Samarkand in 4 days

Three facing madrasas: Ulugh Beg's of 1420, the Sher-Dor of 1636 with its big cats and human-faced sun, and the gilded Tilya-Kori of 1660.

Built between 1399 and 1404 with Indian plunder and meant to be the Islamic world's largest mosque, it cracked within Tamerlane's lifetime.

The city's historic market beside Bibi-Khanym, selling stamped round Samarkand bread, dried apricots, raisins and almonds, spices by weight and kurut, salted dried yoghurt balls.

A stepped lane of some forty mausoleums, many for Tamerlane's family and court, leading to the tomb of Qusam ibn Abbas, the Prophet's cousin.

The bare hills north of town are ancient Samarkand, inhabited from the 7th century BC until Genghis Khan destroyed it in 1220.

A long white building with five domes above the Siab river, holding an 18-metre cenotaph that local tradition links to the prophet Daniel.

Tamerlane's astronomer grandson built it around 1424; the surviving trench holds part of a giant sextant with a 40-metre radius.

Built in 1404 for Tamerlane's grandson, it received the conqueror himself a year later; its 32-metre ribbed dome prefigures the Mughal tombs of India.