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The “Frontier School of Character”: Travels along the Pamir Highway Part V.
“In my opinion, eight officers out of ten are
This entry was posted in Asia, Central Asia, Tajikistan and tagged Afghanistan, Atatürk, Basmachi, Bolshevik, Bukhara, China, Dushanbe, Dušanbe, Enver Pasha, Khorog, Kulob, Lenin, M41, Marshrutka, Pamir, Pamir Highway, Panj river, Shared Taxi, Tajikistan, USSR. Bookmark the permalink.
Fantastic story from the road. Loved it!
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Thanks Anna! Hope to read your take soon…
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You might be waiting a while…. My kid has to grow up a bit more first! Lol. Thanks 🙂
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Ok, can wait a couple of months! 😀
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That’s an epic road trip. I was introduced to marshrutkas in Moldova. I took one from Chisinau to the breakaway republic of Transnistria. I assume that the Dutch girl was traveling alone. Did she mention if she encountered any difficulties? Is this the last installment in your tale? Any plans to go back?
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Hi Julie! The Dutch girl indeed travelled alone, on her gap year between high school and university. She’d bought a fake wedding ring so that she could answer the inevitable “where’s your husband?” question, but in 4 months around Central Asia she said to have had remarkably little problems… Certainly a time better spent than my 18-years-old hols!
This is the last instalment for the Highway, I’m considering doing something on Dušanbe, at least to publish the handful of photos I have from there. When am I going back to Central Asia? End of August!
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Oh. My. Goodness. That was the most random assortment of roads, characters, products, animals, and more, and I loved every minute of it. I admit to skimming the history at the end, for the present day events surpassed it in my mind. We often have common thoughts, and this time it was your fascination with the country across the river. Like you, I feel in my bones the exotic-ness and novelty of countries like Afghanistan, and just being within striking distance (and certainly sight) excites me beyond belief. Are we both weirdos? I’m sorry the Pamir Highway series is coming to an end; it’s been a wild ride and I thank you for taking me along!
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Hi Lexi, thanks for reading! The story of Enver Pasha is actually quite intriguing and worth a read – if not here, I recommend Peter Hopkirk’s “Setting the East Ablaze”. Doesn’t happen often to see somebody basically taking the piss of Lenin and his whole entourage like Enver did.
I don’t think being fascinating with Afghanistan makes you a weirdo, a lot of people I’ve spoken to were as fascinated by this fact, and in some cases they’d spent a lot more time and distance on the border… Again, thanks a lot for reading!
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I am so enthralled by your tales of the Wild West of central Asia as well as your recounting of history I have not been introduced to.
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Thanks for your comment, glad you liked the series!
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Wow, what an adventure to say the least. Would love to visit this part of the world one day but until then thank you for the fun here!
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Hi Patti, thanks for commenting! I warmly recommend the ‘Stans… it mightn’t be everyone cup of tea, but they really give some nice stories to tell home. Thanks for reading along.
Fabrizio
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Ahh, what a trip. Interesting about marchrutkas. We call our “maršruta” when we have a hike before us that we’d agreed on and we’re doing it slowly but surely.
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Interesting! I’m not a linguist, so pardon me if what I’m saying is nonsense, but is Slovenian a Slavic language?
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Yes, it is. Slavic languages are relatively similar. In Slovakia and Czech Republic (all Slavs) I was able to communicate in Slovenian. In Russia (or any other ex-Soviet republic) I’ve never been. They say that Slovenian is the first Slavic language to have a book published. In 1550.
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Ah, you never cease to learn! Thanks! 🙂
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