Margilan

Margilan has produced silk since at least the medieval period and remains the centre of the trade in the Fergana valley, where the cloth called atlas and adras is made by ikat: the threads are tied and dyed before weaving so the pattern emerges blurred at the edges. The Yodgorlik factory works the whole process by hand, from cocoon to loom. UNESCO placed the town's crafts centre on its register of good safeguarding practices in 2017.

What you actually see

• The ikat process - threads tied and dyed before weaving, giving the blurred pattern.
• The Yodgorlik factory - the whole sequence from cocoon to loom worked by hand.
• The Kumtepa bazaar - the cloth market outside the town, busiest at weekends.
• The UNESCO listing - the crafts centre on the register of good safeguarding practices.

When to go

April to June and September to October are the comfortable months. Kumtepa bazaar is busiest on Thursdays and Sundays. Summer in the valley is very hot.

Honest expectations

Factory tours end in a shop and the selling is persistent. Much of what is sold as hand-woven is not. Summer heat in the Fergana valley is severe.

Nearby

Fergana is east, and Rishtan is southwest.