Getty ImagesThe Uzbekistan government is on an ambitious tourism drive – but is sparring with heritage experts over how to protect its historical sites.
The sound of a jackhammer rattles through the air. In Bukhara, a former trading hub on the ancient Silk Road in what is now Uzbekistan, tourism is the new commerce and new hotels are popping up on every street corner. I’ve counted three construction sites in a 100m radius outside the former caravanserai where I’m staying, and I observe the progress of a guesthouse being built just metres from a 16th-Century madrasa (school).
It’s a trend that’s visible across the country. In the capital, Tashkent,…