I'm going to tell you the tale of the Barnett's adventure in the high Pamirs. Anyone wishing to skip the story and go right to the pictures can do so here:
The Pamirs refers to a mountainous area on the eastern part of Tajikistan that runs along the Afghan border to the Chinese border. It is part of a semi-autonomous region of the country and is famed around the world for its natural beauty and is often referred to as 'The Roof Of The World'.
Stephanie and I have planned to go since before we arrived and decided that since there isn't a whole lot in the way of touristy things to do in Dushanbe, it might be a good idea to combine the visit of my family with our trip to the Pamirs - given that this really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Everyone got here safe and sound - and in the middle of the night as usual - so by the time the weekend arrived, all of us were pretty exhausted - Mom, Dad, and my sister from jet-lag, and Stephanie and I from lack of sleep. As the time for our departure neared, I was desperately trying to make plans in a country where plans aren't always possible. Anyone who knows me knows how difficult it is for me to do a vacation without proper planning.
Nonetheless, by the end of the day last Friday, I had our names on a waiting list for tickets in case the flight went, and a driver arranged as back-up in case it didn't'. There was also a hotel reservation at a mid point in case we drove, and a hotel reservation at our destination in case we flew.
Saturday morning arrived and I got a call from one of the embassy travel assistants who had learned that the flight was indeed going ahead and that we got tickets. He was even nice enough to go to the airport and get the tickets in our names so that we wouldn't lose our seats. Such is the nature of travel Tajikistan that if someone else had shown up before us, they would have given our seats away. So, tickets in hand, we made our way through the airport and shortly boarded a bus to our plane. Here was the most terrifying part of the journey for Stephanie, who does not like flying in any case. Our plane was a small 17 passenger prop plane. And the reason why there was so much doubt over whether the flight would go at all is because the plane cannot fly higher than the tops of the mountains between Dushanbe and Khorog, (the main city in the Pamirs), so it has to fly between the mountains. To add to this, the plane doesn't have modern equipment like radar so the sky has to be perfectly clear so that the pilots can see their way between the mountains.
The upside for me is that the requisite clear weather provided a great opportunity for seeing the country from the air. From the farmland around Dushanbe, -
- to the man-made lake created by the Nurek Dam, -
- and then of course, into the mountains themselves.
Flying between the snow-capped peaks was certainly exhilarating and at time, we were frighteningly close to the mountains, but the views were spectacular.
Stephanie was most unhappy with the flight, but I'll give her credit - she still managed to peak out the windows to take in the view. She's quite the trooper. A baby in the seat behind us was fascinated by her curly hair and provided some very helpful diversion until we landed.
Upon landing, I snapped a quick shot of the plane for reference.
Another passenger also informed us that the hills across the river were part of Afghanistan. Although I knew that we would be close, I didn't realize it would be that close. Of course, the northern part of Afghanistan has been relatively calm and there is no known danger along the border with Tajikistan.
So, getting our bearings, we got a marshrutka to the hotel where we were staying for the night and I called to cancel the reservation at the place we would have stayed if we hadn't gotten on the flight. The hotel was a quaint house near the river with a beautiful garden -
- and the proprietors were very friendly (I actually find that people outside of Dushanbe are generally much more friendly than those in the capital, and that was born out during this trip, but I guess that's the case for most big cities in the world).
After checking in, we got a cab into town to see the beautiful and tranquil central park, where we rested before lunch.
The parks in Dushanbe aren't nearly so well kept, but thanks to the generosity of the Aga Khan - a religious leader and head of a major charitable foundation - the public places in the Pamirs tend to be nicer. From the part it was on to lunch at a restaurant overlooking the river and our first 'adventure'.
After lunch, we went to find the neighborhood outhouse a couple of blocks away. Coming out, there was a ruckus down the street. Some dogs had started chasing a meandering cow towards the bathroom and we had to duck inside to avoid being trampled. Whew! After that, I met briefly with our guide for the rest of our trip to make final arrangements and we decided to tour the Botanical Garden for the rest of the afternoon.
Unfortunately, when our marshrutka dropped us off at the entrance, the driver neglected to tell us that the actual park was way up on top of a steep hill, which turned out to be beyond the capacity of most of our group to hike, especially given the recent change in altitude. Fortunately, the park guard, Dodal, -
- took a liking to us and helped arrange a car up the hill. I've heard a lot of wonderful things about the botanical garden in Khorog, and honestly, when we got out of the car, the view was rather disappointing.
But we persevered and shortly found some nice areas with flowers for smelling, -
- apples for picking, -
- and a nice view of the city -
- before heading back in for dinner. Speaking of dinner, as we were walking through the park again, a dog went by with a cow leg in its mouth.
We had to wonder about our bovine friend being chased down the street earlier. The dog may have had the better deal. Dinner for us turned out to be a rather lackluster meal at an Indian restaurant, but we didn't have much choice as most restaurants were closed on Saturday in Khorog.
On Sunday we had a nice leisurely morning before being picked up by our guide, Pamirbek. We got gas - in both sides of our purple soviet era car (a novelty) -
- and then went to the bazaar for some provisions. As we were leaving, a young man came up and demanded money for parking. He wasn't uniformed or anything, just very persistent and rather rude. Another man came up and flashed a badge that I didn't see, but eventually our guide gave in and paid after several minutes of arguing. It's apparently a fairly common scam. On the bright side, the cop who usually requires payment before leaving the city was nowhere to be seen and Pamirbek got to avoid that particular fee.
And thus, we were on our way, driving along the river Pyanzh, which serves as the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan, so everything you see on the opposite side of the river in pictures is Afghanistan until I say otherwise.
Pamirbek was great and stopped for many pictures including one of this rock that they call 'The Dragon'.
Eventually we came to our first point of interest, the Garm Chasma hot spring. It was particularly neat to me because the mineral deposits remind me of the ones that can be found in Yellowstone National Park. But there were more surprises inside. We didn't intend to go swimming, just to take a look around. Thank goodness I was in the lead. As we were walking, I turned a corner and there were a whole bunch of men enjoying the hot water sans clothing. I got turned around just in time to warn Stephanie and my sister to go back. Once that was taken care of the guys insisted that I should try the water. I would have felt like a gawker if I didn't so I did. It was quite hot and I was relieved when a proprietor announced that we had to leave because the women's session was about to start. Fortunately, I was able to get a shot of the pool without any swimmers as well.
After that experience, we drove a little ways and stopped at a little shady area by a stream for sausage, cheese, bread, fresh vegetables, tea, and watermelon. Lovely. From there we headed on out our first stopping point of Ishkashim, enjoying the beautiful countryside and the first peaks of the Hindu Kush range as evening drew on.
The next morning, we departed from Ishkashim and made our first stop was the remains of the Qah Qaha fortress, -
- which is believed to date back to the 3rd century B.C., when this part of the world was still populated with Zoroastrians and Buddhists. Some great views from there as well.
Speaking of Zoroastrians, our next stops were to visit a couple of ancient Zoroastrian shrines, now used for Islamic practices.
Some of the ceremonies are still connected to Zoroastrian rituals. The Marco Polo sheep (head shown here) has long been a symbol of the region and its horns are often used to decorate these shrines.
Along the way to the next stop, we were impressed by the sand dunes lining the river. Just not what we expected to see.
When we got out for a closer look, we also saw these orange berries growing on a sort of pine tree.
It turned out they were safe to eat and quite tasty - like nature's sour patch kid. Our next stop was the Yamchun fortress, where we took some family photos, -
- on the way to the Bibi Fatima hot springs. Here there were no surprising groups of men, but the springs were interesting. Here, the water pours directly out of the rock wall from several mineral tubes that have built up over the millenia.
Our trip to the hot springs left us all quite peckish, so Pamirbek found another nice spot for lunch near a village. While we were waiting for food, we explored. Some nice women invited us inside their home and tried to feed us.
I explained that we already had lunch plans, so they insisted on sending us away with some apples from their tree.
Following lunch, we went on a rather steep hike up to the remains of a Buddhist Stupa, which dates back to the 5th century A.D.
Our guide on the trek was quite excited to meet Americans and delighted in telling me how he likes American action movies, especially with Jean Claude Van Damme and Sylvester Stallone. There were some great views from the vantage point of the Stupa and we also got to see some caves that apparently date back to the stone age.
Pretty amazing. After we were done, some local kids brought us a bowl full of fresh picked apricots!
By then it had been a rather full day already and so we just enjoyed the views on our way to our next stopping point in the village of Langar. While waiting for dinner, we enjoyed their garden and views of the surrounding mountains under a very interesting sky.
For dinner, we had a simple soup, but it had potatoes fresh from the garden that were really tasty. In Langar, we were fortunate to have generator power to charge our electronic devices and it really hit home how much we take for granted when it comes to being able to access electricity whenever we want.
The next morning, we had a rather strenuous hike planned, so Stephanie and I got up early for that while the rest of the family decided to take it easy. After filling up on eggs and porridge, we headed out. The hike was VERY strenous and in some places pretty scary, but it was definitely worth it. On the way up we encountered a couple of shepherd boys with their flock and learned that they weren't in school because their parents had to work with the crops and someone was needed with the animals.
After much huffing and puffing, we reached our goal, a group of rocks covered in petroglyphs that date back up to 3,000 years.
In all, we hiked up over 800 meters vertically from where we started, which also gave us some stunning views of the valley and surrounding mountains.
From Langar, we had another nice drive and stopped by a glacial stream to refill our water bottles - it was deliciously cold and refreshing.
We had a bit of a scare when, while crossing the stream, the car stopped working for a few moments, but Pamirbek got us going again. Shortly thereafter, Pamirbek excused himself because he saw one of his former classmates coming towards us in another vehicle. While he caught up, we chatted with the passenger from the other car, a young woman from Australia. It's amazing that we'd have a situation like that in such a remote area.
After a nice lunch by a bubbling stream -
- we continued on and left the Hindu Kush behind us and headed for one of the high passes we had to cross. The landscape became very different, much more sterile and dry, but with the bright blue river running through it.
At one point we found ourselves on a cobblestone road that was built for Czar Nikolai near the end of the 19th century. History everywhere.
Unforunately, this was also the time when a dog became history as well. We passed many heards of sheep and goats on the road and they are often accompanied by dogs.
It's very common for the dogs to chase the cars when they go by, but this one ran right into us. It was a sad moment, but there wasn't much that could be done. Pamir got out to speak to the herders and then we continued on.
After awhile, new snowy peaks started to rise over the horizon again.
As we approached the pass, we had to go through a military check point. Here, we donated some of our bread to the guards because they explained that no provisions had come in recently. It's a wonder how these soldiers survive in these remote locations with such limited support from their government. They were very friendly and jokingly, (well, half-jokingly), told us to bring American cigarettes the next time we come through.
The mountain pass was extroardinary. Snowy peaks in the distance, salt lakes that are the only remains of a large sea that covered the area before it was pushed up by plate tectonics, -
- and cute, furry marmots here and there.
Some of the lakes have fish, some don't. And one is apparently called Stinky Lake in Kyrgyz language, but Pamirbek assured us that it didn't actually stink. We didn't get close enough to check.
Shortly before the sun fell behind the mountains, we reached the tiny village of Bulun Kul and it's accompanying lake (Kul means 'lake' in Tajiki). It was a tiny town that was different from anything else we have seen so far. It literally looks plopped down in the middle of nowhere.
People were very friendly and came out to wave at us as we explored the area around our quaint homestay.
For dinner at our homestay, we had a delicious meal of yak and friend potatoes along with some very creamy and tangy yak yogurt. It was also the first place we stayed where my family had no choice but to use the outhouse.
Everyone survived, but I don't think anyone enjoyed the experience, although it wasn't exactly new for Stephanie and I. One of the nice things about having to 'go' outside was that it gave us a chance to see the starry sky. The air was perfectly clear and there were no lights at all so the sky was amazing. I've never seen so many stars ever and the milky way was a clear and bright feature in the sky. It was really incredible and Stephanie and I stayed out for some time just trying to absorb it and were rewarded with a couple of shooting stars. Unfortunatley, my camera was not up to the task of recording it.
I took a walk before breakfast the next morning to enjoy the fresh air and took pictures of the town, including a couple of yurts, -
- and also a lone yak foot lying on the ground.
After we ate, Pamirbek took us to see Yashi Kul (lake) -
- and also the only native frog species in that region, which lives in the warm waters of a natural spring that feeds the lake.
The rest of the day was spent driving back to Khorog, enjoying more spectacular views and counting the marmots as we went over a second pass and reached our highest point of the whole trip - around 4500 meters or 14,750 feet.
As we descended, the views changed but got no less amazing.
Shortly before arriving in Khorog, we stopped to visit the remains of a Zoroastrain fire temple perched high on a rock outcropping.
From there we got some great views and were able to spot the remains of ancient ceremonial stone circles.
On the way down from the fire temple, Pamirbek got a call from the driver who was supposed to be taking us back to Dushanbe the following morning. Apparently, the demand had been so low that the driver didn't have any clients going to Khorog and therefore hadn't come, leaving us in the lurch. Pamirbek was great, and by dinner time, he had arranged another driver but also promised to see if he could get us on the flight if the weather was clear.
Our last night in Khorog was pleasant, although the water pressure was so low that the showerhead wouldn't work if you held it up above waist level, so getting clean was something of a chore. Nonetheless, since we hadn't been able to shower for the past two days at all, we made it work. It was at this last home stay that we also saw how popular Stephanie is with cats. Back in Langar, there was a cat that seemed to want nothing more than to sit in Stephanie's lap. We though it was just that particular cat, but it happened again in Khorog. In fact, the cat in Khorog was so desperate to be with her that as we were setting down for bed, something came flying in through the window and thudded on the floor. It was the cat. Despite it being rather warm, we decided to sleep with the window closed.
We arose bright and early the next morning, scarfed down some breakfast and dashed over to the airport in the hopes of getting plane tickets. Our original plan was always to drive at least one way, but the thought of a 14+ hour drive over two days was not too appealing at that point. Also, due to the recent breakout of 25 prisoners from a jail in Dushanbe, the nicer route between Khorog and Dushanbe was declared off limits to embassy personnel. That left the southern route, which I've heard is not quite as interesting. So, we were hoping to skip the whole thing and get back via a 1 hour flight instead.
We were by far the first ones there - even the airline employees weren't there. There wasn't a cloud in the sky so it was a sure thing the flight would be going. When Pamirbek spoke with an airport representative, he was told that there was no waiting list and that tickets would be sold first-come-first-serve. It seemed like nothing was in our way. However, when the airline employee showed up, the same guy who told us that there was no list told us that there would be two flights, but that both were already full.
Now, I've been here long enough to know when something fishy is going on and this was definitely one of those times. Furthermore, I know that tickets are never sold in advance for these flights so this guy was definitely pulling something. That said, I've also been here long enough to know that there probably wasn't anything I could do about it.
As I said, our original plan was always to drive, and I don't think I would have been upset except that I knew we were being screwed over. It will definitely be something to talk to the airline about back in Dushanbe. I was also a bit annoyed because the price was almost twice what we had agreed with the original driver.
Pamirbek explained that the problem was that there are many people trying to get from Khorog to Dushanbe but no one trying to go the other way. So prices from Dushanbe were cheap, but from Khorog were high. This matched with what I had heard before leaving Dushanbe, but it was still annoying that one of the few things in Tajikistan that seems to work by free market principles was working against our favor. Of course, there was nothing else to do but suck it up and call the driver. We bought some snacks and water, piled into the spacious-but-not-too-comfortable Toyota minbus and started our long journey.
The first day was relatively uneventful, but the rough roads were tough on us - especially our backsides. The views were still nice -
- and we stopped at a really nice spot for lunch. There was a tapchan (a raised platform for eating) next to a waterfall and we had a really delicious meal of lagman and roasted lamb.
We departed Khorog a little before 10am and arrived at our stopping point in Kalaikhumb a bit after 4pm. By then we were all so glad to be out of the car that we just kind of relaxed and waited for dinner, which was a huge meal of salads and plov.
The second day of our journey was even longer so we got a very early start. Unfortunately, Tajik Tummy finally caught up with us and Dad took the fall. And of course of all the days, it was the day that we had an 8 hour drive. Dad bore it stoically, but it was not a pleasant journey for him.
One thing that was odd for me was that at the check points, I frequently had to get out of the car with our driver and go in while they registered our passports. Usually, they just take them inside, but for some reason I had to go too. No one gave us any trouble, and it was interesting to see the inside of the check point - these guards really don't have too many comforts out there. Once, I also saw our driver slip something under the newspaper on the guard's desk. Obviously a small fee, but at least he was sureptitious about it. Hey, that's how things work here and at least in this case there was no sign of coersion.
We stopped at a not-so-nice place for lunch and forced ourselves to have a few bites, but made our way quickly both for Dad's sake and the sake of our own health, although we did get a bottle of poorly aerated mineral water.
We also saw some interesting dust devils as we got out of the mountains and into the flat lands.
And so it was, with sore behinds, and all more or less worse for the wear, we arrived back in Dushanbe. One thing that almost made me lose my patience was when we just got into town and our driver pulled over and wanted us to get out and find a different driver the rest of the way home. His reasoning was because his car was dirty and he was worried about getting fined. It's a valid concern in Dushanbe - it's illegal to have a dirty car, (likely because someone in the government owns a chain of carwashes), but after that drive, I wasn't in the mood.
Our driver, who was excellent by the way, agreed to take us home after I explained that there are rarely police officers near our house and, sure enough, we made it home without incident. After getting really clean for the first time in days and having a brief bite to eat (except Dad), we all kicked back and relaxed. Funnily enough, when we checked our e-mail, we learned that the prohibition against the northern route from Khorog to Dushanbe had been lifted a couple of days after we left, so we didn't need to go the southern way. Around midnight, the driver came to take my sister to the airport and I went to bed for a good night's sleep.
On Saturday, Dad was feeling better so I took him and Mom to do some souvenir shopping and to get myself a hair cut. What I didn't think of was that Thursday and Friday had both been holidays in Tajikistan (National Day and Eid respectively) and most stores remained closed all weekend. I lucked out with the barber as one of the other customers had called and requested them to come in. My usual barber wasn't there, but the other guys was and he did just as good a job.
One thing that was a little odd was that he started telling me that what he likes about me is that I'm always calm and relaxed, (if that sounds strange, remember, he only sees me when I'm getting my hair cut). He then proceeded to tell me that he is not calm and relaxed and for a minute he looked quite crazy. I asked him what bothers him and instantly regretted it. In my mind's eye, I saw him mentioning the idiots in the U.S. who planned to burn the koran and then killing me with the electric buzzer. Of course, he did nothing of the sort and just shrugged. I don't think you can blame me for being a bit paranoid given the violence in Afghanistan. Fortunately, there hasn't been any such reaction in Tajikistan.
After my hair cut, I went to find my parents and discovered that the place I sent them to shop was also closed, so we walked around a bit, taking in some of the sights, and eventually found a souvenir shop that was open. We spent the rest of the day recovering. This morning, I took Dad to the bazaar to show him how we do our grocery shopping. It was also mostly closed, but we were able to find everything we were looking for. The rest of the day was spent pretty much chilling. All in all it was a great trip and it feels like it's been forever since I was at work - but tomorrow it's back to the grind. So ends the Barnett adventures in Tajikistan.
Here are the rest of the pictures for those who want to see them:
 |
| Pamirs 2010 JPGS |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.