July 26th, 2019

I did not take my computer with me to Hujand so these next two days are based on the notes I wrote, plus any additions to corrections I may make.

Today we went to Iskandarkul, which was this lake in the mountains. The lake was beautiful (I will post pictures), but it was the drive there that truly took my breath away. It’s difficult to express in words. When one thinks of Tajikistan the first thing that pops into one’s mind probably isn’t its scenery. But these mountains were drove through and glimpsed through other peaks were incredibly. There was also an immense geological diversity of mountains. (I also have no hesitation calling them mountains unlike with the hills near Varzob and Norek). There were mountains that looked almost Swiss with white snowcaps and green rocky sides or at least what photos of the Alps look like since I have admittedly never been. Some looked like they could be straight out of Utah with red dirt and layered sediment craved by the wind (and coal mining?), others almost Mediterranean in quality with dusty sides and scattered brush. The drive led us out of Dushanbe, past Romit, and initially along valleys and through tunnels as we climbed up to the roads that ran along the mountains (something getting dangerously close to the sides).

As we were driving all the time we shared the road with massive trucks carrying coal and small old cars (like mot cars in Tajikistan) that probably didn’t have four wheel drive like the jeeps we were in. We also passed other trucks very frequently and with little regard for rules of the road, which is pretty common in Tajikistan. We passed around corners; we passed facing massive oncoming trucks; we passed in unlit tunnels; we passed around corners facing oncoming trucks in unlit tunnels.  We even went through a tunnel called the “tunnel of death” (translation). It was 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) long and had basically no lighting or ventilation/air circulation. If you broke down in there the carbon monoxide would probably kill you, if you weren’t hit by another vehicle first. Apparently lots of people have died in there. But while I did notice some roadside grave markers there weren’t nearly as many as I expected.

Once we arrived at Iskandrakul, we got to put our feet in and wade (there is no swimming allowed since one time during the Soviet Union a man died there because the water was so cold apparently). We also got to go on a short hike to a lake called Snake Lake until we were interrupted by a large aggressive livestock guard dog, so our guide told as to turn back. We did get to hike to a waterfall afterwards, which was a nice hike (but more of a walk since there wasn’t too much change in elevation). At the waterfall you could stand on a metal grate over it and look down to see the raging water below, especially since the welding didn’t always feel the most stable and bounced at times it could be quite scary. We also forgot water, which was frustrating since even though we were higher up and in the mountains the trademark Tajik heat remained.

After the hike we headed to our guesthouse, but there was apparently a problem with our reservation (I think we were going to have to sleep in hostel-type rooms with other random guests). We add to go to two more guesthouses before they found one that could accommodate us. Us three guys (it used to be four but one went home this week due to illness) had to share a room with our (male) teacher. We didn’t really want to, especially since we didn’t want to disturb him during his five-times-a-day prayers, so we slept on the topchan, instead. It was a pretty fun tonight altogether since we didn’t have any curfew and got to go explore. On one side of the river that ran through the valley was a more modern village with normal Tajik home with havelees/courtyards and the like (plus a bunch of wondering animals).  On the other side were these dirt-brick houses built almost into the hillside. Most were abandoned but some appeared still to be used for storing hay and some used by hikers and tourists passing through. You could see discarded needles and even a few bottles. When I asked my RD about it she said something about Tajikistan being mainly a transit state for opioids but I should ask the students doing research about it on Monday, which I am excited to. 

Another interesting thing about this region is how much coal production there is. Almost every truck we passed was carrying coal. If I understood what the guide was saying correctly than they mine it literally from the sides of mountains but also within. Semiprecious stones are also a related industry. I saw one of the mines built into the mountain and will try to post a photo. The guide said you could recognize the miners because they look like they are wearing make up/eye shadow.

There was a lot of construction on the roads. Most of the workers on the projects we saw were Chinese. Many of the signs especially around Iskandrakul were also in Mandarin in addition to the typical Tajik and Russia. There were also a lot of Chinee tourists at the guesthouses that kept not having space for us. This is because China is pouring a lot of money into Tajikistan (and many other emerging-econony countries) to strengthen its global influence. In addition to sending the money for roads, they also send their own workers.