Sophie Ibbotson ([...] is the founder of Maximum Exposure Ltd, a tourism and culture development consultancy focused on emerging destinations. She read Oriental Studies at Clare College, Cambridge, and has a particular interest in Afghanistan and Central Asia, where she has worked since 2008. An author or co-author of six Bradt travel guides, three of which cover central Asia (Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan), Ibbotson has also written for publications such as The Financial Times, The Economist and The Telegraph. She is also: the Director of the Silk Road Literary Festival; a consultant for the World Bank; Uzbekistan's Tourism Ambassador to the UK; and Chairman of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs.

Stephanie Adams is a bilingual (English and Russian) writer and researcher who has lived and studied in Russia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. Having graduated from Plymouth University with a degree in English and Publishing, she works for Maximum Exposure, a tourism development consultancy and PR firm specialising in Central Asia. Her travel writing has been published in outlets including Asian Geographic, TNT Magazine, and The Travel Magazine, and she also contributed to two Bradt guidebooks to Central Asian countries: Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.