Something just happened in Tajikistan. No one is quite sure what. I cherry bomb? A car bomb? An atomic bomb? In Dushanbe, everyone lives behind cement walls. Mine are 9 feet high. In Langar, people live in mud huts. “Pamiri houses” they are called. There are five pillars holding up the roof, and a hole that lets the smoke out. Trees line the streets. People live as they always did. Who knows when they will enter this century. Maybe they don’t want to. Maybe they are better off.

• The Pamirs We just came back from Iskander-Kol, only about four hours from Dushanbe. We drove the Niva, and made it through the "tunnel of death" alive! To get to the Pamirs however, you have to either drive 13-16 hours, or go to the airport and try to get on a flight.......
• Kulma Pass http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/kulma-pass/ "The Kulma Pass is a mountain pass, elevation 4,362 meters (14,311 feet), located on the border between China's autonomous region of Xinjiang and Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. Officially opened on May 25, 2004, the pass is on the only maintained road connecting the two nations, and is the......

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