Afghanistan workmen
The last few days I was reminded that my travel through Central Asia also involved a long drive along the Afghanistan border, and I still remember my feelings about that drive. The other side was always near, and sometimes (like in this shot) not further away than 100 meter or so. It was like looking into an other world, (it was clear that Afghanistan was and is a country very poor compared to even Tajikistan), a forbidden world too. Although at that time it would have been possible to go into it, we were told that because of the situation in that area, it was wiser not to go. We were dreaming of driving that part, but as you can see, the shape of it means a hell of a drive.
This shot here shows a group workmen who are working on the road on the other side. My thoughts about what happens and happened in Afghanistan the last few decades are going in all sorts of directions. Poverty, politics, the role of the superpowers, and the role of religion on the one side, and on the other side friendly people everywhere. Why can't we live in peace?
20 September 2019 I came back from my journey over a part of the Silk Road to and through Central Asia. 4 months of traveling through 14 countries (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran) before I flew home from Teheran. An impressive journey in countries that are extremely beautiful, with lovely and welcoming people and diverse cultures and history.
Intense traveling with more than 20000 kilometers in our mobile home on sometimes roads that hardly could be called that way. We saw many villages and cities (some wonderful, others very ugly), countries that are transforming from the old Soviet era into something more related to older cultures and the way people live, often funded by oil readily available around the Caspian sea. We saw the amazing mountains south of the Black Sea, the wonderful Caucasus, and the high mountains in the far east close to China with peaks over 7000 meter, and not to forget the (Bulgarian) Alps!
We crossed the great steppe of Kazakhstan. a drive of at least 5000 km, the remnants of lake Aral, once one of the biggest lakes of the world, saw a rocket launch from Baikonur (this little part is Russian owned), we crossed many high mountains passes, and drove the breathtaking canyon that comes from the Pamir, beginning at ca 4500 meter, and going down for ca. 400km to an altitude of 1300 meter, driving for 100's of kilometers along the Afghan border.
And then the numerous lakes with all sorts of different colors from deep cobalt blue to turquoise, and one rare spectacle in Turkmenistan where a gas crater is burning already for more than 40 years. And finally and certainly not the least to mention an enormous amount of wonderful, hospitable and welcoming
Afghanistan workmen
The last few days I was reminded that my travel through Central Asia also involved a long drive along the Afghanistan border, and I still remember my feelings about that drive. The other side was always near, and sometimes (like in this shot) not further away than 100 meter or so. It was like looking into an other world, (it was clear that Afghanistan was and is a country very poor compared to even Tajikistan), a forbidden world too. Although at that time it would have been possible to go into it, we were told that because of the situation in that area, it was wiser not to go. We were dreaming of driving that part, but as you can see, the shape of it means a hell of a drive.
This shot here shows a group workmen who are working on the road on the other side. My thoughts about what happens and happened in Afghanistan the last few decades are going in all sorts of directions. Poverty, politics, the role of the superpowers, and the role of religion on the one side, and on the other side friendly people everywhere. Why can't we live in peace?
20 September 2019 I came back from my journey over a part of the Silk Road to and through Central Asia. 4 months of traveling through 14 countries (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran) before I flew home from Teheran. An impressive journey in countries that are extremely beautiful, with lovely and welcoming people and diverse cultures and history.
Intense traveling with more than 20000 kilometers in our mobile home on sometimes roads that hardly could be called that way. We saw many villages and cities (some wonderful, others very ugly), countries that are transforming from the old Soviet era into something more related to older cultures and the way people live, often funded by oil readily available around the Caspian sea. We saw the amazing mountains south of the Black Sea, the wonderful Caucasus, and the high mountains in the far east close to China with peaks over 7000 meter, and not to forget the (Bulgarian) Alps!
We crossed the great steppe of Kazakhstan. a drive of at least 5000 km, the remnants of lake Aral, once one of the biggest lakes of the world, saw a rocket launch from Baikonur (this little part is Russian owned), we crossed many high mountains passes, and drove the breathtaking canyon that comes from the Pamir, beginning at ca 4500 meter, and going down for ca. 400km to an altitude of 1300 meter, driving for 100's of kilometers along the Afghan border.
And then the numerous lakes with all sorts of different colors from deep cobalt blue to turquoise, and one rare spectacle in Turkmenistan where a gas crater is burning already for more than 40 years. And finally and certainly not the least to mention an enormous amount of wonderful, hospitable and welcoming