Driving Over the Mountains to Uzbekistan

Despite taking a “shortcut” through the mountains, we still had about an 8-hour drive today to go from Tajikistan to the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Over 90% of Tajikistan is mountainous . On the drive, we saw small farms and villages wedged on any plateau or steppe available.

We stopped at a few lookout points along the way, including one strategically located produce stand where we picked up dried apricots and almonds.

While on the bus, we learned a bit more about Tajikistan:

Unlike the other Central Asian countries we’ve visited, most of the Tajik people were not nomadic. The majority were settled farmers and traders on the Silk Road, with roots dating back to ancient civilizations 5,500 years ago.

The city name, Khujand, translates to “farthest reach,” referring to the farthest extent of Alexander the Great’s conquest. (The Tajiks call him Alexander the Invader.)

The Tajik language is Persian/Farsi. It isn’t Turkic-based, which is true of the other four “Stans” we’re visiting (and other countries, including Turkey—they can all generally understand each other’s language—it’s more like dialects of the same language).

While most people are Muslim, the country is not entirely Islamic—an array of religions are practiced.

The main source of income for families is through what they call migration (family members leave to work in other countries, mostly in Russia, and send money home). Tajiks who do this get Russian citizenship. That was no problem until the Ukraine war; then Tajiks could be drafted. The Tajikistan president said anyone who participated in the war would be imprisoned for 35 years. So, many started leaving Russia, and it helped that the UK and Europe offered work for 6 months at a time, offering good wages. However, this practice has tapered off in recent years.Read more