Tajikistan - Central Asia - Pamirs - Badakhshan - people - Wakhan Valley - mountains - Dushanbe - Osh to Murghab - Langar - kids - border - autumn - Vrang - Murghab - Namadgut - Kyrgyz - kalpak - food markets - Shah Mansur Bazaar -
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The ruins of the 12th-century Yamchun Fort against a beautiful backdrop of the Pamir Mountains. Another kilometer up the road, you'll find the delightful Bibi Fatima hot springs. The first dose of hot water we'd had in days. Taken in Tajikistan's Wakhan Valley.Read more about our adventures in the Pamirs.
Once all the tires (plus the spare) were equipped with some more hand-pumped air, this packed-to-the-brim Volga would take off. ..That is, until all the tires would go flat again after a few more kilometers...Taken in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan en route to Murghab.Read more about our adventures in the Pamirs.
The entrance to Shah Mansur Bazaar (Green Market) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.© www.uncorneredmarket.com
Taken in Khorog, Tajikistan.Read about our adventures in the Pamirs.
The barbed wire fence on the left marks the border between Tajikistan and China. It was unmanned, but menacingly stretched for miles and miles.Read more about our adventures in the Pamirs.
These kids led us around the shrine and Buddhist caves in the village of Vrang, Tajikistan. The girls spoke a little English, more Russian, better Tajik and fluent Wakhan languages. Not bad for 9 years old.Read more about our adventures in the Pamirs.
The elder sister here was studying English in Khorog while the younger sister tried to teach us Tajik and Wakhan the night before. ..Taken in Namadgut, Tajikistan..© www.uncorneredmarket.com
An older Kyrgyz man in his kalpak (traditional Kyrgyz hat) waits for his ride at a remote cafe in Tajikistan...Taken en route to Murghab, Tajikistan.Read more about our adventures in the Pamirs.
The few Pamiri houses we saw in Langar, Tajikistan, all had full cribs with crying babies...© www.uncorneredmarket.com
The view from the yard of the Pamiri House we visited in Langar, Tajikistan. Though the locals take it for granted, we were blown away by the layered landscape and how the autumn leaves play off the snow-capped mountains in the background. It's all about perspectives. Read more about our adventures in the Pamirs.
A kitty takes a nap between Dan's feet at the Pamiri house where we stayed overnight in Namadgut, Tajikistan.Read more about our adventures in the Pamirs.
These two girls invited Dan and Hugues to see their Pamiri home. Without any common language (the girls didn't speak Russian and Dan didn't speak Pamiri), it was a bit difficult to communicate, but obviously still fun.Read about our adventures in the Pamirs.
Our Kyrgyz driver, French co-travelers, American Audrey and Pamiri hosts. ..Taken in Namadgut, Tajikistan..© www.uncorneredmarket.com
An abandoned bus seems to fit in with the reds and yellows of the changing autumn leaves in the Wakhan Valley village of Vrang, Tajikistan.Read more about our adventures in the Pamirs.
Haji Yakoub Mosque and advertisements for the October 2007 CIS Summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.© www.uncorneredmarket.com
This family in the village of Namadgut, Tajikistan took us in for the night. The mother had five daughters and one son. We suspect she continued to have children until a son was born.Read more about our adventures in the Pamirs.
This woman greeted us in English, which surprised us, and then invited us into her home in Langar, Tajikistan. She had studied English for two years in Khorog and then became a teacher in the village school in Langar, but had to stop working when she got married. She was eager to practice her English and seemed excited to have engagement with someone outside her family.Read more about our adventures in the Pamirs.
The statue of the Marco Polo sheep marks the entrance into Tajikistan from Kyrgyzstan. The official border crossing and passport control is a few kilometers away...in an even more remote corner of the universe.Read more about our adventures in the Pamirs.
Along the Wakhan Valley in Tajikistan in the Pamir Mountains. We followed the Pyanj River with Afghanistan on one side and Tajikistan on the other. The views into Afghanistan and the Hindu Kush of Pakistan were stunning.Read more about our adventures in the Pamirs.
The sun sets and clouds close in on Murghab in Tajikistan's Pamir Mountain region.© www.uncorneredmarket.com
Grandmother, mother and son wait for their car to be repaired at a remote cafe outpost near the Tajik border.Read more about our adventures in the Pamirs.
This cat was caught in the act of trying to steal breakfast from the sleeping/dining area of the Pamiri house where we stayed in Langar, Tajikistan.Read more about our adventures in the Pamirs.
This smooth character in his tall kalpak (traditional Kyrgyz felt hat) and sunglasses eyed the table at a billiards hall in Murghab. Tajikistan. Kyrgyz in Tajikistan? Odd borders (which are rife throughout the former Soviet Union) in and around Murghab and Tajik-Kyrgyz border areas are heavily populated by ethnic Kyrgyz.Read more about our adventures in the Pamirs.
