Blogs from Tajikistan, Asia - page 16

So, this is only the third entry on www.travelblog.org for Tajikistan. Unfortunately, the country doesn’t get much coverage, but I aim to change that. I will be working for over half a year in the Rasht Valley and my job will be taking me to some of the more remote areas of the country. The country is already pretty remote considering the limited number of flights in to the capital, Dushanbe, and its geographic location. The neighbouring states - Uzbekistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Afghanistan and Western China - are not really "hot" tourist destinations and as a result there is not a lot of overland traffic into Tajikistan, apart from people who live in this region. Here are a few photos of the area where I work. I hope that you enjoy them. I will also ... read more

Boy oh boy! Tajikistan is crazy! This email is going to run a bit on the longer side but I think you’ll enjoy the read. First of all, I'll tell a little bit about Tajikistan’s recent history so you can get an idea about where my brother and I are. Basically, during the Soviet era, there was al-Qaeda and Taliban backed Islamic Fundamentalism simmering throughout the region. For the most part, Moscow kept a lid on the ethnic and clan-based tensions in the region. When independence came in 1991, the place disintegrated into full scale civil war, killing upwards of 60,000 and displacing over half a million refugees. To solve the problem, a Russian backed president was installed to fight the extremists. The President’s forces, led by Sanjak Safarov (who had previously spent 23 years in ... read more