Uzbekistan, and you'll see an array of offerings, including ground transportation with guides.

The food in Uzbekistan surprised me, for all the wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables, decidedly some of the best tomatoes anywhere.

Mutton is a staple, and great casseroles with rice, meat, and vegetables are hearty and tasty.

Now, every region in the country has its own idea of how to best season that national dish called plov.

Uzbekistan's cuisine is seasoned, but never too spicy or too hot.

Tea is the perfect accompaniment, and tea houses, or chaikhana, are ubiquitous.picy or too hot.

Don't be surprised if a local invites you to be their guest for dinner.

(woman) For links and photos of the places featured in "Rudy Maxa's World," and other savvy traveling tips, visit maxa.tv.

To order DVDs of "Rudy Maxa's World," visit maxa.tv.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ CC--Armour Captioning & TPT (woman) Funding for "Rudy Maxa's World" is provided by the following... (woman) Orbitz salutes the neverending spirit of adventure and as a proud sponsor of "Rudy Maxa's World" Orbitz offers comprehensive information on the world's great destinations.

From custom vacation packages to in-depth mobile tools your trip begins on Orbitz.

Take vacation back!

[Korean janggu drums play in bright rhythm] (man) Korea, be one with earth and sky.

(woman) And by Delta, serving hundreds of destinations worldwide.

Information to plan your next trip available at delta.com.

[orchestral fanfare] ♪ ♪