Photos

Silk Road from Toshkent to Kashgar:
Not quite on the ancient Silk Road but downhill from the Anzob pass we found this village, Kalon. It is situated at 2080 m alt. It will no longer be an obligatory passage on the way to the capital Dushanbe when the tunnel from here through the Zerafshan mountains is finally completed (in 2009?).

Life is hard here. The lack of wood (the wood in the background is planted and irrigated) forces people to use dried dung (lower center) for heating and cooking. Honey takes the place of sugar (hives to the left); house construction is in adobe; wood for construction has to be planted. Water is hauled by hand from the creek in the background. In the lower center you see the toilet. Electricity is there but not for everybody (pole near the wood).

You can look up the place by clicking "Map: view".