In Episode One, Joanna starts her adventure in Venice, the European terminus of the Silk Road where she discovers how the Silk Road helped the merchants of Venice and the city state itself grow rich and powerful. Joanna witnesses first-hand evidence of Marco Polo's silk road booty, and sees how that all-important commodity, silk, cemented Venice's reputation as a centre of luxury and conspicuous wealth.

Joanna follows the Silk Road from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, across the post-Soviet states of Georgia and Azerbaijan. On the way she learns not only about the history, but how these two very countries are still finding their identities.

In Episode Three, Joanna continues her adventure following the ancient Silk Road across the Islamic Republic of Iran, home to one of the oldest civilisations on earth. A land of incredible diversity and phenomenal beauty, Iran was once the thriving heart of the mighty Persian Empire, but nowadays it's little visited by Westerners, and somewhat misunderstood.

As Joanna's Silk Road Adventure draws to a close, she travels across the stunning yet little-known Central Asian states of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Starting in the Kyzl-Kum desert she explores the Silk Road citadel of Khiva, a town infamous for its history of slavery. In the capital, Tashkent, she marvels at the splendid Soviet-built Metro system and attends a high society wedding as the guest of a famous pop star.