It's the confluence of the Old World's three continents. It's also the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. So it's understandable that the Middle East is teeming with cultural, religious, and historic treasures. Turkey the region's bridge to the Europe, is understandably the most European in flavor, with its grand coastline and the urbane metropolis of Istanbul. Either by foot or by camel, trekking is wildly popular in the deserts of Iran and Turkmenistan. Switch that to hiking and skiing as you enter the more mountainous countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan.