Blogs from Tajikistan, Asia - page 9

We've finally made it to Khorog! It took us much longer than we expected for various reasons but we're here now and ready to start the Wakhan tomorrow. After a very lazy morning in Dushanbe we eventually set off towards Khorog, a town that signifies the start of our last adventure ... The Pamir highway and the Wakhan corridor. The plan was just to get as far as possible and then camp wherever we were as it began to get dark. The driving was slow due to the bad roads and it quickly became apparent that due to our late start we would be on the road (and camping) for two nights. The drive was not made any quicker by being pulled over regularly to register out passports and car throughout the journey ... And a ... read more

Geo: 37.4897, 71.553The Pamir Highway is one of those amazing roads. It follows the Panj River which is a wild and woolly river that doubles as an international border with Afghanistan. We met up a German Couple we planned to travel through China and Pakistan with and have hooked up to drive down this crazy road. The pictures speak for themselves really.Despite what our imaginations conjure up, all looked quite peaceful on both sides of the river. The afghanies are trying to cut a road along their side. The first time they blasted quite close to our camp it was a little unsettling but after about the 10th blast it was obvious all was in order. Well assuming the blast did not upset our side that is.... read more

I am writing this blog a year after and have to say don't remember all the details but thought I write it anyway briefly the route and let the pictures speak for itself how wonderful and rewarding this hike was. Starting off from Khorog we need to get to a village up in the mountains called Bachor. Problem is, there was a landslide en route when you take the Pamir highway around Manem village, about an hour from Khorog. So we took a shared minivan to that village, then we have to walk up around the mountains on goat trails, that is dangerously steep and with our 20 plus kgs of backpack is not for the faint of heart. 2 hours to walk to where the army has zodiac boats to get us across to the ... read more

On The Tajiks Culture Life in Tajikistan appear to be stress free. Faces on the streets are calm and I have yet to see someone looking distrusted or angry. In an interesting way I feel this people somehow are closer to my roots as a ‘Persian.’ The culture feel like Persian here; not an Iranian; a very strange feeling. Tajiks’ religiosity is Moslem مسلم without being Islamist or Evangelist. Government of Tajikistan is pushing to remove the mosques to outside of city limits by refusing to renew their land lease. It is a respectable way of exercising your religion without having to push it down people's throat with advertising or religious banners and propagandas all over the town, like we see in Iran. Walking kilometers everyday around here, I have not seen any mosques or heard ... read more

The Roof of the World includes Tajikistan's Pamir Mountains located in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province (GBAO) as well as other significant mountain ranges of South-Central Asia: the Himalayas, Tien Shan, Karakorum, and Hindu Kush. After Dushanbe, I spent almost 3 weeks traveling around the Pamir region on the way back to Kyrgyzstan. There were huge numbers of tourists, not as many as in Uzbekistan which was absolutely mobbed, but more than any other region in Central Asia. It's easy to understand why - the scenery is spectacular and the Pamiris are very friendly. Currently in Saint Petersburg, Russia after a very long flight from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to Moscow via already freezing Siberia then an overnight train. Nice to be back here but it's way colder than my 2 previous visits in July, 2011 and June, 2012 but ... read more