This time next week we will be in the comfort of our own rooms

Right now, we are rained out in Dushanbe here in Tajikistan, and we are into the final third of our journey west.

I have been keeping my friends posted on Facebook with photos from the trip; an activity I have never indulged in. I hope I am not boring them though immodestly I would say the 150+ photos (about 10 a day) uploaded so far are quite nice.

But the photos are an edited, curated experience. Being there - on the streets, getting the smiles and sometimes even the request for a photo, concluded with a flat palm on the heart to signify gratitude - these experiences cannot be properly captured on the shots. Instead, these are felt in the hearts and having now been to three Central Asian countries (we will re-enter Uzbekistan tomorrow), I must say the hospitality they exude is both warm and authentic. One would expect guides to make their guests feel welcome but Stalbeck the story-telling Kyrgyz, Madina the motherly host and Firdaus the accommodating and kind patriot are as much part of the journey as their beautiful countries.

Perhaps because we came to Kyrgyzstan via Kashgar and hence were subject to their “Big Brother” checks, the sense of relief may have made the new place even more welcoming and magnificent. I assure you we were by now hardened travellers and not that easily persuaded. In fact, at the China-Kyrgyzstan border, we had to navigate nearly a kilometre of “neutral zone” down a rough chicane road in cold drizzle, only to be stopped at a military post and being pestered to be driven another kilometre to the immigration checkpoint for SGD4 each. Stalbeck was late. It was not a good start though I must say the rest of the trip, it went perfectly. The weather cooperated, and so did the roads and occasional traffic of cattles, goats and sheep. With all these sights in order, we needed only to have our breaths taken away and they well were.

We have now left the deserts behind and ventured into mountain territory and were immediately taken by the majesty of these landforms reaching for the skies. I must addd that I felt wistful that J was not with us as he had to head back home for work. He would have been intensely thrilled.

After the harrowing tend hour drive (that could have been done in half the time if the overzealous privacy invading checks are moderated and inexplicably long lunch breaks are truncated) for the 300+km from Kashgar, we rested in a small village called Sary-Tash. We lived in the only guesthouse with indoor toilet which promptly ran out of power (and water) and ended up having to use the outhouse anyways. All these added to the adventure for we were communing with nature in this first stop in the ‘Stans like the locals, esp the Sary-Tash folks who seemed genuinely happy to see us. M and I took a walk through their village and though our destination was the panoramic views of the Tien Shan and Pamir Mountains, we were also rewarded by curious and happy kids including two boys up on a rooftop stacking hay and keen to get to know M. It must be frightening and flattering for her; frightening because in Kyrgyzstan there actually is a rite of bride “kidnaping” for elopement.

It was here in Sary-Tash that we were to encounter a new form of tour guide: the story-telling sort (in keeping with the Manas tradition in this country which purportedly has the longest story book in the world, longer than India’s Ramayana and Greece’s Odyssey. We then continued journeying west and every stop turned into an oral tradition including when he and I sat in Babur’s house at the peak of Suleiman Tol in Osh and there I heard stories of the great man’s ambition and conquest which eventually led to the founding of the Mughal Empire.

Osh is a major city that marked the start of the fertile Fergana Valley here in Central Asia. It is a 300km stretch of fertile land irrigated by the Syr Daria/river originating from Tien Shan/mountains. Hemmed in on both sides by mountains and deserts, this is the place where travellers found respite and more. We then travelled from its eastern tip in Osh, Kyrgyzstan through Kokand, Uzbekistan (the erstwhile capital and still proud of being the intellectual & cultural hub) to Khujand, Tajikistan formerly known as Alexandria Eschate and Leninabad.

The division into three countries for this valley speaks of how geography shapes history. It is THE sought after place in this lands of mountains and deserts. All the three cities that mark the tips and centre of the valley are important and now each belong to a different country, though in ages past they have all belong together, be it under the Russian Empire, the Mongolian Khanate or Somoni Empire. Under the banner of the Soviet Union, these lands were divided into states as we have today though the borders are somewhat laughable. There is a road to Kujhand where the left lane belongs to Kyrgyzstan and the right to Tajikistan.

Tajikistan is perhaps the most surprising country for us. It is as unknown to us as Kyrgyzstan except for one fact: it has been in the news since the beginning of the 21st century as a country torn by civil war. Imagine our surprise when we say that not only is it now peaceful, it is also moderate and not an extremist religious state although it shares a long border with Afghanistan.

There is advantage in adversity, as the saying goes and here in Tajikistan there is a strong patriotic fervour. The people here are happy to be free from the tyrannies of war and really want to progress. This was made so visceral to us esp on the first evening in Kujhand our guide Firdavs belted out the national anthem with vim and vigour. Indeed, every museum we step into tell of the great history of the Tajik (often extended into Persian, Aryan peoples) and how well into the modern times, they are still producing world class talents (esp of the literary, cultural sort).

All these countries are just 28 years old, from their independence of the Soviet Union. The efforts to build infrastructure (there is construction everywhere), welcome tourists (procedures are increasingly made easier, which explains our ease of travel in this part compared to when in Xinjiang) and to fire up the national spirit. I felt this more in the smaller countries (K and T, then in U).

Inexplicably (and perhaps not so), YouTube made a suggestion for me to view a video of Singapore in 1983. As it turns out, that is also when Singapore has experienced 28 years of self rule and these cities we have just seen are actually ahead in terms of infrastructure. I really hope the people are really hungry for that is the true source of progress. With the genie out of the bottle, let’s indeed hope it is impossible to put it back in again and may they grow well.

Tajikistan’s capital city of Dushanbe is almost a textbook application of city building. Markets have been cleaned up and bazaars are now housed in modern building more akin to shopping malls. The streets are wide and tree lined and it has been said that this city has more land devoted to parks and gardens than anywhere else in the world. Having walked through a couple of these, we are ready believers.

As we press on westwards, deep into the heart of Central Asia, the trip is less about sights & sounds but a voyage of reflection and renewal.