Uzbekistan is a premier cultural heritage destination sought out each year by more and more travellers wishing to immerse themselves in the magic of Central Asia’s Great Silk Road. How do you keep your bearings? Learn the unique stories behind the buildings. In each of Uzbekistan’s three Silk Road cities – Bukhara, Khiva and Samarkand – a landmark minaret has a myth behind it, adding a touch of intrigue to the present-day wonder.

East of Cape Town in South Africa, the Cape Winelands region encompasses a mountain chain, nearly 7,000 species of endemic plant life, hundreds of wine vineyards and over a quarter of a million people. No single feature of the Cape Winelands stands on its own. Rather, they form a complex web of connections: the gorgeous nature is related to the local agriculture, which is in turn connected to a history of colonisation and cultural development that continues to affect social and environmental issues today.

December 21, 2012, is the last day of the 13th baktun of the Mayan calendar, a day on which many believe that something big is going to happen. Rather than preparing for the apocalypse, why not plan a 2012 tour of the Mayan pyramids and prophesies in Guatemala? Explore the grand ruins of ancient Mayan civilisations. Meet a traditional living Mayan community of today and find out firsthand what they are thinking and doing as you take part in sacred rituals and ceremonies.

In a place called Shakhrisabz, about 80 kilometres south of Samarkand in Uzbekistan, a giant monument to the 14th-century Mongol khan Temor (Tamerlane) marks the place he was born. The towering statue of Temor cues what is to come: in the city of Samarkand itself, even more references to one of the country’s most important historical figures are to be found, including the heavily-restored mausoleum where he was buried.