Termez, Uzbekistan: Exploring the Ancient “Buddhist Frontier” Hidden Along the Silk Road Termez is one of the most layered cities in Central Asia, sitting at the edge of Uzbekistan where the Amu Darya river forms the border with Afghanistan. It was one of the earliest and most important centers of Buddhism outside the Indian subcontinent, and the archaeological richness that survives here makes it a destination unlike anything else on the Silk Road circuit. Most travelers who visit Uzbekistan follow the well-worn triangle of Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara. Termez sits well south of that triangle, in the Surkhandarya province, and its distance from the tourist mainstream is exactly what makes…