Since I just have a couple minutes, I thought I would write about what was like staying in homestays in Tajikistan. Many of the places I went, especially in the Wakhan have nothing approaching a hotel, so staying in people's houses is the only option.
In the Wakhan, things typically went like this:
- arrive round 5pm, tired and dusty. Unexpected arrival promptly throws house into chaos. Various members dispatched to buy extra food for dinner, make tea, tidy room etc.
- invited to sit for tea, usually outside on a tapchan which is a large flat platform covered in flat cushions. Green tea is served, inevitably accompanied by bread, biscuits, and suspicious-looking boiled sweets that look about ten years old. If we are lucky, then it also comes with fresh apricots from the garden.
- make awkward conversation with the patriarch of the house for three hours using limited combined english-russion vocabulary.
- dinner comes around 8pm, ususally potatoes with onions but also pasta one night (great excitement).
- immediately after dinner is time for bed (around 9pm). This invovles the ladies in the house dismantaling the giant pile of bedding which can be used to sleep a seemingly unlimited number of guests at short notice. The blankets and mattresses in the pile appear to be interchangeable, resulting in either very thin mattresses or very thick blankets, depending on your point of view.
- brushing teeth a problem due to lack of running water and sinks, resulting in need to spit surreptitiously into vegetable garden.
- breakfast around 8am is usually, perhaps surprisingly, rice pudding.
In the yurstays in the Pamirs, things went pretty much the same way, except that tea came with yak dairy products instead of mini-sweets and was served inside the yurt on account of it being dusty and windy and cold outside. Total cost for dinner, bed, and breakfast around $10-12.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
High Pamir Adventure
So - a bit more catching up on past antics. In Murghab I spent one day (more than enough time to explore the ins and outs of that not so bustling metropolis) and arranged for four days trekking in the nearby Pamirs, which mostly involved hiring a guide and a car and driver for drop off and pick up.
The first day's hiking was over a pass in the Pshart range west of Murghab. The pass was not particularly tall or steep, and looked like it would be no problem - but that was without accounting for altitude. At around 4500m, climbing every little hill made me feel like I was competing in an Olympic event and I think I went about twice as slow as I otherwise would. Luckily we were hiking from yurt to yurt so I didn't need to carry tent or sleeping bag. The western part of the Pshart range is quite remote and still contains the odd bear, and my guide claimed to have seen snow leopard in the valley we were in in winter.
We stopped for tea (and yak cream, yak butter, and yak youghurt) on the way down from the pass at a yurt, which felt very cosy after the brisk, chilly wind outside. Each yurt has basically the same layout - round, with the right had side from the entrance the sitting and reception area, and the left hand side the 'kitchen' where all the food is kept. In the center is a stove burninng dry yak dung with a chimney poking out the hole in the top and at the back is the enourmous pile of blankets and mattresses that get taken out at night and put away in the morning. The walls are a kind of wooden trellis structure covered with felt which is very effective at keeping out the wind. After tea we got picked up and driven down the Maidian valley to spend the night at Eli Suu, a hot spring where I had a good relaxing soak.
Day two was spent hiking up the Eli Suu valley, past two jailoos (summer pastures and yurt encampments) to the upper jailoo. The Kyrgyz move from the sheltered winter pastures (such as the Maidian valley) to higher summer pastures around May and return around September. Each family has its traditional jailoo and will move to the same place every year, with each encampment having around 2-3 yurts of related families. The yurt I stayed in that night belonged to Yusuf Ali, who teaches Islam and Arabic in a village school during the year and who was really welcoming and one of the nicest people I met in all Tajikistan. He also had a profound effect on my guide, who didn't seem particularly religious before but started praying about 3 times a day after meeting him. Here I watched the yaks being milked and had 'Kyrgyz National Dish' for dinner - which was basically pastry flavoured with a couple onions that took 4 hours to prepare, yet another reason why Central Asian resturants are a little thin on the ground outside the region. In the morning the whole camp posed for pictures which I have promised to send.
Day three was over the big pass (around 4600m) which was longer but not as steep as the Pshart pass. It was also more exciting as we hiked past a glacier (actually hiking up and down a bunch of rock glaciers for the geologists) and the way down was thrillingly steep. Different Kygyz National Dish for dinner, but basically the same deal without the onions. Day four was over another lower pass, and then involved incing along scree slope on the mountainside to come round and over another pass into the large Bazar-Dara valley. This shouldn't have been difficult becuse I was getting used to the altitude, but I wasn't feeling well in the morning and did most of it on an empty stomach which made it probably the toughest day. It felt pretty good to get to the yurt at the end of the day. I asked the owners of the yurt how many tourists they got in a summer, and they replied, lots - about 3 or 4 in a year! Not quite Bali here then. Morning pick up by Tatik in the jeep and 2 hour drive back to Murghab.
The first day's hiking was over a pass in the Pshart range west of Murghab. The pass was not particularly tall or steep, and looked like it would be no problem - but that was without accounting for altitude. At around 4500m, climbing every little hill made me feel like I was competing in an Olympic event and I think I went about twice as slow as I otherwise would. Luckily we were hiking from yurt to yurt so I didn't need to carry tent or sleeping bag. The western part of the Pshart range is quite remote and still contains the odd bear, and my guide claimed to have seen snow leopard in the valley we were in in winter.
We stopped for tea (and yak cream, yak butter, and yak youghurt) on the way down from the pass at a yurt, which felt very cosy after the brisk, chilly wind outside. Each yurt has basically the same layout - round, with the right had side from the entrance the sitting and reception area, and the left hand side the 'kitchen' where all the food is kept. In the center is a stove burninng dry yak dung with a chimney poking out the hole in the top and at the back is the enourmous pile of blankets and mattresses that get taken out at night and put away in the morning. The walls are a kind of wooden trellis structure covered with felt which is very effective at keeping out the wind. After tea we got picked up and driven down the Maidian valley to spend the night at Eli Suu, a hot spring where I had a good relaxing soak.
Day two was spent hiking up the Eli Suu valley, past two jailoos (summer pastures and yurt encampments) to the upper jailoo. The Kyrgyz move from the sheltered winter pastures (such as the Maidian valley) to higher summer pastures around May and return around September. Each family has its traditional jailoo and will move to the same place every year, with each encampment having around 2-3 yurts of related families. The yurt I stayed in that night belonged to Yusuf Ali, who teaches Islam and Arabic in a village school during the year and who was really welcoming and one of the nicest people I met in all Tajikistan. He also had a profound effect on my guide, who didn't seem particularly religious before but started praying about 3 times a day after meeting him. Here I watched the yaks being milked and had 'Kyrgyz National Dish' for dinner - which was basically pastry flavoured with a couple onions that took 4 hours to prepare, yet another reason why Central Asian resturants are a little thin on the ground outside the region. In the morning the whole camp posed for pictures which I have promised to send.
Day three was over the big pass (around 4600m) which was longer but not as steep as the Pshart pass. It was also more exciting as we hiked past a glacier (actually hiking up and down a bunch of rock glaciers for the geologists) and the way down was thrillingly steep. Different Kygyz National Dish for dinner, but basically the same deal without the onions. Day four was over another lower pass, and then involved incing along scree slope on the mountainside to come round and over another pass into the large Bazar-Dara valley. This shouldn't have been difficult becuse I was getting used to the altitude, but I wasn't feeling well in the morning and did most of it on an empty stomach which made it probably the toughest day. It felt pretty good to get to the yurt at the end of the day. I asked the owners of the yurt how many tourists they got in a summer, and they replied, lots - about 3 or 4 in a year! Not quite Bali here then. Morning pick up by Tatik in the jeep and 2 hour drive back to Murghab.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Wakhan Fran
Errr, so having not posted anything in an embarrassingly long space of time, its a little difficult to know where to start. I have decided to proceed in segments - so please imagine this was posted about two weeks ago, about the time I got to Murghab in the Pamirs and found internet there was basically non-existent.
Two other travellers and I hired a car to drive the Wakhan valley from Khorog to Murghab. The car is a Russian UAZ jeep - photogenic, but not particularly comfortable, and made before I was born in 1979. We chose it for the driver though - Tatik speaks really good english, drove UAZ jeeps for the Russian army for 15 years, and has been driving tourists around the pamirs for the last 3 years so knows all the good spots. The Wakhan is the southernmost valley in the Pamirs, off the main route to Murghab which goes through the Shugnan valley, and follows the border with Afghanistan for most of its length.
The first day we left Khorog, and the big highlight was stopping at the weekly Afghan bazaar in Ishkashim. This bazaar happens on Saturday in a special compound in an island in the river that separates Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Its in no-mans land and you have to show your passport at the Tajik border post to go. The most amazing thing about the bazaar (apart from the rather exciting proximity of Afghanistan) is the stuff on sale. Despite coming from a country that produces essentially nothing but opium, the Afghan traders are there selling all kinds of things. One man had nothing but second-hand cassette players, another guy a heap of odd shoes. A lot things look like they came from the UAE, probably via Pakistan. It really gave a sense of the silk road trading routes still being used - and for many people in the Wakhan villages, this bazaar is their equivalent of a shopping mall, few ever make it to Khorog and think of Ishkashim as the big city.
We spent the night in Darshai village at a homestay in the valley and was shown around by the son of the owner of the house. Everything is grown using irrigation from the river as the place gets almost no rain. One of the best things was seeing a functioning mill powered using a small paddle wheel.
The next day was spent going through the main part of the Wakhan, including seeing the fort at Yamchun. This is a massive 12th century fort thats pretty ruinied but still sprawls atmospherically over the top of a mountain. Its hard to imagine this place, which is now so out of the way of everything, was once important enought for someone to build such a huge fort. From the walls, there are great views up and down the Wakhan. The valley is fairly wide, and across the river you can see the villages and mountains in Afghanistanh, and beyond them the snow-capped peaks of the Hindu Kush that forms the border with Pakistan. The fact that there is a bit of Afghanistan here at all is mainly as a remnant of the Great Game time, when the Russians in the Pamirs and the British in Pakistan used it as a neutral buffer between their two territories.
By the fort is the Bibi Fatima hot springs where mineral water pours out of travertine deposits in the cliff face at about 45 degrees C. We went for a very nice swim. Afternoon was spent in Vrang, where there is a supposedly 3rd C Buddhist stupa - which gives some idea of the layers of history in this place. We spent the night at a homestay in Langar, the last village in the Wakhan and the next day climbed up the pass out of the valley and onto the Pamir plateau. The road to the pass, being off the main Khorog-Murghab road was extremely remote. In 2.5 hours of driving we saw only one other car (with tourists) and a couple of cyclists (also tourists). A highlight was seeing Bactrian camels grazing on the Afghan side. Camels seemed quite a weird sight given the absence of the traditional desert and surrounding snow-capped peaks. Tatik our driver said that he has seen caravans of 50-70 camels and horses on the dirt track along the Afghan side.
The scenery over the pass was completely different - a plateau at around 4000m rather than steep valleys. It is cold and flat and windy and not a natural place to live; all the towns here were founded relatively recently by the Russians and form a stark contrast with the villages in Wakhan that look like they have been there forever. We stayed in a homestay in Bulunkul, that could otherwise be known as the Tajik End of the World - a desperate cluster of about 10 houses on a dusty wind-swept plane where people try to make a living by fishing the nearby lake.
On day four we made it to the main Khorog - Murghab road along the Alichur plain, a wide, flat plain with a meager covering of grass on which Kyrgyz hearders graze their animals in summer. Here we saw the first of many yurts, and also the first yak (major excitement!). Stopping for lunch we had yak cream, yak butter and yak yoghurt, all fresh and delicious. We also saw many Chinese trucks coming from the Qolma Pass and heading toward Khorog, where goods are loaded into the Russian Kamaz trucks for transport to Dushanbe and onwards (the roads being too bad for the Chinese trucks to make the journey). We also stopped that afternoon at the Shakhty cave neolithic cave paintings, about 25km off the road down a stunning valley. The paintings apparently show a bear hunt - they weren't a whole lot to look at, but the feeling of looking out for miles at nothing but rock was pretty amazing.
We arrived at Murghab expecting something of a metropolis after 4 days of no showers or resturants only to be sadly disappointed. Its a big town, but like all towns here feels totally unnatural. Everything except yak milk has to be imported over miles and miles of mountainous roads from China or Kyrgyzstan, and the bazaar is a sad, empty, dusty place where its impossible to find a coca-cola (yes, it must be remote when coca-cola is unheard of) or fresh fruit. Any non-carb food here is a bit of a luxury in fact - at our homestay the first night we had spagetting topped with potatoes, mmmm... carbs.
All in all, the Wakhan was a total highlight of the trip so far. More updates to follow soon.
Two other travellers and I hired a car to drive the Wakhan valley from Khorog to Murghab. The car is a Russian UAZ jeep - photogenic, but not particularly comfortable, and made before I was born in 1979. We chose it for the driver though - Tatik speaks really good english, drove UAZ jeeps for the Russian army for 15 years, and has been driving tourists around the pamirs for the last 3 years so knows all the good spots. The Wakhan is the southernmost valley in the Pamirs, off the main route to Murghab which goes through the Shugnan valley, and follows the border with Afghanistan for most of its length.
The first day we left Khorog, and the big highlight was stopping at the weekly Afghan bazaar in Ishkashim. This bazaar happens on Saturday in a special compound in an island in the river that separates Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Its in no-mans land and you have to show your passport at the Tajik border post to go. The most amazing thing about the bazaar (apart from the rather exciting proximity of Afghanistan) is the stuff on sale. Despite coming from a country that produces essentially nothing but opium, the Afghan traders are there selling all kinds of things. One man had nothing but second-hand cassette players, another guy a heap of odd shoes. A lot things look like they came from the UAE, probably via Pakistan. It really gave a sense of the silk road trading routes still being used - and for many people in the Wakhan villages, this bazaar is their equivalent of a shopping mall, few ever make it to Khorog and think of Ishkashim as the big city.
We spent the night in Darshai village at a homestay in the valley and was shown around by the son of the owner of the house. Everything is grown using irrigation from the river as the place gets almost no rain. One of the best things was seeing a functioning mill powered using a small paddle wheel.
The next day was spent going through the main part of the Wakhan, including seeing the fort at Yamchun. This is a massive 12th century fort thats pretty ruinied but still sprawls atmospherically over the top of a mountain. Its hard to imagine this place, which is now so out of the way of everything, was once important enought for someone to build such a huge fort. From the walls, there are great views up and down the Wakhan. The valley is fairly wide, and across the river you can see the villages and mountains in Afghanistanh, and beyond them the snow-capped peaks of the Hindu Kush that forms the border with Pakistan. The fact that there is a bit of Afghanistan here at all is mainly as a remnant of the Great Game time, when the Russians in the Pamirs and the British in Pakistan used it as a neutral buffer between their two territories.
By the fort is the Bibi Fatima hot springs where mineral water pours out of travertine deposits in the cliff face at about 45 degrees C. We went for a very nice swim. Afternoon was spent in Vrang, where there is a supposedly 3rd C Buddhist stupa - which gives some idea of the layers of history in this place. We spent the night at a homestay in Langar, the last village in the Wakhan and the next day climbed up the pass out of the valley and onto the Pamir plateau. The road to the pass, being off the main Khorog-Murghab road was extremely remote. In 2.5 hours of driving we saw only one other car (with tourists) and a couple of cyclists (also tourists). A highlight was seeing Bactrian camels grazing on the Afghan side. Camels seemed quite a weird sight given the absence of the traditional desert and surrounding snow-capped peaks. Tatik our driver said that he has seen caravans of 50-70 camels and horses on the dirt track along the Afghan side.
The scenery over the pass was completely different - a plateau at around 4000m rather than steep valleys. It is cold and flat and windy and not a natural place to live; all the towns here were founded relatively recently by the Russians and form a stark contrast with the villages in Wakhan that look like they have been there forever. We stayed in a homestay in Bulunkul, that could otherwise be known as the Tajik End of the World - a desperate cluster of about 10 houses on a dusty wind-swept plane where people try to make a living by fishing the nearby lake.
On day four we made it to the main Khorog - Murghab road along the Alichur plain, a wide, flat plain with a meager covering of grass on which Kyrgyz hearders graze their animals in summer. Here we saw the first of many yurts, and also the first yak (major excitement!). Stopping for lunch we had yak cream, yak butter and yak yoghurt, all fresh and delicious. We also saw many Chinese trucks coming from the Qolma Pass and heading toward Khorog, where goods are loaded into the Russian Kamaz trucks for transport to Dushanbe and onwards (the roads being too bad for the Chinese trucks to make the journey). We also stopped that afternoon at the Shakhty cave neolithic cave paintings, about 25km off the road down a stunning valley. The paintings apparently show a bear hunt - they weren't a whole lot to look at, but the feeling of looking out for miles at nothing but rock was pretty amazing.
We arrived at Murghab expecting something of a metropolis after 4 days of no showers or resturants only to be sadly disappointed. Its a big town, but like all towns here feels totally unnatural. Everything except yak milk has to be imported over miles and miles of mountainous roads from China or Kyrgyzstan, and the bazaar is a sad, empty, dusty place where its impossible to find a coca-cola (yes, it must be remote when coca-cola is unheard of) or fresh fruit. Any non-carb food here is a bit of a luxury in fact - at our homestay the first night we had spagetting topped with potatoes, mmmm... carbs.
All in all, the Wakhan was a total highlight of the trip so far. More updates to follow soon.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Fun in Gisev
Got back yesterday from a 3 day trek in the Gisev Valley in the North-West Pamirs with two other folks staying at the same place as me in Khorog. The valley is very narrow and has no road through it, so to get to the village involved a 2.5 hour drive from Khorog, then a 3 hour trek up the valley. There are about 90 people living in this isolated village, which is loosely strung out over about 1.5 km of the valley. Everything that comes in or out goes on foot or by donkey, and there is no telephone, piped water or mains electricity. Cooking is done with wood in a traditional clay oven.
One of the local development agencies has been helping the villagers develop homestays to encourage visitors and to bring a bit of money into the valley, so we stayed with an old lady and her granddaughters at the upper end of the village. The village now has 7 homestays, which might be a bit much given that only 30 tourists visited last year - but everybody was really keen on the whole project and were enthusiastic about giving us tea and practicing english using a russian-tajik-english phrasebook they got from the agency. The place we stayed was a traditional Pamiri design of house, which is square but with 5 columns and a raised platform around 3 sides of the room which doubles as a seating and sleeping area. The only thing that placed it in the 21st century was a small solar cell that powered a single lightbulb int he guesthouse which our host turned on with great ceremony once it got dark.
The next day we hiked further up the valley, past more beautiful lakes and along the river. We were looking for the summer pastures of the shepherds and two very big lakes at the head of the valley, but didn't have time to get there (so will just have to come back in the future). The valley is really stunning, with wild flowers all over the place and snow covered peaks in the distance - I think I took maybe 150 photos. We camped in a great spot by the river and had a campfire and watched the stars coming out before heading back down the next day, stopping for lunch at the homestay. Fortunately our car was waiting for us, becuase the road at the head of the valley doesn't get much traffic at all, so it would have been a while waiting for a lift!
Tomorrow we have arranged transport to Murghab through the Wakhan valley, which will take around 4 days of easy driving - stopping at hot springs and historic sights and lakes and so on along the way. Our driver is a very nice guy who speaks great english, but his car is an old Russian jeep - photogenic, but not particularly comfortable! Nevertheless, this portion of the trip promises to be a real highlight.
One of the local development agencies has been helping the villagers develop homestays to encourage visitors and to bring a bit of money into the valley, so we stayed with an old lady and her granddaughters at the upper end of the village. The village now has 7 homestays, which might be a bit much given that only 30 tourists visited last year - but everybody was really keen on the whole project and were enthusiastic about giving us tea and practicing english using a russian-tajik-english phrasebook they got from the agency. The place we stayed was a traditional Pamiri design of house, which is square but with 5 columns and a raised platform around 3 sides of the room which doubles as a seating and sleeping area. The only thing that placed it in the 21st century was a small solar cell that powered a single lightbulb int he guesthouse which our host turned on with great ceremony once it got dark.
The next day we hiked further up the valley, past more beautiful lakes and along the river. We were looking for the summer pastures of the shepherds and two very big lakes at the head of the valley, but didn't have time to get there (so will just have to come back in the future). The valley is really stunning, with wild flowers all over the place and snow covered peaks in the distance - I think I took maybe 150 photos. We camped in a great spot by the river and had a campfire and watched the stars coming out before heading back down the next day, stopping for lunch at the homestay. Fortunately our car was waiting for us, becuase the road at the head of the valley doesn't get much traffic at all, so it would have been a while waiting for a lift!
Tomorrow we have arranged transport to Murghab through the Wakhan valley, which will take around 4 days of easy driving - stopping at hot springs and historic sights and lakes and so on along the way. Our driver is a very nice guy who speaks great english, but his car is an old Russian jeep - photogenic, but not particularly comfortable! Nevertheless, this portion of the trip promises to be a real highlight.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Pamirs At Last
Have finally made it to the Pamirs after 2 days on the road from Dushanbe and am now in Khorog, provincial capital of the semi-autonomous Pamiri region. I was travelling with 3 other tourists and we left round 9 am Friday morning, squashed into a Toyota land-cruiser designed to seat 8 at a push but loaded with 9 people plus luggage. The road out of Dushanbe we very good - paved with no potholes and hardly any cars, but our driver refused to drive any faster than 40km per hour as apparently the police use the excuse of a good road to charge people for speeding. Fortuanately, the road quickly deteriorated into a winding dirt track where worry about speeding was the least of our problems.
We specified to the driver before leaving that we wanted to spend the night half way along in Kalaikhum, as apparently the normal practice is to drive non-stop for about 20 hours, maybe pulling over for a 3 hour nap in the car on the way. We ended up spending the night in a nice homestay with a veranda over looking the river, but I fear the rest of the passengers ended up sleeping in the car.
Starting at 6am the next morning, the road followed the river Pyanj, which eventually becomes the Amu Darya or Oxus, through quite steep winding canyons. The river forms the border with Afghanistan, so on the far bank we could see Afghan people and villages and a road even worse than the one on the Tajik side. I've now met 2 people who have come through northern Afghanistan and the report is that it seems pretty safe but is very difficult to travel around.
We got to Khorog around noon on Saturday and are now installed at a very nice homestay just outside town. The Pamiri region is very different from the rest of Tajikistan - the people here are Ishmailis, a breakaway Shi'a sect. Every house here has a framed picture of the Aga Khan, the leader of the Ishmailis who lives in Switzerland, and the area has benefitted hugely from investment by the wealthy Aga Khan foundation. This is particularly apparent in the really excellent English that many people around here speak, far better than was common in Dushanbe. The natuve language is Pamiri, and each of the five Pamir valleys has developed related, but mutually incomprehensible forms of the language.
I am hoping to head off for a beautiful valley in the north tomorrow for a few days trekking so will post again once I return.
We specified to the driver before leaving that we wanted to spend the night half way along in Kalaikhum, as apparently the normal practice is to drive non-stop for about 20 hours, maybe pulling over for a 3 hour nap in the car on the way. We ended up spending the night in a nice homestay with a veranda over looking the river, but I fear the rest of the passengers ended up sleeping in the car.
Starting at 6am the next morning, the road followed the river Pyanj, which eventually becomes the Amu Darya or Oxus, through quite steep winding canyons. The river forms the border with Afghanistan, so on the far bank we could see Afghan people and villages and a road even worse than the one on the Tajik side. I've now met 2 people who have come through northern Afghanistan and the report is that it seems pretty safe but is very difficult to travel around.
We got to Khorog around noon on Saturday and are now installed at a very nice homestay just outside town. The Pamiri region is very different from the rest of Tajikistan - the people here are Ishmailis, a breakaway Shi'a sect. Every house here has a framed picture of the Aga Khan, the leader of the Ishmailis who lives in Switzerland, and the area has benefitted hugely from investment by the wealthy Aga Khan foundation. This is particularly apparent in the really excellent English that many people around here speak, far better than was common in Dushanbe. The natuve language is Pamiri, and each of the five Pamir valleys has developed related, but mutually incomprehensible forms of the language.
I am hoping to head off for a beautiful valley in the north tomorrow for a few days trekking so will post again once I return.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The Epic Journey from Penjikent to Dushanbe
So, after finishing the hike and making it back to the large town of Penjikent to pick up passports (which had been at the local OVIR office for registration- something everybody has to do within 3 days of entering the country) we joined up with some other tourists and nine of us set off for Dushanbe in an ex-Soviet 4 wheel drive minivan. The road to Dushanbe is about 240km of pot-holed, bumpy, unpaved track, on which the maximum speed for our rather ancient vehicle was around 40km per hour. We were therefore hoping to do the trip in around 6-8 hours, but unfortunately for us, the Chinese are out in force in this part of Central Asia and are in the process of 'upgrading' the road. This basically means that random parts of the road are closed and various intervals, without notice, for an unspecified length of time, while a guy in a digger pushes some dirt around in the optimistic hope that this will improve what passes for a main road here.
After 4 hours of driving we ran into one of these roadworks, where a long line of vehicles waiting to pass indicated that the road had been closed for some time. People were all out of their cars milling around and not looking particularly hopeful. There was nothing to do but wait, so 2 hours later we set off again, only to run into another set of roadworks 15 minutes later. Another hour later we are on the move again, though by this point it is getting dark and now there we have little hope of reaching Dushanbe before 10pm (having left at 11am).
Despite being one of the worst roads in existence, the scenery along the route is cetainly fantastic. It winds along through a valley with sheer mountains on either side and a large river flowing through, about 100 feet below. It is pretty arid here, so the only greenery is near towns and villages where trees and crops are cultivated using river water. The rest is pretty bare rock, so great from a geological standpoint.
At the highest point, which we reached about 9:30pm, the road goes straight through the mountain in what must be one of the longest tunnels in existence. It took us a full 25 minutes to drive through, with everybody craning to see the end of the tunnel which kept not arriving. It didn't help that the many potholes in the tunnel were flooded, some up to a foot deep in water, which gave the drive through a rather erie quality of a theme park ride. We eventually made it to Dushanbe, exhasted and covered in a thick layer of dust, at 11pm.
Dushanbe is hugely different from the Tajikistan I have seen so far. It is a thoroughly modern city with trolleybusses and wide, tree-lined streets. The architecture is fairly reminiscent of St Petersburg with some magnificent older buildings in the center of the city. There are also a fair number of travellers here, mostly waiting to go to Khorog in the Pamirs. Everybody wants to take the plane but it only seats 16 people and is frequently cancelled becuase it can't leave when there is any cloud as it essentially flies through the Pamir mountains. Some travellers have been here 4 days, going to the airport twice a day and have still not gotten a ticket. I am planning on leaving tomorrow by car instead (2 days, 21 hour trip) as it seems like waiting for the plane is basically a lost cause.
After 4 hours of driving we ran into one of these roadworks, where a long line of vehicles waiting to pass indicated that the road had been closed for some time. People were all out of their cars milling around and not looking particularly hopeful. There was nothing to do but wait, so 2 hours later we set off again, only to run into another set of roadworks 15 minutes later. Another hour later we are on the move again, though by this point it is getting dark and now there we have little hope of reaching Dushanbe before 10pm (having left at 11am).
Despite being one of the worst roads in existence, the scenery along the route is cetainly fantastic. It winds along through a valley with sheer mountains on either side and a large river flowing through, about 100 feet below. It is pretty arid here, so the only greenery is near towns and villages where trees and crops are cultivated using river water. The rest is pretty bare rock, so great from a geological standpoint.
At the highest point, which we reached about 9:30pm, the road goes straight through the mountain in what must be one of the longest tunnels in existence. It took us a full 25 minutes to drive through, with everybody craning to see the end of the tunnel which kept not arriving. It didn't help that the many potholes in the tunnel were flooded, some up to a foot deep in water, which gave the drive through a rather erie quality of a theme park ride. We eventually made it to Dushanbe, exhasted and covered in a thick layer of dust, at 11pm.
Dushanbe is hugely different from the Tajikistan I have seen so far. It is a thoroughly modern city with trolleybusses and wide, tree-lined streets. The architecture is fairly reminiscent of St Petersburg with some magnificent older buildings in the center of the city. There are also a fair number of travellers here, mostly waiting to go to Khorog in the Pamirs. Everybody wants to take the plane but it only seats 16 people and is frequently cancelled becuase it can't leave when there is any cloud as it essentially flies through the Pamir mountains. Some travellers have been here 4 days, going to the airport twice a day and have still not gotten a ticket. I am planning on leaving tomorrow by car instead (2 days, 21 hour trip) as it seems like waiting for the plane is basically a lost cause.
FANN-tastic!
Have just arrived in Dushanbe (capital of Tajikistan) after a great 4-day trek in the Fann Mountains, which are in NW Tajikistan, just over the border from Uzbekistan. The first part of the adventure was getting out of Uzbekistan as the guards at the Samarkand - Penjikent border are well-known for harassing foreigners. The French people I was with had a small problem with their currency declaration form and got pounced on by the guards so I got to see the renowned Central Asian bribery-driven bureauracracy at work (fortunately from a distance). In the end, they got away with only loosing 50 Euros, though the corrupt guard even had the gall to ask for it in small denomination notes so he could split it with his mates.
We left that afternoon for the Fann mountains, accompanied by two donkeys and their driver, and a guide called Hazarat who is a physics teacher in the local village during the year and makes extra money guiding tourists during the summer. The first day we camped in a place called Koulikallon next to a lake before climbing the next day over the Alauddin pass (3800 m) and then dropping down the other side to camp at Alauddin Lake. This is a fantastically blue lake surrounded all around my steep mountains, some of them topped with snow. I'm not going to try describing the scenery too much becuase I won't be able to do it justice - just believe that it is stunning and wait for my pictures (I've taken about 300 so far).
The third day we hiked up basically as far as you can go before getting into some serious rock climbing, to another lake called Mutniye. This lake is formed by glacial meltwater and so is rather grey and not nearly so invinting as Alauddin. The final day we walked over Loudon pass (3600 m) and back down to the village of Artush. There we stayed at Hazarat's house which had a beautiful wooden porch where we sat and ate plov (oily rice with meat - something of a specialty here) and apricots from the tree in the courtyard.
This was probably some of the most difficult hiking I've done - not only are the mountains really steep, but I think that the altitude is much higher than I've been walking at before. Plus I got pretty sick one night so did the hike to Mutniye and back on an empty stomach, which was tough. Despite that, the views from the passes were super rewarding and I thouroughly enjoyed myself. Also, because the French couple I was with spoke basically no english, my long-neglected Frech skills got a good airing. I think I spoke more French this week than in the rest of my life put together - not exactly what I would have expected from a visit to Tajikistan!
We left that afternoon for the Fann mountains, accompanied by two donkeys and their driver, and a guide called Hazarat who is a physics teacher in the local village during the year and makes extra money guiding tourists during the summer. The first day we camped in a place called Koulikallon next to a lake before climbing the next day over the Alauddin pass (3800 m) and then dropping down the other side to camp at Alauddin Lake. This is a fantastically blue lake surrounded all around my steep mountains, some of them topped with snow. I'm not going to try describing the scenery too much becuase I won't be able to do it justice - just believe that it is stunning and wait for my pictures (I've taken about 300 so far).
The third day we hiked up basically as far as you can go before getting into some serious rock climbing, to another lake called Mutniye. This lake is formed by glacial meltwater and so is rather grey and not nearly so invinting as Alauddin. The final day we walked over Loudon pass (3600 m) and back down to the village of Artush. There we stayed at Hazarat's house which had a beautiful wooden porch where we sat and ate plov (oily rice with meat - something of a specialty here) and apricots from the tree in the courtyard.
This was probably some of the most difficult hiking I've done - not only are the mountains really steep, but I think that the altitude is much higher than I've been walking at before. Plus I got pretty sick one night so did the hike to Mutniye and back on an empty stomach, which was tough. Despite that, the views from the passes were super rewarding and I thouroughly enjoyed myself. Also, because the French couple I was with spoke basically no english, my long-neglected Frech skills got a good airing. I think I spoke more French this week than in the rest of my life put together - not exactly what I would have expected from a visit to Tajikistan!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
The Golden Road
So I safely arrived in Tashkent Tuesday morning and jumped straight into a shared taxi (4 people and driver) to Samarkand 3.5 hours away. Perhaps not quite so Romantic as poetry would have us believe, but many things along the way reminded me I was in Uzbekistan, including:
- Its 40 degrees Celsius outside
- I paid about 5 times the going rate for my ticket
- We had to stop at police checkpoints every 30 minutes
- Loud, turkish pop music the entire way
- Cows being grazed on the median of a 3 lane motorway
- When the woman next to me smiles, I see she that all her front teeth are gold.
Things that are different from before include the fact that everybody has a mobile phone. When the driver couldn't understand where I wanted to go, he called his english-speaking sister in Tashkent who spoke to me then looked up directions on the internet for her brother. Brilliant.
Driving in, Samarkand reminded me a lot of Rome or bits of Istanbul, with ancient monuments springing improbably and at unexpected moments out of an otherwise thoroughly modern city. You turn your head and all of a sudden, there is a towering blue dome or brink minaret behind roads and cars and shops.
I managed to get one of the best rooms in Samarkand. It is in a little family-run B&B in the old town. The courtyard is full of flowers and fruit trees and my room has a private balcony that looks over the Gur-i-Amir Mousoleum where Tamerlane is buried.
Tamerlane. who claimed to be the grandson of Geghis Khan is the founder of the Timurid dynasty and had his capital at Shakhrisabz just south of Samarkand. He and his descendants are responsible for most of the momuments in Samarkand. The big ones are the Registan (a sqaure
made by three large medrassahs) and the Bibi Khanum Mosque (built by Tamerlane's wife Bibi Khanum). These are impressive, but more by virtue of being absolutely huge then because of any elegant architecture or intricate tile work like you see in Iran. I went round visiting them all again today and its interesting to see how they have changed over the last 6 years. A lot of reconstruction has been done. In some cases this is good (more information, more areas open) but some sites now have a somewhat disney-ish feel to them caused by the overuse of gold leaf and brand new brickwork.
This afternoon I went to see a carpet factory where they are using only natural dyes (from walnuts, madder, pomegrates etc) and silk. The owner, Abdullah, showed me around and it was clear he took a huge amount of pride in the good working conditions there. All the employes work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and get a month paid holiday a year. All are over 18 and have finished high school. It seemed like he was constantly trying to make improvements to the factory, his philosophy being that the happiness of his workers can be seen in the quality of the carpets (which are stunning). Abdullah has training as a doctor, speaks 7 languages and spends 3 months a year volunteering as a medic in Afghanistan. It was great to meet someone who clearly gets so much joy from making his world a better place.
Tomorrow morning I am leaving for Tajikistan and 3 days trekking in the Fann mountains. I had the greatest good luck to go to the same agency at the same time as two french people who wanted to to exactly the same thing. This way we are combining forces to make it less expensive (though it is still pretty pricey). The French seem very keen and super fit, so I hope I will be able to keep up with them. We are planning on arriving in Dushanbe on the 30th, so will post again after then.
- Its 40 degrees Celsius outside
- I paid about 5 times the going rate for my ticket
- We had to stop at police checkpoints every 30 minutes
- Loud, turkish pop music the entire way
- Cows being grazed on the median of a 3 lane motorway
- When the woman next to me smiles, I see she that all her front teeth are gold.
Things that are different from before include the fact that everybody has a mobile phone. When the driver couldn't understand where I wanted to go, he called his english-speaking sister in Tashkent who spoke to me then looked up directions on the internet for her brother. Brilliant.
Driving in, Samarkand reminded me a lot of Rome or bits of Istanbul, with ancient monuments springing improbably and at unexpected moments out of an otherwise thoroughly modern city. You turn your head and all of a sudden, there is a towering blue dome or brink minaret behind roads and cars and shops.
I managed to get one of the best rooms in Samarkand. It is in a little family-run B&B in the old town. The courtyard is full of flowers and fruit trees and my room has a private balcony that looks over the Gur-i-Amir Mousoleum where Tamerlane is buried.
Tamerlane. who claimed to be the grandson of Geghis Khan is the founder of the Timurid dynasty and had his capital at Shakhrisabz just south of Samarkand. He and his descendants are responsible for most of the momuments in Samarkand. The big ones are the Registan (a sqaure
made by three large medrassahs) and the Bibi Khanum Mosque (built by Tamerlane's wife Bibi Khanum). These are impressive, but more by virtue of being absolutely huge then because of any elegant architecture or intricate tile work like you see in Iran. I went round visiting them all again today and its interesting to see how they have changed over the last 6 years. A lot of reconstruction has been done. In some cases this is good (more information, more areas open) but some sites now have a somewhat disney-ish feel to them caused by the overuse of gold leaf and brand new brickwork.
This afternoon I went to see a carpet factory where they are using only natural dyes (from walnuts, madder, pomegrates etc) and silk. The owner, Abdullah, showed me around and it was clear he took a huge amount of pride in the good working conditions there. All the employes work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and get a month paid holiday a year. All are over 18 and have finished high school. It seemed like he was constantly trying to make improvements to the factory, his philosophy being that the happiness of his workers can be seen in the quality of the carpets (which are stunning). Abdullah has training as a doctor, speaks 7 languages and spends 3 months a year volunteering as a medic in Afghanistan. It was great to meet someone who clearly gets so much joy from making his world a better place.
Tomorrow morning I am leaving for Tajikistan and 3 days trekking in the Fann mountains. I had the greatest good luck to go to the same agency at the same time as two french people who wanted to to exactly the same thing. This way we are combining forces to make it less expensive (though it is still pretty pricey). The French seem very keen and super fit, so I hope I will be able to keep up with them. We are planning on arriving in Dushanbe on the 30th, so will post again after then.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The Perils and Pitfalls of Utilizing the Local Knowledge Resource Base
It can often seem like a great idea to ask directions from locals. They do live here after all, so presumably know much more than you do, and are usually really keen to help out a bewildered traveller. But keep in mind that people can often be more eager than able to help, and combined with severe translation difficulties, the advice can sometimes be worse than useless.
As case in point I present: The Cautionary Tale of Fran's Latvian Bus Journey
- Step one was boarding the number 22 bus in downtown Riga to return to hotel.
- Worried that I would not be able to spot my stop in the rather faceless suburb and thinking it would be a relatively simple request, I ask the conductor to point out my stop.
- Great confusion and the combined English skills of four seperate passengers results in the information that I am going in the wrong direction.
- I know that this is not true.
- Am advised to get out immediately and cross the street to get the bus going in the opposite direction.
- As I can tell from my map that my stop is approaching, I thank my (wrong) advisors and prepare to descend.
- Immediate change in consensus on bus and am now advised to wait.
- I gesture frantically at them that I know that actually this is my stop. But I am unconcinving, having tacitly acknowledged by asking directions that I know nothing.
- Try again to descend at the next stop and walk back, but well-meaning passengers urge me to stay. To leave now, against their advice feels like it might discharging yourself from hospital AMA, it would be to disrecpect their weighty authority as locals.
- 3 stops later, after consulting my map, there is agreement that I have missed my stop.
- General merriment ensues at the expense of the lost tourist.
- I am now advised to wait on the bus until it finishes its route and comes back again in the opposite direction. This involves 10 more minutes on the bus, 10 minutes waiting at the terminus, and having to buy another ticket (!)
- The conductor kindly pats my arm and assures me she will tell me when to get off.
- Now realizing that she is pretty old and apprently a little bit batty, I place no faith in this.
- Spotting my stop 10 minutes later, I manage to slip unobserved from the bus while my 'helper' is deep in conversation with a passenger.
So, in conclusion, a good map and a modicum of common sense can sometimes be more valuable than local advice. Lesson well learnt.
Have now made it to Uzbekistan - more on that to follow.
As case in point I present: The Cautionary Tale of Fran's Latvian Bus Journey
- Step one was boarding the number 22 bus in downtown Riga to return to hotel.
- Worried that I would not be able to spot my stop in the rather faceless suburb and thinking it would be a relatively simple request, I ask the conductor to point out my stop.
- Great confusion and the combined English skills of four seperate passengers results in the information that I am going in the wrong direction.
- I know that this is not true.
- Am advised to get out immediately and cross the street to get the bus going in the opposite direction.
- As I can tell from my map that my stop is approaching, I thank my (wrong) advisors and prepare to descend.
- Immediate change in consensus on bus and am now advised to wait.
- I gesture frantically at them that I know that actually this is my stop. But I am unconcinving, having tacitly acknowledged by asking directions that I know nothing.
- Try again to descend at the next stop and walk back, but well-meaning passengers urge me to stay. To leave now, against their advice feels like it might discharging yourself from hospital AMA, it would be to disrecpect their weighty authority as locals.
- 3 stops later, after consulting my map, there is agreement that I have missed my stop.
- General merriment ensues at the expense of the lost tourist.
- I am now advised to wait on the bus until it finishes its route and comes back again in the opposite direction. This involves 10 more minutes on the bus, 10 minutes waiting at the terminus, and having to buy another ticket (!)
- The conductor kindly pats my arm and assures me she will tell me when to get off.
- Now realizing that she is pretty old and apprently a little bit batty, I place no faith in this.
- Spotting my stop 10 minutes later, I manage to slip unobserved from the bus while my 'helper' is deep in conversation with a passenger.
So, in conclusion, a good map and a modicum of common sense can sometimes be more valuable than local advice. Lesson well learnt.
Have now made it to Uzbekistan - more on that to follow.
Monday, June 23, 2008
SURPRISE! Fran's in Latvia!
I bet that many of you were expecting my post today to be the first from 'on the ground' in Central Asia. Sadly, until last night I was expecting the same thing - but, defying all expectations I am writing today from Latvia. SURPRISE!
Owing to an unfortunate misreading of my (highly ambiguous) Air Baltic itinerary, it turns out that what I had thought was a 1 hour layover in Riga, is in fact a 25 hour layover. Ooops. I rushed off my half-hour late plane from Gatwick, rushed through passport control, grabbed my bag off the conveyor belt and ran upstairs to check in, convinced I would miss my flight, only to be told by rather bemused staff that the flight wasn't till tomorrow.
At this point it was 10:30pm in Riga, I had nowhere to stay and no idea where the airport was in relation to the rest of the city. Fortunately the lady at information booked me into a hotel and helped me get a taxi. So, apart from a substantial amount of dollars doing a magic vanishing act in the process of conversion to Latvian currency, and the rather austere, faceless ex-Soviet hotel I stayed in, everything worked out ok.
I took the bus in this morning to Old-Town Riga, where I am writing this. Now off to explore for a few hours before catching my 11pm flight (fingers crossed...) to Tashkent.
Owing to an unfortunate misreading of my (highly ambiguous) Air Baltic itinerary, it turns out that what I had thought was a 1 hour layover in Riga, is in fact a 25 hour layover. Ooops. I rushed off my half-hour late plane from Gatwick, rushed through passport control, grabbed my bag off the conveyor belt and ran upstairs to check in, convinced I would miss my flight, only to be told by rather bemused staff that the flight wasn't till tomorrow.
At this point it was 10:30pm in Riga, I had nowhere to stay and no idea where the airport was in relation to the rest of the city. Fortunately the lady at information booked me into a hotel and helped me get a taxi. So, apart from a substantial amount of dollars doing a magic vanishing act in the process of conversion to Latvian currency, and the rather austere, faceless ex-Soviet hotel I stayed in, everything worked out ok.
I took the bus in this morning to Old-Town Riga, where I am writing this. Now off to explore for a few hours before catching my 11pm flight (fingers crossed...) to Tashkent.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Wait, Where is That?
Since a frequent reaction to a description of my summer travel plans is an assertion that those countries are made up, I thought I would provide a map of the trip. As you can see Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are real countries that I intend to travel through.
The next stage of the conversation is usually a blank stare followed by the question 'Why?' In addition to the obvious ('Why Not?'), I provide a list of anticipated highlights below:
- Silk road city of Samarkand
- Lakes and steep peaks in the Fann Mountains
- Flying through the western Pamirs to Khorog
- Ruined forts, buddhist stupas and Zoroastrian fire temples in the Wakhan Valley
- Shepherd camps in the high pastures near Murghab
- The Pamir Highway (the only road) through the Pamirs
- Tien Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan
Future posts will reveal the fate of these well-laid plans in the face of the gritty realities of Central Asia, so stay tuned for more...
Monday, June 9, 2008
The Hunt for the Central Asian Visa
Central Asian visas are elusive beings that must be pursued with patience, skill, and grim determinaton. Their natural habitat is a thicket of dense paperwork (typed, in triplicate) and it is rare that they will emerge to take residence in the lonely pages of your passport. For those looking to undertake the quest, I offer the following experience, valid for American passport holders applying to DC embassies as of spring 2008.
Uzbekistan
- No letter of invitation needed (apparently a new development)
- Application forms need to be typed
- The form has a space for 'inviting organization address and telephone number' but my experience was that was nobody checked with the organization I entered there (so you don't need visa support if travelling independently)
- Impossible to get tourist visas for longer than 30 days. I got a double entry visa valid for longer, but with a total 30 day stay and apparently even that was bending the rules.
- 10 working days, $131
Kyrgyzstan
- No LOI needed for 30 day tourist visa that can be (relatively) easily extended in country for another 30 days
- 10 working days, $80 or double for 3 working days
Tajikistan
- No LOI, but they do ask for a cover letter from a travel agency. I explained I was travelling independently and typed up a letter with a proposed itinerary which worked fine.
- Impossible to get tourist visas for longer than 30 days
- They need a photocopy of the picture page in the passport, not mentioned on the website.
- 4 working days, $80
- Can issue GBAO permits for the Pamirs for an additional $50
All of this is much easier than when I went through the same process 6 years ago, when I needed guides, detailed itineraries or confirmation of hotel bookings for most countries. Below are some links that might be useful for anyone planning a trip.
General Info:
http://www.traveltajikistan.com/
http://www.pamirs.org/ Fantastic photo tours and details of the Pamirs
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forum.jspa?forumID=13 LP Thorn Tree Central Asia Forum - lots of useful advice from people on the ground
Tour Operators:
http://www.hamsafartravel.com/ Hamsafar Travel has replaced Great Game Travel in Tajikistan
http://www.stantours.com/ Professional, timely visa support with no obligation to purchase tours
Uzbekistan
- No letter of invitation needed (apparently a new development)
- Application forms need to be typed
- The form has a space for 'inviting organization address and telephone number' but my experience was that was nobody checked with the organization I entered there (so you don't need visa support if travelling independently)
- Impossible to get tourist visas for longer than 30 days. I got a double entry visa valid for longer, but with a total 30 day stay and apparently even that was bending the rules.
- 10 working days, $131
Kyrgyzstan
- No LOI needed for 30 day tourist visa that can be (relatively) easily extended in country for another 30 days
- 10 working days, $80 or double for 3 working days
Tajikistan
- No LOI, but they do ask for a cover letter from a travel agency. I explained I was travelling independently and typed up a letter with a proposed itinerary which worked fine.
- Impossible to get tourist visas for longer than 30 days
- They need a photocopy of the picture page in the passport, not mentioned on the website.
- 4 working days, $80
- Can issue GBAO permits for the Pamirs for an additional $50
All of this is much easier than when I went through the same process 6 years ago, when I needed guides, detailed itineraries or confirmation of hotel bookings for most countries. Below are some links that might be useful for anyone planning a trip.
General Info:
http://www.traveltajikistan.com/
http://www.pamirs.org/ Fantastic photo tours and details of the Pamirs
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forum.jspa?forumID=13 LP Thorn Tree Central Asia Forum - lots of useful advice from people on the ground
Tour Operators:
http://www.hamsafartravel.com/ Hamsafar Travel has replaced Great Game Travel in Tajikistan
http://www.stantours.com/ Professional, timely visa support with no obligation to purchase tours
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
