June 14, 2013
A couple at home in the hills. 5/21/13
We are home now and back on PDT. In reflecting on our recent travels through Central Asia and all the trips we have made to different parts of this blue planet, I am reminded most of all how similar people are everywhere. Everyone wants to stay connected to their family, have work that provides food and shelter and have the freedom to make the most of their lives and be happy. It does not matter what religious or political beliefs they have, nor does it matter weather they are rich or poor.
The only time we have observed people in a different light is when they are in crisis. We have never been in a place in the middle of a crisis, but have witnessed people shortly afterward. Most particularly in Burma, where the people in the north of the country were, and still are, suffering sever food shortages while we were there due to fighting between the government and local militias; in North Korea, where the crisis of hunger and spirit is so chronic that people have lost sparkle in their eyes; and in Burkina Faso where there is a chronic water shortage and so little freedom that our guide told us he no hope for the future. The more I think about the places we have been, the more I am remembering people who are suffering because of some selfish despot who has managed to secure power and then turn against society to enhance his own gains. In every failed or failing state, there seems to be a dictator who is not benevolent and stays in power through major corruption and force.
In Central Asia the people have been free of the Soviet yoke since 1991. Most under 40 appear to be glad to be out from under the Soviet system, while older people miss the carefree cradle to grave hand holding they enjoyed under Soviet rule. Today three of the countries suffer under selfish governments and are developing very slowly, in spite of great mineral wealth. The other two countries, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakstan, have more benevolent leaders and are progressing much more rapidly into the 21st century. The sense of freedom is evident in these people’s attitudes and behavior. My appreciation of the freedoms we have in this country is renewed every trip I make. I am grateful to our forefathers for creating the system we enjoy and to our service people who continue to keep us free.
Our journey through Central Asia provided a number of highlights for me. Besides the people, who are always the most interesting facet of any trip, I was taken by the incredible scenery–the awesome solitude in the flat rocky deserts, the rounded and spiky multicolored hills of Fairy Tale Canyon where we clambered around looking for the best photo angles and small stones that might tell the tale, the densely jumbled snow capped mountains, many of which do not have names and have never been climbed, the green alpine hills in which we hiked and picnicked, the undulating steppe that goes forever, and especially the billions of red poppies, similar to our California poppies, that took my breath away.
Another highlight was the Savitsky Museum in Nukus, Uzbekistan where we saw many wonderful and interesting paintings by Russian artists whose work had been suppressed and hidden during the 20’s and 30’s. Just getting to this remote, but modern and well built museum in the northern desert of Uzbekistan was an all day affair, but well worth the effort.
Visiting places along the 4,000 mile Silk Road and its various arteries was a thrill for me as I have now been to many of the cities, standing and ruined, caravansaries and oases along the way and can appreciate how arduous the transfer of goods, people and knowledge must have been down through the centuries beginning around 200BC. There is no surprise that silk, printing, writing and religions required long periods of time to transfer from China to the Mediterranean or vice versa. Samarkand was especially grand in scale and color and in my imagination. I could feel the passage of history and visualize the stories of the fearsome leaders of old, like Ghenghis Khan and Tamerlane, both of whom made their mark on this and many other Silk Road cities.
An unexpected highlight was the meeting with Fatima over dinner in her home in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan one evening. It lead to us inviting her to join us for a hike the next day, which then led to her joining us on our travels to Kazakhstan the day after that. She was with us a total of six days and we thoroughly enjoyed her company and her delight in all the new things she experienced each day. She had never been outside Kyrgyzstan or even beyond the capital city of Bishkek, about 300 miles from her home town. We, meanwhile, learned about the Dungan people of whom she is a member. They are a Muslim people of Chinese origin who fled China, where they were called Hui people, in the aftermath of the Hui Minorities War in the 19th century because of religious persecution. A small group of them settled near Karakol in 1878. Now there are several thousand and they work to retain their cultural heritage including food, many dishes of which Fatima served to us on the night we met. Although her family eats Dungan style food, they dress western, own a car and live in a fairly modern house which they have inherited and remodeled over the years. Although they are Muslim, they, like so many others in post-Soviet countries, do not practice the religion.
We were with Olga for a full two weeks of this adventure and felt like we made a close connection with her. We learned all about her home, which she took us to visit, her Granny and her boy friend, whom we met. We learned about her family history and saw photos of many of her relatives. We learned about her hopes to marry her boy friend and were there with her as she anxiously waited for him to produce a ring. It had not arrived when we parted, but I suspect she has it by now.
As for me, I have a heightened awareness of all the countries we have visited and pay much more attention to news in and about them. In some cases I maintain email relationships, as I hope to do with Olga and Fatima.
As for everyone we have met anywhere in the world, as well as ourselves, there is, and forever will be, no place like HOME. Thankfully we are spread all over the world and not all in one place.
Happy Adventures to you all, whether you are out in the world or home in your armchair.
Julia
PS I have tried to put photos into this post and am totally frustrated by my inability to figure out what to do. So I will send this without images and hope that someone will help me sometime soon.
Adventures with Julia 