In episode four, Joanna Lumley travels across post-Soviet, Central Asian states of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, the heartland of the Silk Road.
Beginning in Uzbekistan’s Kyzl-Kum desert, Joanna meets Bactrian camels and visits a 2500-year-old fortress.
Following in the footsteps of old trading caravans, she travels to Khiva, an ancient desert citadel. Here Joanna witnesses a special chugirma dance, and, while walking through the town, she explains Khiva’s history as a famous slaving town.
Joanna then travels to Uzbek capital, Tashkent, the most populous city in Central Asia. She takes a ride on the city’s Soviet-built Metro system and goes to a society wedding with a Uzbekistan pop star.
Joanna takes the Golden Road to Samarkand aboard a Spanish-built high-speed train and is awed by the vast turquoise domes of the Registan, Shakhi Zindar and Bibi Khanum. She joins Uzbek worshippers at the gilded tomb of Timur, visits the Afrasiab museum and goes in search of Samarkand’s legendary lepyoshka bread.
Her final stop is the 15th-century caravanserai of Tash Rabat, a huge stone complex tucked into the mountains near the Chinese border.
