Bulukul

Tajikistan

August 24, 2019

“You must be very rich,” the visitors from Saudi Arabia remarked.  “You have rivers!”

So reported Bakhtiyar, my driver in Tajikistan who quoted his Saudi clients from last year.

Just today, on my own journey, I climb from the fertile valleys and stop at the Pamir River, one of the five rivers that flow into the Panj River, a major tributary of the Amu Darya (or Oxus River). 

I take lunch at the Koi-Tezek Pass, 4122m, 13,523ft, 2.56 miles high in the barren desert.

The Saudi visitors also had a special goal in Tajikistan.   They wanted to visit Bulukul, the coldest village in the country.  

Langar

Langar Region

Wakhan Corridor

Tajikistan

August 23, 2019

My guidebook printed a cautionary notice:

“Visiting the Wakhan Corridor should come with a strong warning: having trekked or driven down the Tajik side of the corridor, you will return home and start planning your trip to Afghanistan.  It’s unavoidable.  The Tajik side is majestic, but Afghanistan is so tantalizingly close that it drives you almost to distraction.” *

Will I ever visit Afghanistan?  The prospect is “tantalizing.”

Nevertheless, the Tajik side of the Wakhan Corridor is truly “majestic.”

Vrang Village

Wakhan Region

Tajikistan

August 23, 2019

It seemed like we climbed more than thirty minutes on a rutted road to reach the summit of the hill that overlooks the ruins of the Alexander Fortress.

I’d like to believe that he was really here more than 2300 years ago.

The scenery hasn’t changed in two millennia:

Khorugh

Pop 31,000

Capital - Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region

Republic of Tajikistan

August 22, 2019

Khorugh is surrounded by mountains.

Not just hills mind you.  The Pamir Mountains.  

Mountains so high I must lift my chin and stretch my neck to see the very tops.

Rushan Town

Rushan Valley

Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region

Tajikistan

August 21, 2019

Hello from the Pamir Mountains,

Who cannot feel grateful for the opportunity to visit the “inaccessible” mountains and the white capped rivers of Tajikistan?

But it’s the kids who are enchanting.

On the Road

The Pamirs

Tajikistan

August 21, 2019

Hello,

My driver Bachtiyar decides to take a break and refresh himself in the mists of the waterfall on the edge of the road.

On our return to Dushanbe along the same route, our vehicle enjoys the same refreshment.

Jan