The Silk Road Race is a charity rally from

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

to the capital of

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

Dushanbe Dushanbe ( tg, Душанбе, ; ; russian: Душанбе) is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 863,400 and that population was largely Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe (r ...

. The Silk Road Race is organised by Partenza Intelligente, a non-profit cultural association based in Lainate (Milan), Italy. The first edition of the rally was launched on 31 July 2010.

Adventure

The Silk Road Race typically launches from Villa Litta Visconti Borromeo, a historic palace of the 16th century in Lainate near Milan, Italy, in the last week of July. The teams participate in the Start Night launch event with many people and a rock concert during the launching procedure. The teams can participate in the rally with any motor-based vehicle, there is no limit based on engine displacement or vehicle type. Silk road race 2010 edition team

Routes

There are typically three main routes to Tajikistan. The northern route, from Milan to Tajikistan via east Europe:

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

, and

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

; the middle route:

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, Georgia,

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

and then crossing the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

; or the south route:

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, and then

. However, the route is free; teams can choose their route to

, but they must arrive at

in 3 weeks to join the finish party. The Silk Road Race is approximately 8.000 km long.

Entry fees

The Silk Road Race charges an entry fee to cover the costs of running the event. All funds generated from charity fees are donated to a project started by

Cesvi ''Cesvi'' (Italian, "cooperazione e sviluppo", cooperation and development) - one of the biggest humanitarian organizations in Italy. Founded in 1985 and has about 30 offices all over the world. Cesvi provides assistance in emergency situations (in ...

that provides water and sanitation in the south region of Tajikistan. The Silk Road Race 2012 entry fee for a car or a truck team was €499 and €250 for a motorcycle. A team comprises a single vehicle: a car/truck or a motorcycle. The Silk Road Race 2012 minimum charity fee for cars/trucks teams was €950 and €300 for a motorcycle team.

References

{{reflist

External links

CESVI Description of the Silk Road Race Milano-Dushanbe charity rally

Silk Road Race official site

Press coverage of the Silk Road Race Milano-Dushanbe charity rally