Almost in Uzbekistan

Today was a very interesting day. I and one of our consultants were taken on a field trip by the Ministry of Energy and Water to look at some flood protections they have built along the Amu Darya. I was a bit worried before the trip, not so much about the security; that we were travelling on our own, with people we had just met, to an area we don’t know with out any precious security clearance. I felt that was all ok. According to all available information that area should be quite ok and we were travelling on a very low-key, with local people in an unmarked, local car. What worried me more was that we would be five people in an old Toyota Corolla, which I thought had no AC, on partly very bad roads. Not that I distrust the ability of a Corolla, they are very good cars!! But this just might be one size to big. On top of that I woke up at four this morning with a rather unhappy stomach. Oh, no! This is the absolutely wrong day for that. It was not very bad, but I took some loperamid as a precaution and it all went well. To my surprise the car even had AC so the trip was quite ok.

The drive took about an hour straight north, the first stretch of the road was very good, nicely paved with asphalt, but the last stretch was still under construction and we were driving on gravel. The landscape is very flat and basically pure desert. Approaching the river it got a little greener. Leaving the main road and driving to the bands that we were there to look at we were driving at what could at the most be called paths. That was a hard test for the Corolla, but she stood the test. My head also stood the test although it got quite a few hits while we bumped along the paths.



I must say it was a rather special feeling to stand on the bank of Amu Darya. Having read quite a lot about Afghanistan and Central Asia one realise the river played an important part in history; as a transport route and a border. Although in history it is probably more known as Oxus. Even Alexander the Great crossed it! We did not cross however, but i got a sms welcoming me to Uzbekistan, that was cool enough for me.

We also went to see the village that the band was suppose to protect from the river. That was really something! I had never before been in a rural Afghanistan village. We wanted to speak to the head of the village, but he was not there. But the kids had a field day.


As always they were very curious and excited, but we also noted that they seemed a bit afraid of the car and ran away, much further than would have been normal safety precautions.



Our guide said they had probably never seen a car before. It seems a bit unlikely as it was not so far from the somewhat bigger town of Hiayraton, but on the other hand, the village was still quite far off the main road and I suppose the kids don’t get to go into the town. I don’t think we saw a woman the whole day. Not even in Hiayraton were we went afterwards.



A shepard watching his sheep and goats by the river.

The village and the houses looked rather different from the houses closer to Mazar and in Kabul, and their walls were a bit lower so you actually could see the houses. They houses are a bit higher and they are wider at the base and almost look a bit like towers. The Amu Darya forms the border between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan so I guess the culture is a bit different. I think it is a bit cool to almost have been in Uzbekistan. I even got a sms saying Welcome to Uzbekistan.

You can really tell that Hiayraton is a border town. There is a big bridge over the river and into Uzbekistan and it is both a road and railroad bridge. So the small stretch of railroad leading from the bridge and into the big yard were there stood loads and loads of rusty wagons and tank wagons, is actually the only piece of railroad in all of Afghanistan. The wagons have probably been standing there since the Soviet troops withdrew. Just outside of the town there were also lots and lots of trucks and lorries, waiting for cargo I guess. Most of them, as the bus, were old German trucks, but also quite a few were old Russian. My favourite was the big Mercedes Benz with “Corolla” written all over the front. That really says something about the status of Corolla in this country!

When we came back to Mazar we just had a quick shower and then we went to the camp to catch up on the midsummer celebrations. We missed the herring lunch but got dinner and had some good chat with people. Somehow it felt a bit weird to be there again. It was all so familiar, everything looked the same as in March, but all the people had changed. Strange!

Not even here did we get a beer though! It seems there are more strict restrictions on import all of a sudden.