We are now in Dushanbe (Tajikistan), the prettiest capital in Central Asia but one with not that much to do. We got here by shared transport on a Toyota land cruiser which provided a much smoother ride than the Russian jeeps. We scored the ride by haggling at the Khorog Bazaar and it took us about 20 hours to get from Khorog to Dushanbe via Kalaikhoum.
It is impossible to share all that has happened in the last few days but life has certainly been eventful.
The most aggravating thing about Tajikistan is the fact that the government and those who are seemingly in authority abuse their power over the people who are already so poor. I now understand why a Kyrgz friend (corruption is also rife in Kyrgzstan) said she would not be voting in the Kyrgz elections because not voting is also taking a stand. In her own words, she said 'Voting for the current government means voting from a thief. Voting for the oppostion menas voting for an even bigger thief.' I didn't fully comprehend the gravity of this stamenet a week ago but I am now the wiser having travelled through Tajikistan and been searched by border guards so many times. The worst incident was when we met border guards at 10pm who simply created an issue in order to obtain a bribe. They insisted that the dates between which our Tajik visa is valid must correlate with the dates on another document we hold called a GBAO permit to enable us to travel along the Pamir Highway. This was absolute bull. The small dimly it 'registration office' was crowded with about 8 Tajik border guards glowering over us. I disappointed myself in allowing myself to be intimidated. Kenneth was prepared for us to be detained for the night and refused to pay the bribe as a matter of principle though he was mostly hoping that this would just call their bluff.
After about 45 minutes of arguing, our driver got our passports back and bundled us into the landcruiser to continue our journey. Only later did we discover that our driver did not have the heart to leave us behind and so he ended up paying the bribe to the border guards. We are still fuming over the injustices that these authoritative figures perpetuate against their own people who have grown to accept it as a way of life. Since that incident we have heard of other incredulous stories of what border guards and policemen have done to both locals and foreigners.
It makes me want to do something .... anything! Is there something that we as an international community can do?
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Langar and the Simple Life
[Written on 24 July 2009]
We continued driving through the Wakhan Valley past the most stunning landscapes of cliff faces and the rivers which act as the border line between Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
Today, we stopped off at some ancient, abandoned forts which were built decades ago to protect the Wakhan Valley from potential attacks. In reality, the border is now riddled with check points every few kilometers. It was quite a hassle having to have our passports checked and registered at each checkpoint but our driver, Omarbek would simply collect our passports and take it into the registration office, leaving us in his Russian jeep. It did occur to be that it was odd that at most checkpoints, no border guard came to have a look at us to ensure it was actually our passport that they were registering. In hindsight, I now suspect that our driver's cost already included bribe money needed to get us through each checkpoint. This makes me angry as I experienced for the first time the injustices and abuse of power perpetuated by a corrupt government against its own people. I have never felt so passionately about this before till now. More on this issue in a later post.
We also stopped off at Bibi Fatima's Hot Springs. It was a queer operation where men and women enter separate bathhouses. In the bathhouses, you strip down and enter the hot springs through a cave hole. This hole leads you to the hot springs under calcite formations. I was not able to bathe as it was that time of the month for me but was persuaded by a local girl who was an English student in Dushanbe to just have a look which probably made the other women in the springs a tad uncomfortable, being in the nude with a fully clothed foreigner peering in on them! Kenneth came back from his bath blown away by the cultural experience. He commented that descending the steps of the cave hole in his birthday suit while a dozen generously endowed and circumcised Tajik men watched was one of the most intimidating experiences he has ever had!
I ended up purchasing a Pamiri style necklace made by a girl working at the hot springs. Being poor at Maths and having not acclimatised in currency conversion since my dealings with the Kazakh tenge and Kyrgz som, I paid 20 Tajik somani for the necklace thinking I got a good bargain for a necklace under AUD$1.00 only to later realise I'd actually paid AUD$7.00 for it. Still, I like the necklace and I liked the girl who made and was selling it so hopefully a little encouragement of her talent will go a long way though the concept of paying 'foreigner's price' for an item does annoy me at times. It must be my Australian egalitarian upbringing which stirs this emotion.
To give you an idea of the price discrepancies between foreigners and locals, the foreigner's fee for the hot springs was 10 somani (AUD$3.30) while locals pay a mere 2 somani (AUD$0.60).
After 6 hours on the road, we arrived at Langar village which is the most picturesque village I have ever come across, scattered across the descending slope of a fertile valley rich in wheat, rice and vegetable crops. The village faces the mountains of Afghanistan and gentle streams run through the village providing natural irrigation for the crops. We took a 1.5 hour walk around the area before dinner, led by 2 cute little village girls we chanced upon. They were keen to show us where we could enjoy the best views of their village. Like gazelles, the skipped over streams and brooks and ran up hills effortlessly while we plodded along behind them. We homestayed with a family in Langar for US$15 each, including dinner on the first night and breakfast the next morning. The homestay was a typical Pamiri house where an empty carpeted room (with various carpets also strewn across the room as wall hangings) is converted into a bedroom by laying out thin mattresses on the floor. It was comfortable aside from the fact that the pit toilet was a 2 minute walk away and there was nowhere to bathe. I suspect the villagers just bathe in the river.
Crossing Over from Kyrgzstan to Tajikistan
[Written on 23 July 2009]
kenneth and i survived the 12 hour army jeep ride from osh to mugrab yesterday. it was rough and bumpy pretty much all the way along the pamir highway but the changing landscapes were spectacular. when leaving kyrgzstan, we were treated to fields of wildflowers and gushing streams as we rode across the fergana valley. there were plenty of alpine lakes, salt beds and ginger coloured marmots scurrying across gravel rocks (they looked like garfield the fat cat!).
we saw some dodgy things take place between our driver, the kyrgz border guards and the tajik border guards but we will elaborate further once we are out of central asia! the lonely planet describes the pamir highway as 'the opium highway' to give you a clue.
tajikistan's landscape is surreal... like a different planet! parts of it looks very similar to taliban territory which we have seen on the news! one of the most majestic views was one of karakol lake glistening in a baby green hue set against semi-dessert mountains with the snow capped pamir mountains amd the hindu kush ranges all the way across pakistan in the backdrop. we will upload photos as soon as we find a place with unlimited internet!
we are now in a town called mugrab which is embedded in the pamir mountains and it looks like what we imagine bethlehem town to look like! we are both suffering from mild altitude sickness (headaches, shortness of breath, constant weeing, loss of appetite) due to being over 3600 m above sea level. the highest pass we went through to get here was over 4000 m above sea level. we are staying at Surab's Guesthouse which functions more like a homestay. there are 5 spanish cyclists also staying at Surab's - all P.E. teachers. no surprise as you'd have to be super fit to conquer the harsh pamir region by bike! Surab has a wife, 4 lovely Tajik daughters and a little son of about 7 years. Tajiks have lovely olive skin (some with green eyes!) and look like a cross between Afghans, north Indians and Persians/Iranians. the homestay has been ... interesting. we are sleeping in a room with a raised stage with two mattresses laid out on the floor for us. in another section of the room is a small table upon which we are served our meals whilst we sit on the floor on a rectangular mattress. we understand that this is a typical pamiri home. the pit toilet isn't too bad (better than in mongolia) but the bath area which is without any lighting and looks like a torture chamber takes a bit of getting used to.
the mugrab bazaar is pretty strange. the vendors all sell their goods from steel shipment containers - traces of the soviet era. i am guessing this is due to the dust which is prevalent up here and also the cold. i did manage to get some fantastic shots at the bazaar. mugrab consist of about 40% kyrgz people and 60% tajiks.
we are now trying to organise transport to get to khorog via the beautiful wakhan valley tomorrow. another 10+ hour drive awaits us but the scenery between the hindu kush and pamir mountains promises to be well worth it according to the european tourists with whom we are crossing paths.
kenneth and i survived the 12 hour army jeep ride from osh to mugrab yesterday. it was rough and bumpy pretty much all the way along the pamir highway but the changing landscapes were spectacular. when leaving kyrgzstan, we were treated to fields of wildflowers and gushing streams as we rode across the fergana valley. there were plenty of alpine lakes, salt beds and ginger coloured marmots scurrying across gravel rocks (they looked like garfield the fat cat!).
we saw some dodgy things take place between our driver, the kyrgz border guards and the tajik border guards but we will elaborate further once we are out of central asia! the lonely planet describes the pamir highway as 'the opium highway' to give you a clue.
tajikistan's landscape is surreal... like a different planet! parts of it looks very similar to taliban territory which we have seen on the news! one of the most majestic views was one of karakol lake glistening in a baby green hue set against semi-dessert mountains with the snow capped pamir mountains amd the hindu kush ranges all the way across pakistan in the backdrop. we will upload photos as soon as we find a place with unlimited internet!
we are now in a town called mugrab which is embedded in the pamir mountains and it looks like what we imagine bethlehem town to look like! we are both suffering from mild altitude sickness (headaches, shortness of breath, constant weeing, loss of appetite) due to being over 3600 m above sea level. the highest pass we went through to get here was over 4000 m above sea level. we are staying at Surab's Guesthouse which functions more like a homestay. there are 5 spanish cyclists also staying at Surab's - all P.E. teachers. no surprise as you'd have to be super fit to conquer the harsh pamir region by bike! Surab has a wife, 4 lovely Tajik daughters and a little son of about 7 years. Tajiks have lovely olive skin (some with green eyes!) and look like a cross between Afghans, north Indians and Persians/Iranians. the homestay has been ... interesting. we are sleeping in a room with a raised stage with two mattresses laid out on the floor for us. in another section of the room is a small table upon which we are served our meals whilst we sit on the floor on a rectangular mattress. we understand that this is a typical pamiri home. the pit toilet isn't too bad (better than in mongolia) but the bath area which is without any lighting and looks like a torture chamber takes a bit of getting used to.
the mugrab bazaar is pretty strange. the vendors all sell their goods from steel shipment containers - traces of the soviet era. i am guessing this is due to the dust which is prevalent up here and also the cold. i did manage to get some fantastic shots at the bazaar. mugrab consist of about 40% kyrgz people and 60% tajiks.
we are now trying to organise transport to get to khorog via the beautiful wakhan valley tomorrow. another 10+ hour drive awaits us but the scenery between the hindu kush and pamir mountains promises to be well worth it according to the european tourists with whom we are crossing paths.
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