Adventure Magazine #242

Across country
TAJIKISTAN
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Tajikistan
Running across the country
Words and photos by Danny Bent
Tajikistan is a beautiful emerald of a country that was
once part of the USSR, squished between Afghanistan,
China, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan; a country awash with
turquoise rivers, green pastures and towering mountains.
As you can imagine the varied influences make Tajikistan
a mouthwatering smash up of cultures and people. The
Tajik language for example is Persian but written with the
Russian, Cyrillic, alphabet. However, Tajik is only one of
over 9 languages spoken in the region with Russian being
the preferred language for business and government.
Fourteen of us arrived here with the aim of running across
the country; up the Bartang Valley, from Afghanistan to the
Chinese and Kyrgyzstan borders. Just under 300km. A
route into the unknown.
14 years ago, I was on my bike in Kyrgyzstan having cycled
here from London on my sturdy ‘Long Haul Trucker’ bicycle
named Shirley. Shirley and I were hanging out in Saritash,
a town that is the crossroads of the Silk Route. My intention
was to take the left turn and head into China, finishing
in Southern India where I was due to start teaching at a
school. But the right turn pulled me in, it led to the Pamir
Mountain Range that soared above me, the Pamir Highway
lay in front of me, and the promise of a country I hadn’t
known about a week previous grabbed my heart.
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Liz in the Bartang Valley running towards the Pamir Mountain Range
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