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Published: December 2nd 2017
TAJIKISTAN with the Tajik Outlaws Part 6...War & Peace...the Rise of the Kool Kids.
Through the Akbaital Pass at 4,655 metres...the highest point of the trip...long descent to the village of Kara Kul 3,914 metres...spectacular landscapes on our left...the Chinese border with razor wire fencing on our right.
A Tajik military post opposite our homestay...cross the road at your peril made clear to us...guards with rifles visible...a tourist ended his trip by doing so...the Germans irritation that there are restrictions on them because of that.
Enter the homestay...flat roofed white dwellings with the highest salt lake in Central Asia behind it.
Suggested the Irish woman share the fourth bedroom with Naddya..."No way" she yawps...entering the room. "This room is filthy, I'm not occupying this room until it is cleaned...and the window sill is dirty"...stamping her feet.
"I insist the window sill be cleaned as well."
The owner, a slender Tajik woman picking up the vibe...the bike riders behind us looks of horror as they scurry outside.
The German woman complaining when told there would be no electricity until 8pm.
Then when told there was no internet...the Irish woman demanding it be connected even
though it wasn't available!!!
Pandemonium within the group.
Shane doing his best to calm the storm...allocating bedrooms...we offering for Shane to share with us...he moving his backpack onto the third bed in our small room.
Naddya ultimately moving to a room outside...sharing it with Shane who needed a bit of extra space as he was not well!
The remaining bedroom inside going to others that came later that day.
I inspected the alleged filthy room.
It like the other rooms was small, beds neatly made, clean and the window sill maybe could be wiped but OK to me.
The remaining bedroom inside not yet ready to be cleaned as the occupants flashing shocked looks at us in the process of moving out.
"If you won't clean the window sill I'll clean it for you"...sliding the words to the Irish woman as if I was offering to be helpful.
But I was seething inside.
I had seen glimpses of demanding superior attitudes earlier in the trip...but this raised it to an unacceptable level in my mind.
We are due to stay two nights here...and we've only been here 5 minutes!
Since the first homestay particularly the Irish woman ...but joined by the Germans...complaining about accommodation...the simple food...sporadic internet availability...and that electricity by generators was only available at night.
We in the Dancing Car had been in three separate homestays...so how lucky were we to be unaware of the vibe in the rest of the group on those nights.
In our observation our hosts always sharing what little they had...so generous with their hospitality they would have preferred to go without.
The Panj River as we followed the Afghan border earlier in the trip had been threatening to eat us...any past pandering to complainers now threatening to bite.
But at Kara Kul...Heaven in the High Pamir...the tantruming complaining was making me itch for a fight.
And I was not the only one who felt that.
So it was decided they would be asked to leave.
And early the following morning they did so.
We would meet them again for our farewell dinner in 5 days when we arrive in Osh.
******
The Rise of the Kool Kids When I arise the following morning they had already
gone!
Only Naddya, Shane & Sherali are up...telling me the Irish woman had said goodbye to Naddya but the Germans had not...the rest of us emerging from our bedrooms with a yawn but a smile.
The sky is vivid blue...the High Pamir air clear and sharp.
We may be at high altitude (3,914 metres) but a peace has settled over the group that is palpable...as if dark clouds had been lifted and blown away.
Everyone is lounging on cushions on thin mattresses around the low table for breakfast...laughing...relaxing...all commenting in their own ways at the elevated lighter atmosphere in the group...even expressing relief.
Shane saying Kudash had taken them in the red car and would stay with them. He had told them they would stay at Sary Mogul in Kyrgyzstan and have electricity and internet but no guarantee of their own bathrooms and showers. Once there they would have to take what they get.
Sherali telling us the Dancing Car is regarded as "co-operative in all situations and not the source of any problems on the trip."
Naddya making it clear she is with us all the way.
And that day and
Naddya
" Kool Kid "the following days our four became five...Naddya, Dangerous Dave, Merry Jo, Denise and I.
And from that day we would greet each other with High Fives...and a vocal salute..."Cool Kids"...planning to get T-shirts made...an enduring bond formed.
Cool Kids or Kool Kids...I prefer the double "K".
******
For the record I got on well with the Irish woman. She was very "me, me, me" but we had a lot of laughs.
She had the knack of manipulating the cooks to give her better than the rest of us by using her over the top charm...triumph over her face each time.
Often complaining about accommodation...the simple food...sporadic internet availability...and that electricity by generators was only available at night..
The brochure titled "Tajikistan Tour with the Travel Camel" was clear as to what to expect with the "Reservation Form" commencing with the words:
"Before booking ensure you are familiar with all the "Road Trip Information" below, especially accommodation, altitude, cultural immersion, food and road information." The "Road Trip Information" in the brochure included such gems as:
"If you are looking for a luxurious experience, you will not find it on this trip" and
"Electricity supply is reliable in Dushanbe, Khorog and Osh, but elsewhere it is variable...", and
"....your chance of having "comfort food" is almost nil. The local food...does not have strong flavours or spices." Claimed she would not have come on the trip if she had read the brochure (but as the Reservation/Application Form was part of the brochure nobody believed her).
Her standard line was, "This is what happens when you don't read the brochure."
She was manipulative and a complainer...But I liked her.
We'd even done a pre-arranged dawn walk together in Murghab only that morning!
The Germans were a formidable couple and I admired their photographic skills.
He had the biggest video camera I had ever seen and would spew venom if anyone walked where he was filming.
He seemed to think he was superior to the Bulgarians but they ignored him. Chavdar was a businessman that I suspected was looking for investment opportunities and Kalin was his assistant...more interested in drinking beer and chatting to the drivers in Russian than what anyone thought of them. The Dancing Car got on famously with them as they were
the ultimate party boys.
Naddya's only similarity was she was also Bulgarian...probably smarter than any of us...knew Shane through travel expos.
Mrs German was a pleasant woman with the heaviest SLR that took incredible photos. Naturally in disputes she sided with him. Often complained about non availability of internet and electricity but generally tried to get on with the group.
I got on well with both of them until our last afternoon in Murghab only the day before.
I had shared a bottle of Moldavian wine with him the previous evening and had him declaring he knew more about Australian aborigines than me and more about Mali and Timbuktu than Denise even though he had never been there.
Who is put off or concerned by know alls?
Wind is wind and I couldn't care less.
It hadn't occurred to me but in hindsight...maybe he thought he was superior to me as well.
That last afternoon in Murghab...the whole group just chatting outside the hotel enjoying the cooling air...the German guy talking to me about China. He knew twat but even though I've travelled in 16 provinces he making it clear he knew
more than me.
"What do you think of the Dalai Lama?" he enquires.
I pause...he's the guy who says his religion is kindness.
"I think he is a great man", I reply.
The German rising to his feet...loudly exclaiming "That is your biggest mistake"...me so shocked by his aggression I do not recall what he was saying after that but aware he was wanting an argument with me.
"I can't handle this" I said..."Discussion over. You do not discuss...you impose"...and walked away...him yelling that the conversation was not over as I walked around the corner of the building.
(Fortunately an NGO walked past looking for the loo so I was able to chat to her for about 20 minutes so I didn't have to emerge from my hiding place!)
The German had not spoken to me or acknowledged me in any way after that.
Not until after our farewell dinner in Osh...but you'll have to wait to see if I tell you about that.
As I used to often tell the group, "I'm just a dancer"...but those that know me may know that I am not just anything!
Kara Kul...Pamir Heaven The scenery here is out of this world.
I thought the lakes to this point were stunning...but here they are at another level...the blues are bluer.
The Irish & the Germans still here as this is the day it was decided they leave.
Naddya and I walking through the village finding a viewpoint of the lake that is stunning...the snowclad peaks of Kyrgyzstan with Lenin Peak that we will visit later smiling at us across the water...we'll be back at sunset.
At 5pm Mr Zee takes Denise, Shane, Dangerous Dave & Merry Jo for a drive down to the lake.
But Naddya & I stay 'cos we reckon no better than the spot we are going to.
We meet an American couple Jessie & Kwan who had sold their house in Denver, Colorado and are travelling the World. So we set off at 6:15pm with them to see the sunset...leaving the complainers uninvited.
The days are hot but the evenings and nights are cold...a stiff breeze blowing across the lake...time to test my windjacket I had bought in NZ on our travels with Jo Trouble.
Man oh man
am I glad I did.
The sunset stunning...the squiggly lines of the shore changing in colour and intensity...the beach soft to sharp and glowing...the water ruffled with kicks of spray...ants we presume are Mr Zee and the others...our elevated viewpoint behind the village inviting the icy breeze to cut us in two.
Naddya, Jessie & Kwan fled at 7:15 but I stay till 8:15...enduring the icy winds in defiance and reverence...capturing from yellow to pink to grey until the mountains disappear from sight.
At 10pm I go to the toilet which is outside. There are two Western pit toilets..."the short arse" as I call it suitable for those with long or short legs...or "the long arse" as I call it...or "the throne" as others call it...set back on a frame so only long legs can use it.
Up a ramp...do my business...gazing at the Milky Way thinking do I grab my tripod and camera...the icy breeze inclining me to try my original plan which is from Lenin Peak...turn...falling through the air.
It was as if I had stepped off a cliff...into blackness and down...landing flat on my right foot...then my left foot stamping next to
Last glimpses of Tajikistan
Approaching the Kyrgyz border it.
Silent...frozen in my fright...still as a meteorite fallen to earth that night.
I cannot believe what has just happened...no pain whatsoever...my yak skin boots have saved me yet again...cannot believe I have not twisted or broken my right ankle...cannot believe my left foot had not got caught in the wall I had fallen about a metre from that night.
To bed my left knee starting to throb...dreaming of good fortune and what I will say to the Germans and the Irish woman as they leave tomorrow.
******
Of sheep herders and kiwis and bicycles and helicopter rescues I had chatted with the cyclists staying in the rooms outside...insisting I tell why the commotion earlier..."Why come to these areas if you expect 5 Star?"
About World Music...yet more folk who knew about Tinarawen, Ali Farka Toure and the music of West Africa...Brits on remote roads sharing that.
There was Nigel again I had met in Murghab...been on a bicycle since 2011...his younger companions in awe of that.
But sickness had hit their group. A young woman with them had had to be rushed to hospital in Dushanbe. As they are restricted to light loads...drinking surface water that they boil. Often they
The Fraggles
Emma & Marie get the water fed from mountain streams but they suspect she drank from water polluted by animals and the boiling had not made it clear. The dangers of such travel...but lucky for her she had joined a group...which had an old hand like Nigel there.
At lunchtime two New Zealanders come in...been in the vehicle held up by the jack-knifed truck that hung over the edge of the cliff road I referred to a few blogs back,
Soon Merry Jo squealing with delight.
They are the Fraggles...Marie & Emma...fellow Travelbloggers...blows us away the people we meet.
Their weapons of choice to counter the simple food...biscuits. Mmmm nice change to our diet. Great company for lunch and dinner...no expectation of internet...great stories of the road.
The lightened atmosphere in the group seeming to improve Shane's health.
Into the two remaining vehicles to search for shepherds for him to interview for his travel talks.
Stopping at the bluest striped lake ever...another that we also loved...I think one was called Black Lake and the other Green but don't quote me on that.
We also found a shepherd who had 500 sheep and 100
yaks. He chatted about his life in the Pamir with his nephew and a younger relative joining in...Sherali was interpreting. He sold 50 sheep and 10 yaks per year and also killed some for food. He had a tenure over the land from the government upon which others could not encroach. He told us how he divided between his sons and the joys and hardships of his life on the Pamir.
Then he asked plenty of questions about us.
At the end we posed together for photographs and Denise thrilled him by giving photos of them printed from her Polaroid Camera.
Who had the better time from that visit?
As we said goodbyes it was truly hard to tell.
That night we met Stefano...a solo German traveller on his second trip to Tajikistan...driving a hired vehicle alone.
Telling us of a lonely valley he was in when he saw a helicopter fly in and hover over a narrow bridge.
A trekker had walked across and some rotten boards had broken and he had fallen...caught hanging above the angry river...lucky he had not fallen in...rescued after considerable delay by the Tajik army
helicopter.
No insurance in his circumstances...his rescue costing him US$20,000.
The Kool Kids, the Fraggles, Shane, Sherali, Mr Zee, Jengish and our new friend Stefano...chewing the fat...the Pamir wind wanting to bite but we are too content to be worried by that.
Relax & Enjoy,
Dancing Dave
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Laila the Tuareg
Denise Hooper
I'm transported!
My goodness... those panoramas had me from the very start! The story?... wow I want to be a Kool Kid every day! I feel so privileged to be able to travel & to travel with grace & fascination & appreciation of such a beautiful world, words are inadequate...