The Silk Road conjures images of the exotic and the unknown. Most travellers simply pass along it. Chris Alexander chose to live there.

Immersing himself in the language and rich cultural traditions of Khiva, a remote desert oasis in Uzbekistan, Alexander discovers a world torn between Marx and Mohammed - a place where veils and vodka, pork and polygamy freely mingle - against a backdrop of forgotten carpet designs, crumbling but magnificent Islamic architecture and scenes drawn straight from The Arabian Nights.

A Carpet Ride to Khiva sees Alexander being stripped naked at a former Soviet youth camp, crawling through silkworm droppings in an attempt to record their life-cycle, holed up in the British Museum discovering carpet designs dormant for half a millennia, tackling a carpet-thieving mayor, distinguishing natural dyes from sacks of opium in Northern Afghanistan, bluffing his way through an impromptu version of My Heart Will Go On for national Uzbek TV and seeking sanctuary as an anti-Western riot consumed the Kabul carpet bazaar.

‘Unsparing in his censure of Uzbekistan’s repressive government, the author nevertheless paints a sympathetic and often humorous portrait of Khiva’s residents.More than just a tableau of Khiva, the book also paints a picture of a foreigner’s integration into the community.’ Wanderlust

‘This travelogue enriches our understanding of a little-known world.’ News of the World