In the center of the picture is a pass through the mountains through which flows the Vakhsh River (there's a road in the background that points toward it). The Roghun hydropower station is being built across this pass. Construction of the dam is vehemently opposed by its neighbors Uzbekistan, who believe that is will deprive them (downstream) of much needed water resources. This is about as close to the construction site as I could get - security is tight!

The city of Obigarm comfortably nestled in a valley in central Tajikistan

The turn off for Roghun hydroelectric station in central Tajikistan

It's July 14th and there is still snow in the mountains! Here is a glacier in the Pamirs.

Wide river floodplain east of Dushanbe.

There's usually at least some water in it but not this summer.

Looking east on the road to Roghun (ObiGarm, Garm) central Tajikistan

Tomorrow I leave for Gharm on the map above to see the construction going on at the Roghun hydropower station - the one that is causing problems with its neighbors. The following pictures are from a trip south of Dushanbe. Tomorrow I head east. See maps at http://www2.onu.edu/~dsmith3/location_of_tajikistan.htm
Click on on "Older Posts" at the bottom of this page for more pictures, 'cause I have quite a few I think.

Mountain roads can be dangerous.

Nurek reservoir south of Dushanbe - beautiful!

The water level is lower than usual - global warming?

Nurek reservoir south of Dushanbe.

The weather was hot and dry so the atmosphere's a little bit hazy.

Tajik "beach houses" along the Vakhsh River south of Dushanbe.

My lunch table and waitress

Cooking rice the traditional way in Tajikistan. Saxaul wood is used to give it flavor.

This is at a restaurant in Norak south of Dushanbe.

Cooking "plov" (rice pilaf) the national dish of Tajikistan (omg soooo good)

Nurek (Norak) hydroelectric power plant. Currently the highest earthen dam in the world.

Truer words were never spoken. At least here in Central Asia.

Nurek dam - 300 m (almost 1000 ft) high is the largest earthen dam in the world.

Nurek dam - the highest earthen dam in the world, provides 98% of the electrical demand for southern Tajikistan. You can see it in the center of the picture in the background.

Overflow from Nurek dam in the background.

The Vakhsh River. In the background is the Nurek hydropower station, the highest earthen dam in the world.

Central city square of the city of Norak (Nurek) about 60 km south of Dushanbe. Notice large statue of Lenin in the middle of the square and a hotel to the right.

Carpet store, city of Kafarnikhon south of Dushanbe.

The road south from Dushanbe into the mountains. Shear drop offs on the side are a bit scary.

Drawers of water are children. These are a bunch of kids on donkeys gathering water into plastic containers at a central water pump. They then ride their donkeys back to their village.

I'm king of the mountain! About 60 miles north of the Afghan border. Quite a handsome target he?

A frequent problem on the roads of Tajikistan.

My driver, I give him about 1.5 Tajik somoni per kilometer (33 cents) and he takes me anywhere I want :)

This is how many villages make money, cattle are valuable

Close up of the many villages outside Dushanbe (south) that dot the landscape.

Beautiful villages south of Dushanbe, dotting the landscape. Located there probably because there's an underground water source.

Beautiful villages nestled in valleys in the mountains to the south of Dushanbe. You can see, think, how dry it is and how important water supply can be.

Another one of my rides. This is my taxi. The grass is quite comfortable.

This is the way I get around Tajikistan. My butt hurts at the end of the day but I love donkeys!

Travelling south from Dushanbe with foothills of the mountains in the background. Afghanistan about 150 km from here.

Next week Monday I am going the cities of Kofarnihon and Gharm on the map above (there are several controversial reservoirs I will see such as Nurek (Norak) and Roghun, and then Wed to where it says Darya Panj on the map along the Afghan border. Other maps can be found at http://www2.onu.edu/~dsmith3/location_of_tajikistan

A clay oven called a "Chagdon" (or "Degdon" in Dushanbe, or "Tanur" in northern Tajikistan. Small meat pies called sambusa cling to the inside of the oven while they cook. This is outside of a restaurant attached to the University of Taxation. Government ministries and universities for the most part have their own restaurants or "canteens" available for their workers to eat mainly lunch and dinner. A very filling lunch will set you back about $ 3

Lunch in Dushanbe, non (bread), kotlets, mashed potatoes and garnish (parsley), soup to the right with a meatball, smetana (cream) and parsley.

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Tajikistan - it's like the US Supreme Court

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan. To the left, down the street, is the Iranian Embassy. A friend of mine tried to take a picture of me in front of it but the guards came running out and made me erase the picture - darn!

Having a Tajik lunch with my homies: Ikrom, Nizora, and Zumrat

Me and my lunch buddies (my peeps, my posse) from IREX office (l-r) Nizora Haitova, Zukhra Kudratova, and Zumrat Safarova. I have to find a job for Nizora in the states, Zukhra wants to join the US Army, and Zumrat spent 6 months in Texas... Best bunch of workers outside of the Dept. of History, Politics, and Justice I tell you what!

One of the nice aspects of Dushanbe is that is has a lot of trees and large bushes to provide shade. Temperatures are in the high 30s low 40s C. and it doesn't rain from end of June till August. IREX office is inside this gate in the one-story brick building you see here. In the background is a new apt building... You might see a lot of satellite dishes on the roofs... 300+ cable channels, mostly Iranian/Farsi language, alJazeera + BBC.

In front of IREX office, Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The building is a typical Tajik one-story brick building with rooms arranged around a central courtyard. A new high rise apt building is in the background. Dushanbe is undergoing a huge (I would say frantic0 building spree - mainly hotels and apt buildings. Where the money is coming from I don't know!

Tajik ladies walking along Dushanbe's main street. Most of the women in Tajikistan now wear brightly colored ankle length dresses, some are really beautiful. "They" say that Islam is making a come back in popularity, but as I walk all over Dushanbe I never see anyone pull out a prayer rug to pray...

Dushanbe's "main drag" looking towards the Presidential Palace and center of town.

Main street Dushanbe, looking towards downtown Dushanbe. In the distance, center of town, is the Presidential Palace.

The US Embassy strictly forbids anyone from taking pictures of the embassy in this post-9/11 world, so, after visiting the embassy's political officer for an interview, I took the best picture I could from across the street. After all, it IS my embassy(?). Like all of the other US Embassy's I've been to (Moscow, Nairobi, Central Asia...) our embassy is located on the outskirts of town in an open area, and the architecture looks like "Hitler's Bunker"

View from in front of the US Embassy, Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Playgound outside my window. The green string is my laundry "drier." It's so hot and dry here in the summer it's like living inside a drier! Up from center in the background is a dumpster for trash and a row of storage sheds.

My apt looking from the kitchen to living room, bedroom to the left

My apt is the one with the green balcony on the second floor.