THERE are three great goals in a traveller's life: Mandalay, Timbuktu and Samarkand. You never really expect to see any of them.
Samarkand, the 14th century capital of the brilliant and barbaric Turkic conqueror, Tamerlane, was famous even before Christ. The jewel in the Silk Road, it became the most important cultural and economic centre in Central Asia, ''the eye and star of the Earth'', boasted Tamerlane. There are few places whose names conjure up more exotic romance.
Not surprisingly, first impressions of today's Samarkand can be disappointing. Ever since this region became part of the Russian empire at the end of the 19th century, forming the province of Uzbekistan, the Silk Road cities have been developed into modern industrial centres.
Samarkand is no exception, with a new town as ugly as most modern cities in the former Soviet Union. But much of the old town to the east still exists, dominated by the treasures of Tamerlane's time and above all by Registan Square.
This was where camel caravans from China would congregate, laden with fine silks and satins and other Eastern exotica.
Only later were the three religious colleges (called madrasahs) built around the square, the first by Tamerlane's grandson, Ulug Beg, in 1420. Recently restored, the madrasahs are masterpieces of Islamic art with laboriously tiled portals, gleaming domesand mosaics of fantastic design.
Groups of Uzbeks and Tadjiks visiting the square provide their own brilliant sweeps of colour: the men in traditional khalats, long striped cotton coats, and the women in dresses and pantaloons of rainbow-coloured silk.
