Kyrgyzstan: Silk Road

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Kyrgyzstan is a part of Great Silk Road. And there is a history of Silk Road appearing.

In the 2nd century B.C. Fergana valley was famous for its celestial horses. These horses were fast and strong and could gallop without needing any rest, why they strongly demanded. Many centuries later, scientist proved that these horses were as strong as the old stories wanted people to believe. According to ancient documents the meat of such horses was sweet... But the sweetness did not come from the taste of the meat, but from the parasites that lived under their skin. They hurt horses all the time that is why the horses tried to ran as fast as possible to scratch themselves for ease.

There was a legend in China that if their imperator would ride such a horse - he would rule forever. One day the imperator sent his warriors to go and to find these horses. After two years, they returned with these horses and also with many interesting stories and findings. They told their imperator about the numerous tribes they had met and their traditions and customs, cultures, cities and people. The imperator was surprised that he knew so little about the outside world and sent another expedition abroad for 15 years, led by his best friend. After their return, they reported about many places as far as the amazing city of Rome, where they traded precious stones and had a beverage called wine. This impressed the imperator so much, that he decided to start trade with Rome. At that time, only the Chinese knew the secret of producing silk. And silk became the most important good of this ancient trade.

For many centuries the Great Silk Road connected a complex network of trade routes from Europe with Asia. It was a way to establish contact with the great civilizations of China, India, the Near East and Europe. Trade caravans, diplomatic missions, merchants representatives of religious circles, dervishes, warriors - millions people have passed on this road through time with nothing frightening these brave travelers, neither the difficult roads, nor the waterless deserts.