Post-Pamirs Post

     So last week I went to the Pamirs. It was crazy. I'm sure I'll forget to write about a lot of the things that happened, but that's only because the week was so chock full of excitement. I'm sorry this post is so long, but here is my best shot at recounting this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity:

     Okay, we met last Saturday outside of the American Councils building at 6AM. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I am not really a morning person. So getting to the meeting place on time required a record-breaking amount of motivation on my part. My host family said they would have eggs ready for me at 5:30AM, but they forgot to set their alarm. There were no 5:30AM eggs. I couldn't really fault them for that though, as it would have been incredibly hypocritical of me. 

     Anyhow, I somehow managed to meet everyone on time and shortly thereafter we set out for the Roof of the World. The whole week I shared a car with my two closest friends on the trip (Chris and Amanda), the in-country program director (Khurshed) and our Pamiri driver (Qoli-Nazar). Even though our driver was born and raised in Tajikistan, he had his own unique accent. I was very deep, slow, soft and almost reminiscent of an Italian mobster. It was strange, but made the long road trip that much more enjoyable.

     The first day in the car may have been the worst. Including stops for food and pictures, the whole drive ended up taking fourteen hours. We drove from Dushanbe to the far less bustling village of Qalai-Khumb. The village is located right inside the border of Badakhshan, which is the province that houses the Pamirs. On the way to Qalai-Khumb, we met up with the Panj River. The Panj runs along Tajikistan's southern border with Afghanistan. We drove along this border for the about 4 or 5 days. At one point in the late afternoon of the first day, we had to pull over for four hours because some Iranian company was blowing the side of a Tajik mountain to build a tunnel for everyone's 'convenience.' It was difficult to occupy our time while we waited, because the area surrounding us was an old mine field that still hadn't been cleared. We quickly learned that it was best to be prepared for anything in Badakhshan. By the time we got to Qalai-Khumb that first night, it was dark. After sitting in the car for so long, Qalai-Khumb's lack of beauty was quite a disappointment. It was the only town I did not instantly love upon arrival.

     The next day we got up early and drove to Khorugh, the capital of Badakhshan. Khorugh was great. Everyone really loved it. The place was like a much more quaint version of Dushanbe. The city is actually known for it's relatively high crime and drug problems, but luckily we avoided those. There is this huge new public park in Khorugh that sits right on a river and is just beautiful. We ate dinner, and lunch the next day, in that park. On Day Three, we spent the day in 'downtown' Khorugh. We toured the local bazaar, took photos with some old Soviet statues and checked out the traditional Pamiri craft stores. It was a fun day soaked in culture. 

     That afternoon we took a quick four hour drive over to a much smaller town called Ishkoshim. The town was calm and quiet, but it also didn't have too much to offer foreigners. Before dinner was served at the guesthouse, we walked around town. At some point, we decided to walk down to the Panj and see how close we could get to Afghanistan. This was a bad idea. When we were about a hundred feet away, some kids informed us that if we went down to the river, the Tajik border patrol would probably shoot us. So we turned around. The guesthouse in Ishkoshim was my favorite one I think. Even though it was in the middle of nowhere, it still had a TV, a VHS player, a western toilet, toilet paper, hot showers and very comfortable beds. Compared to some of our other guesthouses, the one in Ishkoshim bordered on ritzy.

     The thing that really blew my mind was the blatant inequality that existed just across the border in Afghanistan. All through the Pamirs and along the Panj there are telephone lines and electric wires on the Tajik side. In extreme northern Afghanistan, however, there is no electricity. Those people are legitimately cut off from the rest of their country. Talk about living off the grid. I have no idea how anyone survives over there. In the evenings, when the sun went down and the temperature plummeted, I was very grateful to be on the side of the border that at least had electricity. No wonder the Tajik border patrol is so severe. There is an obvious impetus for Afghans to try to make their way across the Panj. As strange as it may seem to say, a much better life awaits Afghan families if they can cross the northern border. 

     On a less serious note, the food on the trip was awesome! We got to try a bunch of local Badakhshani dishes, along with traditional Tajik meals. Each one was piping hot and very filling. I suppose when there's nothing else to do all day, your meals better be good. Though American Councils paid each of the guesthouses to let us stay there, the hospitality seemed over the top. The people were so welcoming. Honestly, I think they were all just excited to see some new faces. We really got a good impression of Tajik generosity though. On the roads there were numerous smiling Tajiks selling every kind of produce from pomegranates to strings of dried figs. We stopped for a lot of these people. Pomegranates and figs are just so much better in Persia.

     The morning of the fourth day brought a whole new set of adventures. Our destination was the tiny town of Langar, which was only a few hours down the road. But there were quite a few planned stops along the way. First, we made our way to an abandoned fort and a small Pamiri 'museum.' Both were academically fascinating. We learned about Pamiri clothes, instruments, and languages (there are many Pamiri languages and none are closely related to Tajiki). Later we drove up to about 11,000 feet to check out some natural hot springs. I had never seen hot springs like this before and they did not disappoint. The water was just like a hot tub. I climbed into a little cave I found and my feet couldn't touch the bottom. The water was almost scalding hot as you went deeper and deeper. It was a really cool stop. Later, just outside of Langar, we got the best view of Pakistan that we would get for the whole trip. The scenery was honestly breathtaking. After taking a bunch of pictures with the Tajik Pamirs, the Afghan Hindu Kush and the Pakistani Himalayas all in one, we rolled into Langar. I don't think anyone could stop smiling after that view.

     Langar is an insanely small town. It has about 15-20 families living there, but our guesthouse was shockingly well equipped for travelers. It had heat and a western toilet. Both were welcomed surprises. In Langar there is almost zero light pollution, so the night sky is beyond words. We could see many different layers of stars and numerous constellations. The milky way was not just visible, it was the main attraction. When you look at the sky in Langar, everything is so clear that you are almost guaranteed to see a handful of shooting stars after just ten minutes. It was crazy to think how isolated we were. So few people have ever been to the places we went. We kept thinking about where we were on a map and laughing at how out of the way it was. I think Ishkoshim had the best guesthouse, but Langar was by far the coolest town.

     On Day 5 we drove up through the Pamir Plateau. This place was even more isolated than Langar, by which I mean we saw nothing but rocks and water for hours at a time. It was a very bad place to get a flat tire. Nonetheless we got a flat tire. Our very serious, lone-wolf, he-man driver threw on the spare tire in about ten minutes and we continued over the plateau. Day 5 had a large range of livestock for us all to see. We saw countless yaks and took countless pictures with those yaks throughout the day. I feel quite proud to say that I can now instantly tell the difference between a yak and cow (longer torsos, longer hair, wider tails, etc). 

     The real treat though came in the middle of the day when we spotted two wild Bactrian camels right over the Afghan border. There are many Bactrian camels left in the world, but only about 800 live in the wild. Those that do live in the wild, live exclusively in Mongolia. Or so they say. The two we saw were definitely not domesticated. It was a fantastic stroke of luck that we got to see them. We all ran out of the cars and down to the border. Where we were was far too remote to have border patrol, so we went right up to the river and took a bunch of pictures. I also managed to throw a stone that hit the bank of the river in Afghanistan. So I can say I was literally a stone's throw away from Afghanistan. Pretty neat. The rest of the day was pretty fun. We eventually got up to 14,000 feet when we drove through 'Bunny Pass' (technically translated as 'Rabbit Pass') for about 6 hours. We stopped by a random Kyrgyz village and then made our way back to Khorugh for the evening. We filled up on some unexpectedly good Indian food and went to bed exhausted, but satisfied.

     Day 6 was just a repeat of Day 2. Nothing new or extraordinarily exciting occurred. Everyone was getting pretty antsy in the cars. Once again, Qalai-Khumb failed to capture my heart. Day 7 was the last day. We decided to take a northern route back to Dushanbe that would save time, but take us right through the Rasht Valley. If anyone knows anything about Tajikistan's Rasht Valley, they know it is not exactly the nicest place in the world. A decade ago, during the Tajik Civil War, the Rasht Valley was the site of the most violent outbursts. Today, many in the Rasht Valley are known Taliban sympathizers. The State Department just lifted the travel ban on the area a few months ago. And the roads through Rasht had just been reopened two weeks prior. So it was a pretty unique opportunity to get to drive through the mountains there. The valley was full of dramatic scenery and vast rolling hills. It was quite a treat. 

     We got back in to Dushanbe in the early afternoon utterly drained of all energy. Not that we had really over-exerted ourselves, but the long drives were rough. Apparently the roads in Tajikistan ceased to be paved after about three hours in any direction. So for the whole week we were just driving over patted-down rocky paths. Normally we drove on the side of very steep mountains and almost invariably the roads did not have guardrails. Needless to say, the drive got a little dicey at times. I was very pleased that we had a professional behind the wheel. 

     Okay I know this post has been really long, and honestly I am grateful for anyone that has made it this far. I have only two more morsels left to recant and then this will all be over:

1. On Day 2, we stopped in some small town because the drivers wanted to speak with a friend who was known to sell uncut rubies from the mountains. This is extremely illegal in Tajikistan, but, hey, when in Badakhshan.. No one ended up buying anything though, because the stubborn man selling the jewels was asking for ridiculous prices.

2. There is government propaganda everywhere in Tajikistan. Even in the 20-family town of Langar, there were huge pictures of President Rahmon, complete with all the ridiculous quotes and state mottoes. Leading up to every town, there was a line of boulders with words like 'unity,' 'brotherhood,' and 'celebrate 20 years of independence.' It was a little excessive.

Thank you for finishing this post. I promise no other post will ever be this long. Below are a few pictures. Enjoy!

^ precipitous roads

^ Panj River

^ my friends Maggie and I in Pamiri clothes with Pamiri instruments

^ Bactrian camels!

^ yak

^ Kyrgyz nomads over the Afghan border, headed towards China

^ just a stone's throw from Afghanistan

^ excessive nothingness up at 14,000 feet

^ abandoned fort at 11,000 feet

^ so many herds in the roads

^ Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan

^ picking cotton on the side of the road