Eastern Horizons

Travel Guide

Levison’s Tour of the Silk Road Route

This is the account of a 22 year old Levison Wood in his first expedition “ which was to become a defining point of reference for perhaps all of my subsequent expeditions”
2004 was a major one in Levison’s life and there were lots of changes going on in the world along with those in European and in Russia – particularly along the countries of the old Silk Road
The book doesn’t narrate or comment on the political leanings of any country but instead is away of seeing the world through the eyes of a wandering, former soldier.
Travel is all about good memories – whichever direction they take ou

Dogharoun

“The border post appeared as a mirage on the horizon, discoloured by the heat of the desert,rising like a phantom flame from the road”

Khorasan Desert

This sunbaked no man’s land was the place where Zoroastrianiasm and Buddhism prevailed in the centuries before Islam; where Alexander conquered the Persians and Babur began his epic journey across the Hindu Kush. It is the geographical transition between the MiddleEast and Central Asia – the heart of the silk road – and a place of mystery and wildnerness since recorded travel began”

For me too, it was the last great frontier before the Indian Subcontinent and one step closer to my dream”

The eastern road towards the India subcontinent has lured travellers from the west since time immemorial.”

Russia  – Moscow

Opened in 1935 the Moscow Subway is celebrated for its distinctive stations and inimitable character. I was impressed with how weird and unique the stations are.Each one has a different theme in a similar fashion to rooms at an amusement park hotel.” They visit the the banks of the Moscow River and  and drink vodka in dusky bars

Russian – Beslan

A time for reflection here as this was the city where the Beslan massacre toke place when terrorists took teachers and over 1000 pupils hostage

Georgia – Poti

Poti has been recorded in history since classical times. It was here that Jason and the Argonauts came to find the famous Golden Fleece.

Iran – Tabriz Bazaar

This city still has the impressive covered market in the middle East .

Iran – Esfahan

Naghsh-e Jahan Square is where he witnesses Friday prayers.

Landmark square built between 1598 & 1629. There is also a proverb which states that “Esfahan is half the world”

Iran – Mashad

Mashhad is a city in northeast Iran, known as a place of religious pilgrimage. It’s centered on the vast Holy Shrine of Imam Reza, with golden domes and minarets that are floodlit at night.

Pakistan – Kyber Pass

“I found a cluster of taxis and buses amongst the shacks and am heading for Jalalabad, the Gateway to the Kyber Pass”

Presently we reached the  small administrative outpost at Torkham. It was a motley collection of mud buildings with one or two concrete shacks”

Dharamshala

Dharamshala is a city in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Surrounded by cedar forests on the edge of the Himalayas, this hillside city is home to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile

Goa

Where this particular journey ended but where the seeds of the next one were already in place