In July/August 2024, I spent one month hitchhiking through Tajikistan - from the western border with Uzbekistan to the northern border with Kyrgyzstan - across the desolate Pamir Plateau. This is a route through which countless travelers, explorers, and merchants have ventured, as this was the main artery of the Silk Road. Marco Polo himself recounts his thirteenth-century journey through this inhospitable land in his epic memoir, The Travels. I wanted to be an active participant in history and document the lives of those living in this forgotten corner of the world.

 

The Pamir Plateau is one of the highest plateau's in the world, second only to Tibet: As Tibet is no longer an independent country, Tajikistan is officially the highest country on earth. The Pamirs are a desolate, windswept, and inhospitable place where the locals eek out a meager existence through animal husbandry and adventure tourism. Summers are short here - with an average elevation of over 3000m, winter comes early and extends long into spring. Nearly nothing grows in this martian landscape, other than some shrub brush and weeds: agriculture is impossible at this elevation. It is a fascinating part of our planet.