Start with high-confidence central asia travel books, then narrow by subgenre or adjacent topics.
On the Grand Trunk Road
Steve Coll
The Places in Between
Rory Stewart
The Finest Hotel in Kabul
Lyse Doucet
Lost on Planet China
J. Maarten Troost
Empires of the Steppes
Kenneth W. Harl
On the Hippie Trail
Rick Steves