If you’re considering traveling to Tajikistan, which most of my readers are probably not, I highly recommend you travel outside of Dushanbe. Sure Dushanbe is the capital city, and the biggest one. Sure it’s got some okay restaurants and a few pretty parks, but I must say my favorite places in Tajikistan, by far, have been the cities and regions I have visited outside the capital.
Near the top of the list of my favorite places in Tajikistan, is Khujand, the northern city to which I travelled over Nowruz, which is spacious and has both an intellectual and a laid back vibe. Even higher on the list however, is Gorno-Badakhsan, the massive autonomous eastern region of Tajikistan, and the home of the Pamir mountains.
The majority of the 300,000 people who live in the Pamir mountains are Ismaili Shia (this becomes important later, stay tuned), rather than Sunni unlike most Tajiks, and also unlike most Tajiks, they speak the local languages of Shugni and Wakhi.
If you’re seriously planning a trip, let me warn you that the Pamir mountains are not a destination for the faint of heart. Or the faint of body. It takes two full days of driving over mountains on dirt roads that haven’t been touched since the Soviet Union to even get there from Dushanbe. In most places, there is absolutely no cell service, let alone internet. In the words of another one of the girls on my trip “if our car broke down right now, no one would find us for DAYS.” (Don’t get concerned mom and dad, we had a satellite phone and emergency food and water with us, so we actually would have been found relatively quickly and well provided for until then).
Despite all the difficulties of traveling to the Pamirs, as some have affectionately called them, let me also say that for those who are able to handle it the trip is well worth it:
Who cares about bumping around in a Jeep for a few days when you can stand on top of a fortress that is literally thousands of years old from which you can see the snowy mountain peaks of three separate countries?
What bother is an altitude induced bloody nose to someone who can put their feet into a chilly bright blue freshwater lake and chat with a local meteorologist about the history of his entirely solar powered village.
Who wouldn’t squat on behind rocks and in rundown roadside outhouses for the chance to feel a soft steam rising past your face and up through the cold air as you yourself are submerged in the warm nutrient infused waters of a natural hot spring -- completely naked -- discussing the fertility benefits of those waters with a 60 year old Tajik woman, who is fluent in 5 languages (and is also completely naked).
There’s only so much I can say about the Pamirs, you really have to go and see them for yourself. And for the majority of you who can’t, below are some pictures accompanied by the stories that go along with them. Keep in mind though, that the pictures captured on my android j3 smartphone come nowhere near conveying the beauty of this place.
The road and mountains in the town of Iskashim, at the beginning of the Wakhan Corridor.
The ancient fortress I was talking about above.
The village of Bulunkul, situated right in the middle of the Pamir Plateau. At about 12,000 feet above sea level, Bulunkul boasts a whopping total of 40 something families, a fully functioning solar powered weather station, and a handful of cars without wheels.
Breathe in, breathe out, enjoy.
See you later / تا بعد / до встречи
Lindsay / لینزی / Линдси
Near the top of the list of my favorite places in Tajikistan, is Khujand, the northern city to which I travelled over Nowruz, which is spacious and has both an intellectual and a laid back vibe. Even higher on the list however, is Gorno-Badakhsan, the massive autonomous eastern region of Tajikistan, and the home of the Pamir mountains.
The majority of the 300,000 people who live in the Pamir mountains are Ismaili Shia (this becomes important later, stay tuned), rather than Sunni unlike most Tajiks, and also unlike most Tajiks, they speak the local languages of Shugni and Wakhi.
If you’re seriously planning a trip, let me warn you that the Pamir mountains are not a destination for the faint of heart. Or the faint of body. It takes two full days of driving over mountains on dirt roads that haven’t been touched since the Soviet Union to even get there from Dushanbe. In most places, there is absolutely no cell service, let alone internet. In the words of another one of the girls on my trip “if our car broke down right now, no one would find us for DAYS.” (Don’t get concerned mom and dad, we had a satellite phone and emergency food and water with us, so we actually would have been found relatively quickly and well provided for until then).
Despite all the difficulties of traveling to the Pamirs, as some have affectionately called them, let me also say that for those who are able to handle it the trip is well worth it:
Who cares about bumping around in a Jeep for a few days when you can stand on top of a fortress that is literally thousands of years old from which you can see the snowy mountain peaks of three separate countries?
What bother is an altitude induced bloody nose to someone who can put their feet into a chilly bright blue freshwater lake and chat with a local meteorologist about the history of his entirely solar powered village.
Who wouldn’t squat on behind rocks and in rundown roadside outhouses for the chance to feel a soft steam rising past your face and up through the cold air as you yourself are submerged in the warm nutrient infused waters of a natural hot spring -- completely naked -- discussing the fertility benefits of those waters with a 60 year old Tajik woman, who is fluent in 5 languages (and is also completely naked).
There’s only so much I can say about the Pamirs, you really have to go and see them for yourself. And for the majority of you who can’t, below are some pictures accompanied by the stories that go along with them. Keep in mind though, that the pictures captured on my android j3 smartphone come nowhere near conveying the beauty of this place.
The small town of Darvoz, one of the first stops on our trip. You can see here the mountains are still green and the road is still paved, which means we haven't gotten too far out yet.
A view from the central bridge in Khorog, the capital of Gorno-Badakhshan. Although you can't tell from this picture, Khorog is a pretty cosmopolitan city, given its location. Most of the people who live in Khorog speak Shugni as their native language, but can also easily chat with you in Russian, Tajik, and even English, and I don't just mean some of them.... I mean nearly ALL of them. How is this little mountain town able to produce a fully quatrilingual population? Great education system. Where does the money come from? Remember how I said it would become important that the people of this region are Ismaili Shia? Well, it just so happens that a whole lot of money and programming is poured into their region by none other than the Agha Khan, leader of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam, close friend of Justin Trudeau, and one of the 10 richest royals in the world (fascinating guy, look him up).
These camels are not for tourists to ride for photo opportunities of their exotic trips to the desert. Nope. These camels are actually used for transport.
See you later / تا بعد / до встречи
Lindsay / لینزی / Линдси
