In the colonial era, the British developed an ancient route into a highway across the breadth of their realm, starting from the metropolis of Kolkata, the route runs through the city of Varanasi, to Delhi, and continues to Lahore and Peshawar.

Completed in 1932 as a gift from the Soviet State to its remote regions, the Pamir Highway follows an ancient route through Central Asia all the way through to the `Roof of the World'.

From its architectural splendour to its religious tolerance, nowhere is the greatness of ancient Persia more evident than in Isfahan, the starting point for a journey to Samarkand in Uzbekistan.