August 19, 2004

Short-sheeted

Nukus, Uzbekistan

Ubekistan boasts the second highest cotton production figures in the world, topped only by the US.

So why are all my bedsheets six inches too short?

Posted by David at 12:01 AM

August 18, 2004

I've been to Moynaq

Moynaq, Uzbekistan

Moynaq is the end of the earth. Once a thriving fishing port on the shoreline of the Aral Sea it now lies in the midst of desert, four hours from anywhere, the sea having all but disappeared due to Soviet mismanagement.

The idea was to outdo the US on cotton production. With the acquisition of the Central Asian states and all that empty land the opportunity seemed ripe. All that was needed was water to feed the thirsty crops. Much of that water ultimately came from the rivers that fed the Aral Sea, and so the sea began to dry up.

Some poignant attempts to stem the tide of change were made by the residents of Moynaq. Canals were dug from the town to the ever receding shoreline. It was a hopeless task. The canals now lie bone dry, the rusting hulks of fishing ships resting in the sands. The shoreline has now disappeared completely from sight, yet the town remains.

The town of Moynaq stretches over five or six kilometres. One main street and a couple of side streets. Equal parts occupied buildings, abandoned buildings, and empty lots. The remaining two thousand residents have not consolidated in one part of town but live scattered throughout the former city. There is no agriculture, no industry, and seemingly no reason to be here. As you walk the vacant streets and the dust blows it feels positively post-apocalyptic.

Yet those that remain seem happy enough. I'm the only guest at the crumbling two story Hotel Oybek, the only lodging in town, but the three or four guys hanging around cheerfully make me meals, show me the outdoor cold-water shower, and invite me to watch TV. The lady down the road will open her small shop if someone happens to want to buy some dry biscuits or a soft drink. The children are all friendly as they play in the dusty streets.

As I take the long bus journey back towards the rest of the world I know that most of the residents of Moynaq will not follow me on this journey. There's no reason to stay but if they left, where would they go?

Posted by David at 12:59 AM

August 01, 2004

I fought the law...

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

And I thought Tajikistan had a heavy military presence...

My first week here in Tashkent (interminably waiting for visas) and I've been stopped by the police in the metro thirteen times. At first I thought they were looking for a chance to confiscate "counterfeit" money but now I'm not so sure.

The encounters are usually fairly friendly, although by about number ten my patience started wearing out. Sometimes it's just a fairly quick check of the passport, sometimes they haul you off to an office for more thorough questioning.

The interrogation usually runs along the lines of:

Them: "Criminal?"
Me: "Nyet"
Them: "Narkotik?"
Me: "Nyet"

End of intense interrogation.

They usually want to check my backpack as well but even then they only check the top section (full of books and such) and not the bottom (with camera and money). In any case, a request to see their ID usually puts a halt to proceedings.

The last time I was hauled off to the same office for the third time I started to lose patience. "Look", I said, indicating a big poster on the wall behind them with about a hundred mugshots, "Terrorist", then pointing to me, "Tourist", pointing to the mugshots "Terrorist", me, "Tourist". "Understand?"

I actually can't work them out. I don't think they are angling for money. They can't seriously think I'm a potential terrorist. Their checks for drugs are cursory. I think maybe they're just bored and it's much more interesting to flick through a foreigners passport, with all those exotic stamps, than a locals.

Posted by David at 12:37 AM

July 30, 2004

Breaking news

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

This afternoon the US and Israeli embassies in Tashkent were bombed, along with the prosecutors office. Within hours it was being reported worldwide by hundreds of news sites.

The source of many of those reports was Jo, one of the people I had crossed the Torugart Pass with. At dinner that night she told of how she was at home in the shower when a local radio station reported the news. She called in the details, as best she could remember them, to her office, BBC monitoring in Central Asia. From there they were dispatched back to the UK and around the world.

So, from a shower in a Tashkent apartment to you. In just a hour or two.

Posted by David at 08:05 PM

July 25, 2004

The geopolitical Rubik's cube

Khojand, Tajikistan

I thought I might catch the train from Khojand across the border to Uzbekistan. Think again. The trains are one of many victims of the break-up of the Soviet Union. Once the train lines just crossed provincial borders, now they cross international ones. That's just too difficult so they've mostly stopped.

All around the Fergana Valley, my current location, the borders are crazily knotted. Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan all come together here. As I take a car to the Uzbek border the road briefly crosses into Kyrgyzstan, before returning to Tajikistan again. Within each country are bizarre enclaves of another. Islands cut off from their homeland. Complete cities have been placed in the wrong country. Osh, in Kyrgyzstan, is predominantly Uzbek, and Samarkand and Bukhara, jewels in Uzbekistan's crown, more properly belong to Tajikistan.

(If you look on the map of Kyrgyzstan you'll see two empty spots near Batken that look like lakes. They're actually enclaves of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.)

There effectively were no borders until Stalin's time. Then they started creating new regions and drew the lines for reasons of political control, rather than ethnic cohesion. But at least in Soviet times people were reasonably free to cross the borders. Now, with extensive mutual distrust amongst the new countries, freedom of movement has been severely curtailed. Uzbekistan suspects Tajikistan of hiding separatists. Uzbek border guards recently killed two people in Kazakstan who they suspected of smuggling. Tajikistan is known as one of the world's major drug smuggling arteries. And Turkmenistan doesn't want to talk to anyone.

New roads and railway lines are frantically being built to skirt the borders of neighbouring countries but for many people the difficulties they now face in moving around the region are enough for them to harken back wishfully for the days of communism, when at least they were one country. The simple practicalities of day-to-day living outweigh any considerations of nationalism.

Posted by David at 06:09 PM