Cemeteries to visit Route de la soie

The old cemetery of Kokand is a magical place, especially when you get lost in the finissante day. The screams of the swifts are then the only ones to disturb the absolute calm there. The graves, for most simple whitewashed monuments, appear to be arranged randomly. We walk here quietly, asking from time to time under a tree. The tombs with pastel colours, sometimes blue or pink, indicate early death. It is in this cemetery that you will see the magnificent tombs listed below.

In this cemetery lies, to the left about thirty metres from the entrance, the French explorer in Central Asia, Joseph Martin, who died in Ferghana in 1892. Falling in love with the steppe, he undertook explorations in Siberia. His work earned him many distinctions in France and Russia. In 1888, he made his third trip, but contracted malaria between Lanzhou and Hotan. It was almost blind that he finally joined Marguilan and Ferghana. He was rushed to hospital, but could not be saved and died on May 23, 1892.