Blogs from Kurgan Tube, Tajikistan, Asia

And sometimes it just seems abit surreal! Returning from our first farmer's meeting, we stop at a local fruit stand to enjoy some delicious watermelon and then further down we buy kilos of the best and largest pomegranates, I have ever seen, it feels like the most natural place for us to be. We are returning for another ACDI Voca project, our third, it feels so comfortable. Greeted so warmly, as old friends, it is a delight to be back working with Muzzafar and Nagis. And at each farm, we enjoy the company of the farmers. Ed continues to work on pruning and grafting techniques and starting to see more and more farms pruning. I now enjoy visiting with the women and although the conversations don't always work there way back to 'record keeping', it is ... read more

We're nearly there! We left Khorog early and planned on a quick stop off in the Jizeu valley before making more progress towards the final destination, Qurgonteppa. The roads were good so we got to the Jizeu bridge at midday. It's just "the bridge" because the actual village is a 2 hour hike up the valley. We walked along the crystal clear water until we got to the most surreal village I've ever seen. It was like walking into the Shire from Lord of the Rings. Everything was so lush and green with bright blue ponds/lakes dotted about and white peaks on the horizon. With 14 houses making up the whole village, I can understand the confused looks we were getting as we walked through. We were offered tea in a few of the houses but ... read more