It was an awful night. Trapped at the border station on the Tajik side of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, my lack of acclimatization and over-exertions from the previous day had led to an intense bout of altitude sickness. I spent the night staggering from my bunk in the barracks to the pit toilet outside, alternating between …
tajikistan
Traveling as an Introvert
Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” – Carl Jung Human psychology is fascinating, and it also happens to be something I know next to nothing about. And yet, even people like myself, with next to no knowledge of the field, know what it means when someone is described as an ‘introvert’ or ‘extrovert’. You …
Top 10 Memories: Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend
I treat the camera like a person – I gaze into it. Photos are a flat thing, and you need to put life into them.” – Cara Delevingne Sometimes travel is dangerous. I know it as well as anyone. From being jumped on a cobblestone street in France to battling altitude sickness while crossing a pass …
Christmas Letter 2014
This year, Christmas is going to be weird. Not because I’m spending it in a flat near the outskirts of Pohang or in a Korean beach-side pension with many of my dear friends. Not even because I’m spending it on a beach in Thailand belting Johnny Cash tunes out across the waves. No, this year is weird …
The Fortress of Hissar
After spending a week in Dushanbe doing nothing but eating, relaxing, and generally being a lazy bum–something I figured I deserved after my scary brush with altitude sickness–I felt a burning desire to get outside the city and explore. Luckily, the small town of Hissar lies just to the west of Dushanbe. Nothing special as far as …
Hitch-hiking into Tajikistan
The ancient Russian troop transport rumbled and creaked as it trundled up the Ak-Baital Pass, a breath-taking (literally) 4,655 meters above sea level. After several stops to let the engine cool, we crested the top and a cheer rose from the border guards in the back. The young soldier next to me gave me a thumbs up. “Okay?” …
Danger in No Man’s Land
Setting out from the Kyrgyz border post at Bor Dobo, I had a decent idea of the distance (15+ km) between me and the Tajik border. I assumed that I would be able to catch a ride, but figured I could hike the difference if none came along. From the start, the scenery was stunning. After …
Sary Tash to the Tajik Border
We dropped down over Taldyk Pass and the tiny town of Sary Tash lay spread out before us at the base of the mountain. When my pre-arranged taxi ride from Osh, Kyrgyzstan to Murghab, Tajikistan fell through (the driver decided he didn’t feel like driving on a holiday after all), I had a few minutes …