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Hullo, I’m Brian Lawrenson. Do take a few minutes to watch the above images taken along the Silk Road. Aren't the faces the most interesting. If only the faces could tell you their story. Well some of them do, as you’ll find out later.

 If you are reading this, I suspect that we have a lot in common. We both love travel.

 In 1986, when my wife, Jill, had long service leave, I asked my boss for 13 weeks leave without pay. It was the start of an experience that changed our lives. We didn’t just want a vacation, we wanted something more. We wanted something that we’d remember for a lifetime. We decided on a 3 month overland trip from Turkey to Kathmandu and on to Tibet. This turned out to be a grand adventure and it brought out a passion for travel that has now taken us to more than 70 countries.

Visiting Samarkand and Bokhara (Uzbek culture is unique) and meeting the peoples along the Silk Road, we found new perspectives on many aspects of our lives and an increase in our desire to travel to more distant places. We wanted to experience more. If you've travelled to or thought about travelling to these places, I know that you can relate to that.

Starting at the turn of the millennium we'd been sending emails back home telling our friends about our travel routes and experiences. We wrote not to brag (well perhaps a little bit) but to tell our friends about our experiences. Over the years many of our friends have asked us to put these stories together into a book.

We were so fortunate to travel in Pakistan at a time of relative calm. This is seen as being such a violent country yet the people in the Hunza valley were amongst the friendliest that we've met anywhere. We travelled the Karakorum Highway and the back roads of Pakistan in a 30 year old tourist jeep, that left us holding a breath most of the time. We travelled to Chitral to see polo and (just) managed to avoid the Taliban in the Swat Valley.

If you are an adventure traveller, a grey nomad or an armchair traveller, you'll feel every bump, hold your breath too, smell the dust swirling inside the jeep and meet the wonderful people that we met. Yes, it was challenging at times, even life threatening. But then isn't that what adventure travel is supposed to be. If you've enjoyed reading Michael Palin's Himalaya or Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea, then I know that you are going to enjoy reading this book too.

So how about your desire to travel the Silk Road?

• Perhaps you are planning a trip and are reading up about the places along the Silk Route. Planning you next trip is half the fun. You'll find heaps of information in the book that isn't in most guide books and that will help your planning.
• Perhaps you’re retired but find this type of travel too challenging. Then make yourself comfortable and sit back and enjoy reading this book, or.
• Perhaps you’re looking for a gift for a friend who loves travelling. They will thank you. They will have a holiday of a lifetime. (There are currently amazing travel deals in Pakistan and western China.)

Then join us travelling the Silk Road; you won't need a passport, visas, inoculations, airline booking, travel insurance and house minders. You’ll learn more about Marco Polo and his travels and you'll meet the people in the photographs.

Just click on the top left box to read inside the book. On page 201 you’ll find the story of our trip in Tibet on a worn out Chinese bus with the most common colour being “rust”.

On page 244, you’ll share a bottle of rakshi with a couple of yak herders near the Everest base camp, who were already on their second bottle.

On page 373 you can join us for dinner at the house of the Imam of Bokhara and gain a rare insight into this amazing religion.

Oh ............there are so many stories and you’re going to love them all.

Happy reading!!!

Brian Lawrenson

Author

Following Marco Polo’s Silk Road

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JOIN US TRAVELING ALONG THE SILK ROAD TO READ INSIDE THE BOOK JUST CLICK ON THE TOP LEFT PANEL