Are awesome. Enough said. In Kyrgyzstan I was faced plenty of nice hosts and interesting people, but also with stones, crazy drivers, and plenty of heat. Here in Khorog, and especially in the outlying villages, truck drivers always wave and kids sometimes give your bike a push up the bigger hills. Chai is readily offered in every village, and sweets come out every hour. Extra helpings of dumplings are given by street side sellers.
The land is often lonely and harsh, with jeep service to Khorog once a week from the Bartang Valley village of Savnob. We didn't finish the ride to Kok Jar and Murghab, but saw enough to have a good taste of the valley. Like the other parts of the Pamir, the valley, and each village to some extent, has its own dialect, crops, and traditions. People often say the Soviet times were better, and in terms of resources, they may have been. But the villages maintain cultures begun thousands of years ago.
Most Pamiri people are well educated. The region has tens of thousands of inhabitants, and the Khorog state University and University of Central Asia graduate a thousand or so folks a year. Not every conference is as big as this years, but for a 20 year old university there are plenty of alumni. Some of the most dedicated and intellectual professors too, making less than 1200 US per year.
Electricity and internet are not everywhere, and not perfect where they exist. But wherever there is a sizable spring, a small private or government hydro plant has popped up, often with Soviet pipes and gears. Irons cant be used much of the day, but there is enough power for satellite TVs and such. Petrol, however, is still very scarce, so power ends in the fall and resumes in the spring, and roadwork and farming are done by hand or with oxen.
Every family has at least a couple of these tied outside. Some dozens, but you can never tell because shepherding duties tend to be shared in the village. There are more hoofprints on many roads than tire tracks, and much more meat than vegetables or fish served.
The land is often lonely and harsh, with jeep service to Khorog once a week from the Bartang Valley village of Savnob. We didn't finish the ride to Kok Jar and Murghab, but saw enough to have a good taste of the valley. Like the other parts of the Pamir, the valley, and each village to some extent, has its own dialect, crops, and traditions. People often say the Soviet times were better, and in terms of resources, they may have been. But the villages maintain cultures begun thousands of years ago.
Most Pamiri people are well educated. The region has tens of thousands of inhabitants, and the Khorog state University and University of Central Asia graduate a thousand or so folks a year. Not every conference is as big as this years, but for a 20 year old university there are plenty of alumni. Some of the most dedicated and intellectual professors too, making less than 1200 US per year.
Electricity and internet are not everywhere, and not perfect where they exist. But wherever there is a sizable spring, a small private or government hydro plant has popped up, often with Soviet pipes and gears. Irons cant be used much of the day, but there is enough power for satellite TVs and such. Petrol, however, is still very scarce, so power ends in the fall and resumes in the spring, and roadwork and farming are done by hand or with oxen.
Every family has at least a couple of these tied outside. Some dozens, but you can never tell because shepherding duties tend to be shared in the village. There are more hoofprints on many roads than tire tracks, and much more meat than vegetables or fish served.
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