Long before Tashkent became a Soviet showpiece, it was a stop on the caravan road, and the State Museum of History tries to tell that long story. Under the name Chach, the oasis was known to the ancient Persians and Greeks, and later to Chinese travellers, who called it Shi. It lay on the Silk Road, on the route that led from Samarkand across the Syr Darya into the Fergana valley and the Chinese lands beyond. Sogdian merchants carried silk, glass, metalwork and religious ideas along it, and the museum's collections include coins, ceramics, carved stone and remains from sites across Uzbekistan, from the Bronze Age to the Timurid empire.
The great figure of the later period was Amir Timur, the conqueror known in the West as Tamerlane, who built his capital at Samarkand in the late fourteenth century and filled it with domes of blue tile, and whose name is now a symbol of national pride in Uzbekistan. His grandson Ulugh Beg, the astronomer, built an observatory there, and his star catalogue was famous across the world. The museum also covers the Russian conquest in the nineteenth century, when Tashkent was taken in 1865 and became the capital of Russian Turkestan, and the Soviet period that followed.
For a rider, the museum is a good morning stop before the day's drive to the Chatkal Biosphere Reserve, to the north-east. The road follows the Chirchik river out of the city, with views of cotton fields and orchards, and then enters the mountain foothills, where the walnut forests begin. The reserve covers peaks, juniper woods and meadows, and the trails are best done on foot, with a local guide. The roads in the mountains vary, with smooth sections, and some broken surface, and hairpin bends on the steeper climbs. Rain can bring stones down, so keep your speed measured.
Tashkent has the best range of services, with fuel stations, mechanics, and shops, though petrol is not always on sale, and gas is common, so check before you rely on a station. The nearby parks offer shade in summer, when the heat is intense. Try fresh fruit from the markets, such as apricots and melons, which are sweet and cheap in season, and fill your water bottle before leaving. Autumn is mild and clear, with a good light for the mountains.