Tajikistan

In September, we had the opportunity to visit Tajikistan. The next few posts will hopefully give you an idea what it was like.

We went in order to visit Matthew's brother and his family. Aaron, Jen, Ella and Silas have lived in Tajikistan for 4 years. It had been a while since we had seen each other. In fact, this was our first introduction to Silas.

Here are the cousins looking smart.

Here we are picnicking at a reserviour near Khujand.

The cousins got on smashingly! Here's Ella leading BG through her town.

Miriam and Silas had a stormy relationship. One minute they would be competing (with tears) for the same toy, the next minute they would be laughing together. But that's a two year old for ya!

Ella and Oliver rode together on this ride at the amusement park.

Miriam has never sat so still.

We met a few interesting people that made our time in Tajikistan special, like the family that Aaron and Jen lived with when they first arrived and the man who helped Aaron learn Tajik, but noone was more endearing than this young lady. She babysits for Ella and Silas sometimes, but she is far more that a babysitter. She has a place in our hearts and prayers.
Here we are all together. Oh, yeah, did we tell you that the American football made the whole journey? Crazy boys, they couldn't put it down!

Tajikistan - The hike

One of the greatest things about visiting Tajikistan was beholding the beauty of God's creation. Our hosts took us up into the mountains, to a place called Iskanderkul, for three days. Getting there was exciting. Notice the over-packed, over-peopled car. And if you could see out the windows, you would notice a lack of road. For hours, we bumped along treacherous mountain roads to get to our destination.

But it was worth it. Our bungalow was located in among the trees in the picture above. The water really was that color. Breathtaking.

One day we hiked from the lake, down this canyon . . .

. . . to this 38 meter (114 ft.) waterfall. Unfortunately there was no way to take a picture of it. Notice the look-out deck is held in place and balanced by a boulder. The kids loved collecting rocks and dropping them through the cracks.

And there was no lack of rocks.

The second full day in Iskanderkul, we climbed up the mountain named after Alexander the Great's hat. It's the domed mountain in the last picture of this post. No, we didn't climb the whole way. We drove most of the way up. But it still left us with a pretty gruelling hour up to the top. On the way, we saw eagles soring above our heads. Maybe they were expecting one of the little ones to not make it!

But they did make it!

Aaron and I

Ella, Benjamin and Oliver posing on the top of the mountain.
Incredible, no?

Tajikistan - The culture

I'll try not to write much about the culture, especially since we are no experts. But it didn't take long for us to realize that the cultural traditions in Tajikistan are old and unchanging. For example, this is Osh. It is the national food of Tajikistan. It consists of rice, carrots, chickpeas, raisins and meat. If you have a guest, this is what you cook, period.

And this is how you eat it, off of the floor or low table, sitting on colorful cushions. Usually the table is full of nuts, fruit and chocolate, which you are free to eat before the meat comes. Our kids liked that part!

Speaking of food, here is a bread seller at the market.

The dried fruits and nuts where plentiful.

Here's some local vendors showing off their hats for sale. Just notice all the colors!

Melinda wore one of Jen's Tajik dresses. With her black hair, she fit right in. Here Jen is teaching her how to use the short, standard issue broom.

Seller at the bazaar.

We felt right at home in Khujand when we saw this big bird statue. Tatabánya's is bigger!

And finally . . . That's 25 pounds of apples on her head and a cell phone in her hand and she seems to be walking down a road in the middle of nowhere.

Well, all in all it was a trip of a lifetime that we will not soon forget. Thanks Aaron, Jen, Ella and Silas for giving up your beds and being our hosts. Stop by next time you find yourselves in Europe and we'll return the favor!