N o other far-flung city has so fired the imagination of English poets over the centuries as much as Samarkand – exotic, magical and mystical, a fairytale architectural citadel in the heart of Central Asia . Uzbekistan has been the playground and battleground of Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Emperor Temur and Peter the Great who laid the groundwork for Russian control a century later.

Today this ancient citadel is something of a tourism secret, with Uzbekistan now undergoing a renaissance having freed itself from the Soviet yoke through Gorbachev’s Perestroika revolution in 1991. It is remarkably undersold as a stunningly attractive and safe destination. It is also a flourishing trade hub, its economy turbocharged by copious gas and gold mining, making it a surprisingly alluring ancient and modern tourist hot spot.

It is also one of the few places where every visitor almost immediately becomes a millionaire.…