Right Now, We're Running the Silk Road
While you're reading this, a Pure Trails group is somewhere between the desert and Samarkand.
As I write this, our September group is out in Uzbekistan — nine days into the Silk Road, guided by David Thorp, running through the Karakum Desert, sleeping under the stars at a yurt camp, and working their way through Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand. It's genuinely one of my favourite trips on the whole calendar, and there's something I like about writing this while it's actually happening rather than after the fact.
We've written a full guide to Uzbekistan: Shadows of the Silk Road before — the itinerary, the kit list, the logistics. This one's different. This is what's actually unfolding this week, and why it's worth putting on your own list for 2027.
Desert first, mountains later
The trip opens in the Karakum Desert — flat, fast, otherworldly terrain around Khiva, looping past desert lakes before the group heads out to the Ayaz Kala fortress for a night that genuinely stands out even against everything else we run. No walls, no ceiling — just yurts, a fire, and one of the clearest skies anywhere on our portfolio. By the second half of the week the terrain flips entirely: the Zerafshan Mountains bring the biggest climbing day of the trip, over 900m of ascent through valleys and villages that feel centuries removed from the cities either side of them.
"Cannot recommend Pure Trails highly enough! I've done two trips now, the first to Annapurna in Nepal, and the second across Uzbekistan. Both were supremely well organised and supported."
— Mike V, Pure Trails Guest, Uzbekistan 2025
The cities do as much work as the trails
What makes this trip different from most of what we run isn't the running itself — it's how much culture sits alongside it. Three UNESCO World Heritage cities on one trip is rare anywhere in our portfolio. Khiva's Ichan Kala fortress, Bukhara's Samanid Mausoleum and ancient bazaars, Samarkand's Shakhi-Zinda Necropolis — this week our group is moving through all three, with dedicated rest-and-culture days built in specifically so nobody's rushing past any of it. It's a trip where the running gets you somewhere extraordinary, and the extraordinary place is worth every bit as much attention as the trail.
Why write this now, rather than a recap afterwards
Partly because I think it's genuinely more interesting — there's something different about a trip you're describing while it's happening rather than remembering after the fact. But mostly because it's a good reminder that this isn't a hypothetical destination on a website. It's happening this week, with a real group, on real desert trails, and it'll be happening again next September too.
Our 2026 September departure sold out, and 2027's is filling — 8 spaces remain on the 18–26 September 2027 date. If the idea of desert running, a night under the stars and three Silk Road cities has been sitting on your list, this is a good moment to stop letting it sit there.
8 spaces remain on our 18–26 September 2027 departure — the same desert, the same yurt camp, the same three Silk Road cities.
Explore Uzbekistan 2027 →Charlie Knights
Founder · Pure Trails Adventure