Travel is all about discovery and encounters with different cultures. It brings with it a host of images, emotions and experiences. From ancient times, man has felt the need to travel and to broaden his horizons.
Today we may be used to travelling for leisure and enjoyment, but in the past people travelled almost exclusively through necessity – in search of food, raw materials or new trade routes. The most important era from this point of view was the age of the great Voyages of Exploration which, in the 15th and 16th centuries, led to the discovery of the Far East and caused us to re-evaluate Western concepts of geography, philosophy and anthropology. This gradual integration of cultures was epitomised by the Silk Road, a complex system of trade routes that for centuries created a bridge between East and West, stretching for almost 8000 kilometers from the Chinese city of Chang’an (modern day Xian) all the way to Rome.