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adventure-showdown · 5 months

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What is your favourite Doctor Who story?

The Rescue and The Ice Warriors tied. These are the 10 stories that were closest to making it through and so have been given a second chance

ROUND 2 MASTERPOST

synopses and propagnada under the cut

Marco Polo

Synopsis

Arriving in Central Asia in 1289, the Doctor and his companions join the caravan of the famous Venetian explorer Marco Polo as it makes its way from the snowy heights of the Pamir Plateau, across the treacherous Gobi Desert and through the heart of imperial Cathay.

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

The Keys of Marinus

Synopsis

The TARDIS arrives on the planet Marinus on an island of glass surrounded by a sea of acid. The travellers are forced by the elderly Arbitan to retrieve four of the five operating keys to a machine called the Conscience of Marinus - a machine capable of influencing all minds on the planet - of which he is the keeper. These have been hidden in different locations around the planet to prevent them falling into the hands of the evil Yartek and his Voord warriors, who plan to seize the machine and use its originally benevolent mind-influencing power for their own sinister purposes.

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

The Rescue

Synopsis

The Doctor, Ian and Barbara arrive on the planet Dido. They find a crashed spaceship, the only two survivors of which are terrorised by the monster Koquillion. But who is Koquillion?

Propaganda

god I love this story, its short and sweet, but the implications, the everything of vicki’s life before the doctor, the firey passion with which I hate bennet is boundless, as is my love for sandy. ITS SO GOOD! VOTE FOR IT! (@sandymybeloved )

The Space Museum

Synopsis

The TARDIS jumps a time track and the travellers arrive on the planet Xeros. There they discover their own future selves displayed as exhibits in a museum established as a monument to the galactic conquests of the warlike Morok invaders who now rule the planet. When time shifts back to normal, they realise that they must do everything they can to avert this potential future.

Vicki helps the native Xerons obtain arms and revolt against the Moroks. The revolution succeeds and the travellers go on their way, confident that the future has been changed.

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

The Massacre

Synopsis

The TARDIS materialises in Paris in the year 1572 and the Doctor decides to visit the famous apothecary Charles Preslin. Steven, meanwhile, is befriended by a group of Huguenots from the household of the Protestant Admiral de Coligny. Having rescued a young serving girl, Anne Chaplet, from some pursuing guards, the Huguenots gain their first inkling of a heinous plan being hatched at the command of the Catholic Queen Mother, Catherine de Medici.

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

The War Machines

Synopsis

The TARDIS arrives in London in 1966 and the First Doctor and Dodo visit the Post Office Tower. There they meet Professor Brett, whose revolutionary new computer WOTAN (Will Operating Thought ANalogue) can actually think for itself and is shortly to be linked up to other major computers around the world — a project overseen by civil servant Sir Charles Summer.

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

The Moonbase

Synopsis

The TARDIS arrives in 2070 on the Moon, where a weather control station under the command of a man named Hobson is in the grip of a plague epidemic — in reality the result of an alien poison planted by the Cybermen. Jamie is knocked unconscious and lapses into a delirium, leaving the Second Doctor, Ben, and Polly to fight off a massive Cyberman attack.

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

The Macra Terror

Synopsis

When the Second Doctor, Ben, Polly and Jamie visit a human colony that appears to be one big holiday camp, they think they have come across a truly happy place. Yet a shadowy presence soon makes them realise that the surface contentment is carefully controlled.

The colony's inhabitants have been brainwashed by giant, crab-like creatures — the Macra. Insidious propaganda, broadcast by the Controller, forces the humans to mine a gas that is essential for the Macra to survive, but fatal to them.

The colony must be saved — but how? The Doctor and his team are up against it, particularly when Ben falls under the influence of the Macra. Can he be rescued from their evil clutches? Can the gas pumping equipment be destroyed, getting rid of the Macra for good?

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

The Ice Warriors

Synopsis

The TARDIS arrives on Earth in a new ice age. The travellers make their way into a base where scientists, commanded by Leader Clent, are using an ioniser device to combat the advance of a glacier.

A giant humanoid creature, called an Ice Warrior by one of the scientists, has been found buried in the nearby glacier. When thawed, it revives and is revealed to be Varga, captain of a Martian spacecraft that landed on Earth centuries ago and is still in the glacier. Varga sets about freeing his comrades and formulating a plan to conquer the Earth — Mars itself is now dead.

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

The Seeds of Death

Synopsis

The TARDIS lands in a space museum on Earth in the late 21st century, where the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe learn that contact has been lost between Earth and the Moon. In this era, instant travel — T-Mat — has revolutionised the Earth. Its people have lost interest in space travel. The Doctor and his companions travel to the Moon in an old-style rocket and reach the Moonbase, control centre for T-Mat, only to find a squad of Ice Warriors have commandeered the base and plan to use the T-Mat network to their advantage.

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

#round 2 #tiebreak

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talenlee · 5 months

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Game Pile: Root (Video)

Root — Mastery Depth And Material Demands

Watch this video on YouTube

Thumbnail and script below the fold. The script is in part based on this article and this article.

In 2018, the board game Root was released by Leder games, to a sort of confused, but very enthusiastic ‘hooray!’ Based on earlier successes by the same developers (and some weird, contentious ‘hey, you copied my notes’ complaints), Root is an asymmetrical war game, where in the base box, you have four factions competing with one another to try and take control of a nonspecific woodland glade. Each faction, the game promised – and delivered – are different; not the same rules with a few different units, but entirely, meaningfully, complicatedly different in how they relate to one another.

Lauded for its emergent complexity and its charming aesthetic, Root is one of those games that quickly became institutional; multiple expansions, fan merchandise, an RPG in the setting, all that stuff that signalled people are into your game, the base board game Root is probably one of those recent classics. It’s kinda funny to talk about in hindsight, to revisit these words from years ago because like, Root isn’t even the biggest Cole Wehrle game, and its weird early start is now just a footnote, certainly compared to his work on Pax Pamir. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just know that each of these things I’m mentioning is worth an article unto itself.

Root, the board game is a lot of game. As kickstarter products go, it’s one of those games that absolutely jam-packs the box with stuff, and it’s not even like that’s a bad thing in this case. While I will regularly dunk on kickstarter board games for making tons of pieces that are unnecessary — looking at you, Kingdom Death Monster. Root is a game whose meeples and cards and board and all the tokens and reminders are there to serve a purpose, and then maximise their charm and value in that space. The copy of Root I’ve handled – which isn’t mine – is very present in its mass. It’s a really, really charming game, and the game you get is very rewarding per-kilogram price. While normally kickstarter games with a lot of good material components are secretly miniature distribution venues with a board game attached, Root is using every gram of its materiel.

I never wanted to buy Root, though.

Look, Root is amazing. Don’t take me saying that as a mark against it. Games aren’t inherently valuable, you don’t just automatically want them for any reason. Any given game’s value should be considered in what it offers, and that’s kind of why we talk about games like this. To complain about Root the board game is to pre-emptively make excuses about why you don’t like it, it seems. Root is a game that doesn’t fit my life, and the reason why is kind of specific.

What it is is what I refer to as mastery depth.

Mastery Depth is a term I used when talking about Century: Golem, then realised I may have never mentioned it anywhere before. I mention it from time to time, and then don’t explain myself, which is a great example of bad academic language. Here’s the concept, then: Mastery. The ‘put it in a single sentence’ version of Mastery looks like this: Mastery is the way the game is affected by having already come to understand the game.

That’s a small sentence, it’s reasonably simple words. Like any simple phrase in games studies, it comes with weight that makes it feel challenging to properly handle. Let’s dig into it, then: For pretty much every game, previous experience playing the game makes the game easier to play. Sometimes that’s just a matter of learning the rules more thoroughly, so you don’t need to look things up. Sometimes it’s about knowing what you should prioritise in the game, after the rules present them to you as a big wave of equal stuff.

Mastery depth is a way to look at a game in terms of how much of what a game does that rewards players with more or less mastery. Is there a game you can think of where there’s a particular dangerous situation that can come up and you need to know how to recognise it? What about the way we see Chess, a game with a variety of ‘openings’ that require learning a new language to understand? Mastery is how you recognise those things. A game that rewards mastery often rewards playing with mastery – games like Dungeons and Dragons are mind-blowingly complex, but as you master them you learn how to stop caring about unimportant details, and learn ways to build the game to get the outcomes you want.

A lot of games get called ‘bad’ because they lack mastery depth, and some are ‘bad’ because their mastery depth has a hard limit. Connect Four and Tic-Tac-Toe are games that once you understand them enough are solved, and the person with sufficient mastery knows the way the game will go and wins it. By comparison, though, there are some games where it’s hard to tell different levels of mastery – you can look to the intricate and complex development of Magic: The Gathering, where asking a computer to calculate ‘best plays’ in any given situation is brain-explodingly difficult.

Bear in mind what players need to know, how much they have to play, and if your game needs mastery or rewards mastery, and if you’re okay with that. Mastery is fun! I love games with a lot of mastery depth… but I’m also learning to love the games that are a bit less likely to reward you for a long-term plan.

I’ve been thinking about this these past few years as the weird uncle watching my family’s relationship to games changing. There was a point where games had to be almost universal, players need to be playing with the same pieces and information had to be open so I could help maintain the game state for the young kids trying to play. But then things developed and evolved and now I’m at the point where they’re playing complex games like – well, Magic: The Gathering. What this means is that I’ve been familiar now with a really interesting experience of watching a playgroup evolve in real time over the past few years.

It’s heartwarming and honestly really cool. It taught me a lot about ways that these ‘simpler’ games could be engaging in different ways. King of Tokyo and Century Golem are two games I would never have sat next to one another but their mastery depth is very similar, and the games you get to play out of both one are both really good. And this idea, Mastery Depth, is at the Root, ha Ha, of my reasons for not wanting my own copy of the great woodland war game.

This is a game with four factions, each of which play explicitly very differently and do their own unique form of play, which means that you need players for that. This isn’t a game I can take to a family gathering and sit down and play once or twice a year with my mum and nephew. This is effectively four separate games in one box and each of those games interacts with one another, and those interactions are complicated. In order to play this game, everyone needs to be aware of how their faction plays and how to play it right, to just make it function, and then they need to understand what’s important to that function to play it well.

Basically, this is not a game for ready sharing, this is a game for playing and replaying with a small group of people who want to play it again and get better at it. This is not to say this game is not a game for people like me: I love the complexity, I love the systems of the game, and I love the ways they give you choices for how you engage with the game. Yet, this is not a game for a person like me.

This is a game for four people like me.

I don’t have four people like me.

Root needs table space, too, of course. This game sprawls out and it needs a gutter to play around so you can put your player card somewhere and your hand and keep track of what’s going on. I do not have a big, clear, open table for playing board games. When I do have access to big tables, it is often at the University, or it is at my parents’ – and my parents have dining tables that have other needs.

Point is, Root is a game that asks of me materially in ways I cannot give it; I cannot give it the players, and I cannot give it the space.

This is where I get to point to good news, everybody, because Root has a digital version on Steam. and that good news is extremely good news. See, to my absolute shock and delight, Root on Steam is pretty much everything you’d want out of a digitised version of the game. It is visually charming, with lovely models and animations that do not carry the same aesthetic character as the meeples the board game does, but still convey the tone of the different factions.

As a digital game, Root melts away a lot of the things the game does that you need to pay attention to and process and handles them for you. You do not need to shuffle, the deck of cards is not a thing you look at – it’s just that at the end of your turn, cards appear in your hands. You do not need to look over at other player’s boards or ask them to calculate their Victory Points for you, because those are presented on the interface itself. Information is brought forwards as necessary and you are given room to inspect the game in the ways the game recognises you need to.

It’s also quiet: You do not have to communicate with the other players if you don’t want to. For random games of a board game with strangers, this seems like a bad thing, but you have to remember that the videogame community and board game communities are not necessarily dealing with the same problem. Videogame players can use the videogame plateform to quell anxiety, and to not have to talk to people or make sure they’re managing the rules correctly (and avoiding a socially awkward fight at the table) can be a delight. The game handles asymmetrical play – where you can turn up, play a turn, then log off for days at a time if necessary.

Is it a strict upgrade? of course it’s not. To talk about these games as if they’re comparable versions with a better or worse misses the point. Root is a beautiful game that’s very complex, hard to manage in your house, and challenging to find players for, which means for me, it’s strictly superior to have Root on Steam.

But you know what will never happen?

My partner will never wander by the computer while I’m playing Root, look over my shoulder, and say ‘oh, that’s cute, can I join in?’

I will never be able to take a meeple from the box of this and use it in another game for an impromptu bit of house ruling.

When the servers shut down, I will lose access to this copy of Root and have no way – literally no way with my current skillset – of changing that.

If I don’t plan on playing Root this month, I won’t be able to hand it to my friend Pendix and say ‘hey man, give this a shot with your partner for a few weeks, see what you think.’

The ways we structure our relationship to games change based on how we play them. Root has a digital version that solves so many of its problems, and let me play the game with some people I really care about. Opening those pathways limits others, and that means that as with many such things it’s a compromise. In a lot of ways, it’s best not to think of Root the board game and Root the digital game as just the same game, but rather, two asymmetrical factions in the same space, competing for your attention in different ways.

Root as I said up, in the top, a really charming game, a game that I like and that doesn’t serve my needs a lot. But now I have a version of it I can always play with one of my friends. We can even play with the expansions very cheaply. For this reason I give Root a score of Friends/10.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Game Pile #Games

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dadsmell · 2 years

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Do you like Cole Wehrle? Their new work is a little too Ameritrash for my tastes, but when John Company came out in '17, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole game has a clear, crisp game loop, and a new sheen of anticolonialist themes that really gives the game a big boost. He's been compared to Patrick Leder, but I think Wehrle has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor. In '19, Wehrle released this, Pax Pamir 2nd edition, their most accomplished game. I think the undisputed masterstroke is the essay included in the box against colonization and the popular interpretation of The Great Game, an essay so short, most people probably don't read it before playing. But they should, because it's not just about the pitfalls of imperialism, and the importance of dialectics, it's also a personal statement about the game itself.

#Hey everyone go play Pax Pamir #deer diaries

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brookstonalmanac · 3 months

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Events 2.3 (after 1930)

1930 – The Communist Party of Vietnam is founded at a "Unification Conference" held in Kowloon, British Hong Kong. 1931 – The Hawke's Bay earthquake, New Zealand's worst natural disaster, kills 258. 1933 – Adolf Hitler announces that the expansion of Lebensraum into Eastern Europe, and its ruthless Germanisation, are the ultimate geopolitical objectives of Nazi foreign policy. 1943 – The SS Dorchester is sunk by a German U-boat. Only 230 of 902 men aboard survive. 1944 – World War II: During the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, U.S. Army and Marine forces seize Kwajalein Atoll from the defending Japanese garrison. 1945 – World War II: As part of Operation Thunderclap, 1,000 B-17s of the Eighth Air Force bomb Berlin, a raid which kills between 2,500 and 3,000 and dehouses another 120,000. 1945 – World War II: The United States and the Philippine Commonwealth begin a month-long battle to retake Manila from Japan. 1953 – The Batepá massacre occurred in São Tomé when the colonial administration and Portuguese landowners unleashed a wave of violence against the native creoles known as forros. 1958 – Founding of the Benelux Economic Union, creating a testing ground for a later European Economic Community. 1959 – Rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson are killed in a plane crash along with the pilot near Clear Lake, Iowa, an event later known as The Day the Music Died. 1959 – Sixty-five people are killed when American Airlines Flight 320 crashes into the East River on approach to LaGuardia Airport in New York City. 1960 – British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan speaks of "a wind of change", signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation. 1961 – The United States Air Force begins Operation Looking Glass, and over the next 30 years, a "Doomsday Plane" is always in the air, with the capability of taking direct control of the United States' bombers and missiles in the event of the destruction of the SAC's command post. 1966 – The Soviet Union's Luna 9 becomes the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon, and the first spacecraft to take pictures from the surface of the Moon. 1971 – New York Police Officer Frank Serpico is shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survives to later testify against police corruption. 1972 – The first day of the seven-day 1972 Iran blizzard, which would kill at least 4,000 people, making it the deadliest snowstorm in history. 1984 – Doctor John Buster and a research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in the United States announce history's first embryo transfer, from one woman to another resulting in a live birth. 1984 – Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B is launched using Space Shuttle Challenger. 1989 – After a stroke two weeks previously, South African President P. W. Botha resigns as leader of the National Party, but stays on as president for six more months. 1989 – A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954. 1994 – Space Shuttle program: STS-60 is launched, carrying Sergei Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard the Shuttle. 1995 – Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle as mission STS-63 gets underway from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 1998 – Cavalese cable car disaster: A United States military pilot causes the death of 20 people when his low-flying plane cuts the cable of a cable-car near Trento, Italy. 2005 – One hundred five people are killed when Kam Air Flight 904 crashes in the Pamir Mountains in Afghanistan. 2007 – A Baghdad market bombing kills at least 135 people and injures a further 339. 2014 – Two people are shot and killed and 29 students are taken hostage at a high school in Moscow, Russia. 2023 – 2023 Ohio train derailment: A freight train containing vinyl chloride and other hazardous materials derails and burns in East Palestine, Ohio, United States, releasing hydrogen chloride and phosgene into the air and contaminating the Ohio River.

#Events

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doctorwhogirlie · 5 months

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Doctor Who: Marco Polo

Season One ✨ 1963 - 1964 ✨

Doctor: 1st

Story Length: 7 Episodes

Companions: Susan, Barbara and Ian

Main Setting: Cathay, 1289

Main Enemy: Tegana

Creatures: n/a

My Personal Rating: n/a

Having witnessed many incredible sights and survived a variety of dangers, they arrive at the mighty Kublai Khan's Summer Palace in Shang-tu, where the Doctor strikes up an extraordinary friendship with the now-aged ruler.

They move on at last to the even more sumptuous Imperial Palace in Peking, where the travellers save the Khan from an assassination attempt by the Mongol warlord Tegana — supposedly on a peace mission — before departing once more in the TARDIS. Source.

Unfortunately this story is missing all 7 episodes, but I still decided to post this, in case they decide to animate these episodes as a few missing episodes have been animated.

Update: I'm listening to this story on BBC Sounds (I've never been a big audio only fan, but for Doctor Who, I'm willing to give it a go. It's weird not being able to see what's happening but luckily there is a commentator describing the scene as well as hearing the characters voices. I've never been a big fan of stories with no aliens/planets so I already know I won't rate this one too high.

(Please don't take these too seriously, I am not a real life reviewer, just someone who likes the show)

#doctor who #classic doctor who #ian chesterton #barbara wright #susan foreman #first doctor #doctor who girlie

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visitafghanistan · 4 years

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Wakhi nomad boy eating bread in front of his yurt, Big pamir, Wakhan, Badakhshan, Afghanistan. Taken on August 12, 2016.

PayPal Donation: [email protected]

#Eric Lafforgue #Wakhi #Wakhi Nomad #eating #bread #yurt #Pamir #Big Pamir #Wakhan #Wakhan Corridor #Badakhshan #Afghanistan #2016

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lovelybarnes · 4 years

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blood- avengers

pairings: platonic!avengers x reader

warnings: pain, torture, death, lies, it's a rollercoaster. unedited, i wrote this v late

about: inspired by @buckybarnesthehotshot 's lightning fic (yes i stalked their acc instead of sleeping whatever) reader has hemokinesis (the power to control blood) and no one knows about it, as well as some loose other abilities bc of HYDRA

not very happy about the ending, and i might do a part two, but idk

"gear up! intel collection at an abandoned HYDRA base. should be an easy in and out!"

you rubbed at your eyes, enhanced hearing catching what the captain was saying to your teammates a floor down in the kitchen. you shut your computer, pausing the show you were watching before doing so.

sighing, you took one last glance at the madly fattening cheetos you had a bag of on your counter, then one at your tight combat suit, deciding on one- no, two, cheetos more.

you froze at a knock on your door, incredibly glad you were changing in your bathroom when steve opened the door to your bedroom.

"kid? suit up, mission in ten, be at the quinjet in five."

you swallowed, remembering you hadn't told your team about your... abilities.

"right, right! i'll be right down! also, i'm almost seventeen, maybe super young compared to you, grandpa, but not a kid," you retorted, making steve laugh.

"uh huh, okay. just hurry, y/n."

"will do!" you cheered, pulling your hair into a ponytail and waiting for the door to shut to step out.

you counted to thirty before going to the quinjet, realizing you were the first one ready immediately, and making a mental note to count to one-hundred- twenty instead next time.

"down quickly, y/n," natasha said, surprised. you shrugged, "cap told me to hurry up so i did. orders and all that."

natasha just raised an eyebrow and nodded, sitting down next to you.

three minutes later and everyone was at the quinjet in the air, going over the mission.

"go in, collect what we need, go out. only bringing you all because, although it's deserted, it's a big base, lots of intel."

everyone nodded at steve before settling down, it was still three hours to go in the air before they arrived.

the avengers all spread out in pairs, ever so cautious just in case the information was wrong and the so called abandoned base was actually not an abandoned base.

that turned out to be pretty smart, considering the latter was what happened.

apparently, HYDRA had created a set of dangerous mutants they wanted to try out, and realized that the perfect way to do this was lead all the avengers to them.

although you were all pretty separate in the start, everyone found each other pretty quickly, fighting in a huge, dingy room.

"god, these kids are my age, i don't want to hurt them, but, they," you huffed between your words, breath knocked out of you by a punch by a boy on fire, who you called sunshine because of how bright he was.

and how annoying he was.

"just, keep," he kicked you in the gut, making you land a good one to his cheek.

"hitting me!" you finished, planting a tranq dart in his neck and making him pass out.

your accomplishment, however, was short-lived, seeing as a girl able to control the earth pulled your hair so hard, you saw stars.

earth bitch, you thought, landing a hard kick to her stomach out of anger and then shooting a tranq at her leg.

you looked around, running over to sam and helping him with the invisible dude, being able to see him just barely with your enhanced vision.

you shot at him perfectly, and he turned visible with an almost cartoon-esque look of surprise.

"good shot, l/n! how'd you land that?" sam asked, giving you a quick high five as you squeaked out a lie.

"lucky shot?"

there were still a shit ton of people fighting around you, but as you turned to help one of your teammates, a boy stopped you.

"lucky indeed," he said, and suddenly, your teammates were gone, but your surroundings weren't much different.

you recognized them immediately, the cramped, uncomfortable room, the sickly smell of a hospital, but the tell that this was not a hospital.

you were sitting, strapped to a chair, and your eyes widened as you realized what was going on.

doctor pamir stalked over to you, a large needle in hand.

"this, my dear, is what i like to call, the improved super soldier serum. well, at least, it will be, as soon as i collect enough information from you to make it."

you screamed, but the doctor only laughed at you, shutting you up with a harsh slap to the face.

"shut up," he sneered, grabbing your face with his hand hard and turning you forcefully, shoving the needle in your neck.

the reaction was immediate; burning throughout your whole body, feeling as if the blood rushing out of your heart was pure fire, burning you from the inside out.

your eyes squeezed shut as you continued to scream, the effects not subsiding, but only worsening, making everything around you hurt you. the air, the sweat on your brow, the clothes you couldn't even call clothes seemed to make you overstimulate, burning you, feeling both unbearably hot and cold at the touch of nothing.

it seemed as if your eyes were glued shut as you fought to open them, and at the touch of a gentle hand, you did, wet eyes opening, wide mouth gasping for air as you returned to the real world.

but as you stared, you weren't sure if this was the real world.

your cheeks were wet, and the air around you made your tears feel like blocks of ice sticking to your red cheeks.

so much was happening around you, screams, pain.

but you were at peace, sitting on the floor with huge tears dropping from your red eyes and onto the dirty floor.

everything was slow and fast, loud and quiet all at the same time, and you knew there was screaming, so much screaming that you couldn't hear but you could sense.

your lashes were wet and dropping with salty water as you looked up, hands over your ears, hearing everything and nothing, seeing every detail of what was in front of you and more, but blindness consuming you whole, everything and nothing was hitting you simultaneously in a second until it wasn't.

"y/n?!"

wanda.

wanda. wanda was calling you, her thick accent and frantic voice forcing you to open your eyes and remove your hands from your ears.

"wanda?" you asked, senses overloaded.

"you- you screamed, and- a- nd, then you shut down, and so much pain was radiating off of you, and then they just started to drop."

you listened to wanda's words carefully, and then looked around you.

every single one of the mutant teenagers were on the ground, dead.

your eyes widened, looking around hurriedly for your team, feeling selfishly relieved that they were standing, confused looks on their faces.

but as you looked at the bodies, dread found its home inside you.

"i did it," you mumbled, "i killed them."

#avengers x reader #avengers #avengers+angst #avengers x you #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanov #natasha romanov x reader #avengers x enhanced!reader #enhanced!reader #steve rogers #captain america #black widow

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xtruss · 2 years

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IN PICTURES | REMOTE PLACES | AFGHANISTAN

A New Road To An Inaccessible Land

— By Simon Urwin | 2nd July 2021

Once an isolated region barely touched by the hands of time, Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor stands on the brink of great change with the building of a new road linking it with China.

On the Cusp of Six Borders

Bordered by China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan lies at the very heart of Asia. Home to more than 32 million people, a quarter of its population lives in large urban centres such as Mazar-e Sharif (pictured), located 320km north-west of the capital Kabul. The fourth-largest city in the country, its centrepiece is the Shrine of Hazrit Ali – a masterpiece of Islamic architecture, which, according to local legend, is the burial place of Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad. The shrine is also renowned for its flocks of white doves. Locals believe that a small speck of another colour on a bird's feathers will instantly turn pure white when in the sacred building's vicinity. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

A Remote Corridor

Some 600km to the east of Mazar-e Sharif, the Wakhan Corridor (pictured) is a world apart from the rest of the country, both culturally and geographically. This 350km-long panhandle, in the region of Badakhshan, sits at the convergence of three of the world's major mountain ranges: the Hindu Kush, the Karakoram and the Pamirs – known as the Pamir Knot. "This is about as far away from the noise, the traffic and the muezzin's call to prayer of urban Afghanistan as you can get," said James Willcox of untamedborders.com, one of just a few adventure travel companies in the world that arranges trips to the region. "It is barely habited and hard to get to; few people even know of its existence. It's undoubtedly one of the remotest, and most beautiful places in the whole of Asia." (Credit: Simon Urwin)

A Rural Life

Scattered along the Wakhan Corridor are small rural settlements like Khandud (pictured), their simple houses made of stone, mud and timber. Some of the larger villages are connected by a single dirt track, often made impassible by the waters of the River Panj. "Very few people have their own car in the Wakhan, but we have community transport – as well as donkeys, and our feet, of course," said Azim Ziahee, a resident of the market town of Ishkashim, located 80km away at the Corridor's western end. "The Wakhan still remains very cut-off though. Some villages are more than four days' walk to Ishkashim. The nearest big town from here – Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan – is a three-day drive. The isolation keeps the corridor like a time capsule. We look over to the border towards Tajikistan, with its electricity, paved roads and mobile phone signal, and say that it's like looking 100 years into the future." (Credit: Simon Urwin)

Home of the Wakhi

For more than 2,500 years, the Wakhan Corridor has been the homeland of the Wakhi people and is now home to a population of around 12,000. While the majority of Afghans are conservative Sunni Muslims, the Wakhi are Ismailis, who belong to the Shia branch of Islam. Here, women do not wear the burqa, and there are no mosques; instead, the Wakhi visit jamatkhanas (houses of prayer that also serve as community halls for conducting village business). "Ismailis are considered less strict than Sunnis," said Willcox. "For example, in the Wakhan, a Western male visitor can ask permission to take a woman's photograph without causing offence. Elsewhere in Afghanistan that would be unthinkable. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

The Rhythm of Life

The Wakhi are farmers, cultivating wheat, barley, peas, potatoes, and apple and apricot trees in the semi-arid conditions of the corridor; their fields fed by melt water from mountain glaciers. Wealthier families have sheep and goats along with a few camels, yaks, horses and donkeys. "Every June, the Wakhi take their livestock to summer pastures, up as high as 4,500m, where the animals grow fat on the rich grass," said Ziahee. "The migration is called the 'kuch'. We also have the 'Chinir', which is our festival in early August to celebrate the start of the barley harvest. In the towns of Afghanistan, the five daily prayers form the structure of the day, but here, we feel a great connection to the land, and whilst we pray daily, the rhythm of life revolves more around the fields, the seasons and nature." (Credit: Simon Urwin)

A Centuries-old Tradition

One of the most distinctive traditions of the Wakhan is the centuries-old game of buzkhasi, sometimes described as rugby on horseback with the body of a goat as a ball. Thought to be an early pre-cursor to polo, buzkashi has no rules and no sides. There is certainly no sense of "fair play", as competitors will punch and whip each other in an effort to steal the goat, and broken bones are not uncommon. "The Wakhi villages love to play each other, especially at Nawruz, which is the Afghan New Year," Ziahee explained. "But here it's different to other parts of Afghanistan. Elsewhere, buzkashi is more political – put on to show the power of the elite, or by a politician as a way to win votes. Here, it is all about the competition and the community. It is one of many things that makes the Wakhan so unique." (Credit: Simon Urwin)

Untouched By Tourism

While Afghanistan's security situation dictates that much of the country is off-limits to foreigners, the corridor's relative safety, alongside its pristine mountain scenery and well-preserved Wakhi culture, has seen its appeal with off-the-beaten-trackers grow markedly in recent years. "At first there were only a handful of visitors," said Ade Summers, an adventure guide who has led nine expeditions to the Wakhan. "Over a decade, that's slowly grown to up to 600 people a year. It's a privilege to visit somewhere so untouched by mainstream tourism, where you can engage with people who still relish their traditional way of life. As you journey along the Wakhan, not only is it very beautiful, every step you take is like turning the pages of a fascinating history book." (Credit: Simon Urwin)

Part of the Silk Road

For hundreds of years, the Wakhan Corridor was an important route for merchants travelling along the Silk Road, the trade route that emerged in the 1st and 2nd Centuries BCE linking China with the Mediterranean. "Those merchants carried Chinese silk, Persian silver, Roman gold and Afghan lapis lazuli, mined here in the Badakhshan region," said Summers. "We find rock art detailing the road's history, such as petroglyphs of camels walking in single file as a trade caravan." Travellers and pilgrims followed in the merchants' footsteps. "Marco Polo is said to have passed through here on his way to China in the 13th Century, also Alexander the Great. We can still see the remains of historic travellers' shelters known as rabats, as well as ancient Buddhist stupas." (Credit: Simon Urwin)

A Strategic Place

In the late 19th Century, the Wakhan Corridor played a key role in the so-called "Great Game" between Great Britain and Russia. "When the Russians and the British were fighting for control of Central Asia, Afghanistan was hugely strategic,", said Willcox. "The Wakhan's current boundaries were formed in 1893 to create a buffer zone to prevent both parties' territories from touching each other – in this case, the British Raj and the Tsarist Russian empire. It eventually turned an old trade route into a cul-de-sac. More recent, history has seen the Wakhan caught up in the Cold War; and now the latest changes in geopolitics will have perhaps an unexpected consequence, with China's Belt and Road Initiative turning it into an important trade route once again." (Credit: Simon Urwin)

New Construction

Until recently, the dirt track from Ishkashim reached only as far as Sarhad-e Broghil in the centre of the Corridor. Onward travel east was only possible by foot or with pack animals. Now though, with Belt and Road construction, the track has been extended by some 75km, as far as the village of Bozai Gumbaz, around three quarters of the way along the Wakhan. "It follows an old trading route that the Kyrgyz nomads take to get to Sarhad from where they live around Chaqmaqtin Lake," said Summers. "The bulldozers have come in, and while they've only constructed something the size of a farmer's track, the potential consequences are much bigger. The Chinese are said to be building the stretch that will eventually connect their border with Bozai Gumbaz, something that will open up the cul-de-sac once more. Ultimately, it will give China great access to the markets of Central Asia and beyond." (Credit: Simon Urwin)

Mixed Emotions

Ziahee says that the people of the Wakhan have mixed feelings about the road's potential impact. "Some things will be good for us," he said. "We will be able to buy goats from China which will be much cheaper than from the market in Ishkashim. We hope to have access to better healthcare, too. At the moment, many of our facilities are very limited. But we worry that the unique Wakhi culture and slow way of life will be changed forever. We love the silence and beautiful nature, but fear that it will be destroyed by traffic pollution. Building a road takes a long time in the mountains, but we think in the next year or so it will be completed. Both the Chinese and Afghan governments want it to happen. Only time will tell what the future holds for us as a result." (Credit: Simon Urwin)

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afranse · 2 years

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В поставленном Кремлём кровавом спектакле

Россия выступает в роли большой собаки,

Которой с удовольствием прищемил хвост

Старый и злобный единорос.

Собака лает, собака кусается.

И это каждого в мире касается.

Поскольку всюду видны отпечатки

Лап несчастной этой овчарки.

Единорос её водит по миру

И пугает пост-советские страны.

От Европы и до Памира

Собака лает на всех неустанно.

Он считает себя мессией.

Она считает себя Россией.

Страшно всем и безумно жалко

Мир искусанный и овчарку.

######################

In the bloody performance staged by the Kremlin

Russia acts like a big dog - Kremlin’s eternal trophy

Which tail was cynically pinched

By the old and evil KGB officer.

The big dog barks, the big dog bites.

And it scares everyone in the entire world.

Because there are bloody footprints everywhere -

Paws of this unfortunate shepherd dog.

KGB officer leads it without leash around the globe.

And it scares post-Soviet countries.

From the Europe to the Pamirs

The dog bites folks and victims list keeps counting.

She considers herself Russia.

He considers himself a God.

Scared world and insanely sorry

For the injured folks and the scolded sheepdog.

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cryptid-quest · 4 years

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Cryptid of the Day: Barmanou

Description: Pakistan has its own version of Bigfoot, which lives in between the Himalayas and the Pamir Mountains. It’s name translates to “Big Hairy One”, and is said to be the missing link between the Russian Alma and the Yeti. One researcher spent his entire life looking for the monster.

#cryptids #Cryptid #cryptozoology #cryptid of the day #barmanou

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pamirsportfolio · 4 years

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In case we forget, it’s #EarthDay! Hope she’s getting a big rest with decreased human activity globally. This tree was such a presence! 📸 Pamir Kiciman

#original photographers #photographers on tumblr #EarthDay #pinetree #nature photography

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pattatie · 4 years

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the Registan square by night by Wim van de Meerendonk, loving nature Choosing from 1800 pictures will be a difficult task, although I most of the time know which subjects I want to post on my flickr account. One of these subjects is the Registan (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registan) in Samarkand. Samarkand (see www.flickr.com/photos/115540984@N02/48929016568/in/datepo...) is the stunning highlight of all the cultural things I have seen during my trip, although in Uzbekistan more of these cities show the immense richness of ages long gone (15th century). The big square is on three side flanked with big madrasahs, that once served as universities and schools. Nowadays they serve as shops that sell all sorts of crap. Inside the madrasahs there can be other buildings and gardens. Inside the Ulugh Beg Madrasa, that you can see on the left, there is the most splendid interior that I have ever seen, and I will post that later. Prepare for it, because unless you go for yourselves, there is not much that competes with those dazzling mosaics. 20 September I came back from my journey over a part of the Silk Road to and through Central Asia. 4 months of traveling through 14 countries (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran) before I flew home from Teheran. An impressive journey in countries that are extremely beautiful, with lovely and welcoming people and diverse cultures and history. Intense traveling with more than 20000 kilometers in our mobile home on sometimes roads that hardly could be called that way. We saw many villages and cities (some wonderful, others very ugly), countries that are transforming from the old Soviet era into something more related to older cultures and the way people live, often funded by oil readily available around the Caspian sea. We saw the amazing mountains south of the Black Sea, the wonderful Caucasus, and the high mountains in the far east close to China with peaks over 7000 meter, and not to forget the (Bulgarian) Alps! We crossed the great steppe of Kazakhstan. a drive of at least 5000 km, the remnants of lake Aral, once one of the biggest lakes of the world, saw a rocket launch from Baikonur (this little part is Russian owned), we crossed many high mountains passes, and drove the breathtaking canyon that comes from the Pamir, beginning at ca 4500 meter, and going down for ca. 400km to an altitude of 1300 meter, driving for 100's of kilometers along the Afghan border. And then the numerous lakes with all sorts of different colors from deep cobalt blue to turquoise, and one rare spectacle in Turkmenistan where a gas crater is burning already for more than 40 years. And finally and certainly not the least to mention an enormous amount of wonderful, hospitable and welcoming people. The woman often dressed in wonderful dresses, and bringing a lot of color in the streets of almost of all countries we visited. https://flic.kr/p/2i3NkqM

#IFTTT #Flickr #uzbekistan #nightshot #culture #beauty #bright #colors #color #colours #colour #light

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landcruising · 4 years

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Meetings, especially on the road, can screw up your whole schedule. But nevertheless we actually don't care so much. As we mostly go with the flow and - except for the big picture - plan as little as possible. So when we parked our Yellow Submarine in a bend to see if I could shoot some pictures from afar, I needed to wait for an approaching white Land Cruiser to clear my frame. What a wonderful delight to see that it actually parked right in front of us and @oscar_and_the_gang got out the have a chat. When was the last time you met other travelers in a remote corner of the world? Our stickers, T-shirts and other goodies are available on our website 👍 👉 link in the bio 👇 Ambassadors season 17👇 @warnindustries @kermitchair @maxtraxhq @helmwatches @euro4x4parts @pinewood_benelux @darntough_benelux @armadillomerino @reiseknowhowverlag @bradtguides @bigagnes_ @cruiseroutfitters @tigerexped @montanebenelux @insightguides 👇 Working with 👇 @4wd_magazine @expeditionportal @toyotatrails @overlandjournal @explorermagazin @overlanderbrasil @outdoorx4 @tctmagazine @autobildde #landcruisingadventure #ontheroadsince2003 #vintagecruiser #tajikistan #pamir #centralasia #offroad #offroading #offroadtrip #offroadlife #offroadphotography #offroadadventure #roadtrip #travelstoke #expeditionvehicle #overland #overlanding #adventurerig #4x4adventure #dirtroad #overlandtrack #4x4Offroad #yotanation #toyoteros4x4 #forgeoverland #yotamafia #provenoverland #tct https://ift.tt/35gXL1S

#IFTTT #Instagram

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topfygad · 4 years

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A guide for traveling Tajikistan (Tips + 3-week itinerary)

The ex-Soviet Republic of Tajikistan is a truly wild country that you don’t want to miss in your Silk Road journey.

Home to the Pamir range, one of highest mountain ranges in the world, the mountains of Tajikistan attract the most adventurous travelers, especially those wanting to drive the M-41, or Pamir Highway, an impressive road and architectural masterpiece that goes through some of the remotest and most beautiful mountain scenery in Central Asia.

With tourism increasing year by year, the country is daily becoming more prepared to receive international travelers and, after spending 1 month in the country, I have this compiled this guide that contains all the tips needed for traveling to Tajikistan, plus a compelling 3-week itinerary.

Read: Ultimate guide to the Pamir Highway

Visa Travel Insurance Best time to visit The country, the people and its culture Getting in Safety Scams and corruption Money Food and alcohol Transportation Useful books Internet and SIM Card Accommodation Itinerary More information

Total transparency! – If you like my website and found this post useful, remember that, if you buy any service through of my links, I will get a small commission at no extra cost to you. These earnings help me maintain and keep Against the Compass going! Thanks

Do you know what a VPN is? A Virtual Private Network allows you to access blocked sites when you travel, as well as it lets you access content only available in your home country (like Netflix), plus it prevents hackers from stealing your personal data. Learn here why you should always use a VPN when you travel

How to get a visa for visiting Tajikistan

Most likely, you can get an e-visa – Most nationalities can apply for an e-visa through the official portal, valid for any port of entry.

The visa costs 50USD, is valid for 45 days, single entry and takes 1 or 2 working days.

Double entry visa – If you want one, you will have to get it through the embassy. Most people who want a double entry visa do so because they want to travel the Afghan Corridor, accessible from Ishkashim.

If this is your case, these are the requirements:

1 Passport valid for at least 6 months of validity and with two empty pages

Passport copy and visa copy from the country you are applying from

2 Passport photos

US Dollars

I applied for one in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and got it on the same day.

My double entry visa for visiting Tajikistan

GBAO Permit – The Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) is the region located in the east of Tajikistan, where the Pamir Highway and Wakhan Valley are.

If you want to visit it, you must tick the GBAO checkbox in the application form. If you are applying at the embassy, make sure to tell them, so you get the extra stamp.

By the way, the GBAO permit costs an additional 20USD.

Read: 30 Tips for traveling to Kazakhstan

Trekking in GBAO – Things to do in Tajikistan

Travel Insurance for Tajikistan

Eastern Tajikistan, where the Pamir Highway is, is a high altitude area, averaging around 4,000 meters above sea level.

You should know that, if you read the fine print, most insurance companies won’t cover you from 2500-3,000m and above, so you better check before you travel to Tajikistan.

World Nomads, however, does provide cover, including their most basic policy, which already covers for trekking at 4,000m.

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE QUOTE FROM WORLD NOMADS

If you want to know more options, read how to find the best backpacking insurance

Best time to visit Tajikistan

If you plan to do some trekking in eastern Tajikistan, you should come in summer.

I remember being in Alichur, a small village in the Pamir Highway and one of the coldest places in Central Asia, and, in the morning, during August, it was -5ºC and there was a freezing, strong wind, so it felt even colder.

Imagine the weather there during the rest of the year.

Me, at the top of Gumbezkul Pass. It was the month of August and it was absolutely freezing – Best things to do in Tajikistan

Nevertheless, the Pamir Highway is open all year long so, if you are self-driving, you can drive it at any time. Actually, my friend Joao Leitao from Nomad Revelations drove it in winter.

On the other hand, the Fann Mountains in west Tajikistan are at lower altitude, hence warmer, so they can be visited during spring and fall.

I did the 7 lakes trek in September and it was particularly hot!

The Fann Mountains – Is travel to Tajikistan safe

The country, the people and its culture

After the Soviet Union’s dissolution in 1991, Tajikistan went through a dark period of Civil War that lasted pretty much until 1997 and it was not only in 1999, that they formed an actual, stable government, even though Emomali Rahmon, who is still today President of Tajikistan today, had already been ruling from 1994.

It was one of the countries most affected by the Soviet Union’s breakdown, as all their economy and development depended on the Russians so, after getting their independence, the country went to ruin.

Murghab and all the Pamir highway is really poor – Should I travel to Tajikistan

That crisis can still be seen today, as this is clearly the least developed of all the Stans (not counting Turkmenistan), a country with high rates of unemployment, and the fact that most of their infrastructure is still from the Soviet Union times.

It is also the least Westernized country, also due to the fact they are far from Russia so, unlike Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, their cultural influence is not that visible, hence they have less international exposure.

Actually, after having some conversations with quite a few highly educated Tajiks in Dushanbe, I felt that they don’t really know anything about what is going on in the outside world.

A Soviet truck

They were people with very few Western values and no apparent ambition who asked me many times why I would ever want to travel to Tajikistan.

Moreover, Tajikistan is one of those fake democracies where elections are celebrated but there is only one political party, so the same President has been ruling since 1994.

There is no freedom of speech and I remember when my Australian friend, Sam, was talking to a local man for about half an hour at the main square in Dushanbe, a man in a suit came to ask what was going on and invited him to leave.

This means that, still today, the Government doesn’t like their citizens to get international exposure.

The Tajiks – Tajiks are a Persian ethnic group who live mainly in Tajikistan and Afghanistan, but also in Xinjiang (China) and Uzbekistan.

Actually, nearly half of the total Tajik population live in Afghanistan.

Lovely Tajiks in Khujand – tRAVEL TO tAJIKISTAN

Nevertheless, you should know that, like all the Stans, Tajikistan is ethnically mixed and, actually, most of the people living in the Pamirs are Kyrgyz, whereas those in the Wakhan Valley are Wakhis, so if you want to meet the real Tajiks when you are traveling to Tajikistan, you will have to explore Dushanbe and the western part of the country.

Kyrgyz people from the Pamirs

Language – Tajik, which is a dialect of Persian (the language spoken in Iran and Afghanistan) is the official language. Russian is, of course, widely spoken among most people. English tends to be a problem across all the country. I recommend you learn some basic Russian before you visit Tajikistan.

Religion – Tajiks are Suni Muslims but, like in all Central Asia, religion is not a very big deal. However, I felt that Tajiks were the most religious people in all Central Asia, especially those from the Fann Mountains. I remember that the men there never said hello or shook hands with my girlfriend.

Read: 65 Tips for traveling to Uzbekistan

Tajik women – Tajikistan travel guide

How to travel to Tajikistan

Travel to Tajikistan by air

Traveling to Tajikistan by air is very easy, as there are many international flights connecting Dushanbe with Europe.

If you intend to travel the Pamir Highway, many people fly into Osh, the largest city in southern Kyrgyzstan and the beginning of the M-41 on the Kyrgyz side.

Travel to Tajikistan by land

Moreover, if you want to travel to Tajikistan by land, know that it shares a border with 4 countries and most of them have multiple border crossings.

Kyrgyzstan – There are 6 border crossings and 4 of them are open to foreigners. The most obvious is the Kyzyl Art border crossing, which is the one that follows the Pamir Highway. For more information, read the latest Caravanistan updates.

Kyzyl Art pass: Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan border – Tajikistan travel guide

Uzbekistan – There are 5 border crossings with Uzbekistan and all of them seem to be open. I personally crossed the one at Konibodom, that links Khujand with the Fergana Valley, but if you don’t plan to visit that region, it is not very convenient. The Oybek border crossing is the one that connects Khujand with Tashkent and Penjakent is the one that connects the Fann Mountains with Samarkand. For more information, check the latest updates on Caravanistan.

Afghanistan – You can cross at Ishkashim, the gate to the Wakhan Corridor and a very safe part of Afghanistan; or the border crossing south of Dushanbe, which is also open but leads to Kunduz, a not very safe part of Afghanistan. Both borders are open but, if you plan to travel back to Tajikistan, remember to have a double entry visa.

China – Apparently, Kulma Pass is open now, as long as you have a valid printed visa on your passport. For more information, check the latest updates on Caravanistan.

Kulma Pass leads directly to the Karakoram Highway that connects Kashgar with Islamabad in Pakistan. Read here the full guide.

Read: 75 Tips for traveling to Kyrgyzstan

Uzbekistan – Tajikistan border crossing

Is it safe to travel to Tajikistan?

In summer 2018, 4 cyclists traveling across Tajikistan were murdered in Danghara, an area relatively close to Dushanbe. ISIS claimed the attack.

That accident triggered a big concern among many travelers and the Tajiks are concerned that it might affect their tourism negatively.

This unfortunate event, however, has been a one-off thing and I personally think that it shouldn’t affect your decision to travel to Tajikistan. A similar case happened in Morocco in December 2018 when 2 Scandinavian girls were killed and, so far, it doesn’t seem that tourism has been affected.

Aside from that, Tajikistan is a safe country with very low crime rates.

Tajiks are always friendly – Is traveling to Tajikistan safe

Scams and corruption when visiting Tajikistan

I still remember being in the car with a homestay owner, on our way to Khujand, when he gave some money to a policeman after stopping at one checkpoint.

Why did you give him money? – I said

Oh, this is just the standard bribing procedure. If we don’t pay him, then he would try to find a reason to fine or arrest us.

The corruption in Tajikistan is a well-known fact and some of these police officers also try to rip off foreigners but luckily, as tourists, there is not much they can do to you unless you are credulous and believe their lies.

Common scams include policemen telling you that there is a problem with your Tajik visa or making you pay an entrance fee to a place that, obviously, doesn’t require an entrance fee.

Dude, just think:

How the hell there is going to be something wrong with your visa? And also,where have you been where you need to purchase an entry ticket from a policeman?

Just say no and continue with your business.

Epic landscapes

Money when you travel in Tajikistan

The official currency is the Tajik Somoni and, in February 2019, 1USD = 9.50SOM

ATMs and credit cards – You can find ATM’s in the big cities (not in the Pamir Highway).

How much does it cost to travel to Tajikistan

It really depends on where you go and, ultimately, how you travel the Pamir Highway.

Typically, meals cost something between 1 and 3USD and budget homestays around 10-15USD, which tends to include dinner and breakfast.

In Dushanbe, you can find dorms for 3-4USD and the local transportation ranges from 2 to 10USD, depending on where you go.

For all costs referred to the Pamir Highway, read my guide.

Read: 80 Tips for traveling to Iran

We were on a low budget, so we hitchhiked the entire Pamir Highway

Food and alcohol when visiting Tajikistan.

Heads-up.

Like in all Central Asia, the food won’t be the highlight of your visit in Tajikistan.

In the Pamirs and different homestays, you are likely to eat shorpo for every meal, which is a meat broth.

In local restaurants, you will just find things like shahslik, meat skewers; lagman, a noodle soup; manti, fatty meat dumplings; or plov, rice fried in lamb fat.

As per alcohol, as in all ex-Soviet countries, beer and especially vodka are found everywhere.

Lagman is the comodin dish. After eating 100 bowls of it across all Central Asia, I really hated it but since I like pasta a lot, I could handle it more than other dishes

Transportation when you travel around Tajikistan

The below information refers to types of transportation in western Tajikistan, not the Pamir Highway. For this, read my guide to the Pamir Highway.

Marshrutkas – Marshrutkas is what former Soviet countries call their public minivans. They are really cheap and travel between most towns and cities.

Local shared taxis – Actually, we used more local shared taxis than marshrutkas and, as far as I could see, they are the most preferred option among locals.

Hitchhiking – Highly doable and easy! We actually had one of our most crazy hitchhiking experiences, when we spent more than 48 hours in a truck, on our way from Khorog to Dushanbe.

Traveling in a mini UAZ-452 – A classic Soviet van

Books for traveling to Tajikistan

Tajikistan Travel Guide by Bradt – The most comprehensive travel guide to Tajikistan. I bought all the Bradt guides to Central Asia (e-Book format). They are, by far, the most insightful guides I have ever read recently.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK PRICES ON AMAZON

Central Asia Travel Guide by Lonely Planet – I am not a fan of this guide, but if you are traveling to all the Stans and want to buy just one book, it is a good choice as well.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK PRICES ON AMAZON

Internet and mobile when traveling in Tajikistan

Wi-Fi – From Murghab to Khujand and Dushanbe, the Wi-Fi connection when you are traveling in Tajikistan is one of the worst I have ever seen. In Dushanbe, the Wi-Fi in my hostel was particularly bad and then every day I would go work to a fancy café and the internet was down every now and then. In the Pamir Highway and the Wakhan Valley, Wi-Fi doesn’t exist.

SIM Card – 3G was just OK anywhere outside of the Pamir Highway. I bought MegaFon and, for a few Somonis, I got plenty of GBs.

Accommodation in Tajikistan

Homestays – On the Pamir Highway, homestays are the way to go. I recommend you stay in random homestays, not in the popular ones. This way, the benefits will be spread more equally plus random homestays are cheaper.

Hostels – Hostels are popular, from Khorog to Dushanbe and Khujand. Click here to check all the available hostels in Tajikistan!

Hotels – In Khorog, Dushanbe, and Khujand you can find hotel options for mid-range travelers. Click here to check all the available hotels in Tajikistan!

Yurts – In the Pamirs, you can also find nomadic yurt camps where Kyrgyz nomads live.

A yurt camp somewhere in the Tajik Pamirs

Traveling to Tajikistan – 3-week Itinerary

I traveled to Tajikistan from Kyrgyzstan via Kyzyl Art Pass and left through Uzbekistan at Konibodom, so this Tajikistan itinerary reflects the direction I took.

Map of the Tajikistan itinerary

Things to do in Tajikistan – Pamir Highway (8-9 days)

Built by the Soviets in 1930, the Pamir Highway is an architectural masterpiece that goes through some of the remotest landscapes you can ever imagine.

Officially, it starts in Osh (Kyrgyzstan) and ends in Afghanistan but the highest and most beautiful part of it lies in Tajikistan.

The following information is just a small summary.

For the full guide, read my 6,000-word guide to the Pamir Highway.

The stunning Pamir Highway – Tajikistan travel itinerary

How many days are needed for the Pamir Highway?

Well, it is really hard to say. We spent more than 2 weeks between the Pamir Highway and the Wakhan Valley but that is because we stopped in many places plus we also did a 3-day trek.

Normally, most people take a 5 or 7-day tour (starting from Osh), which also includes the Wakhan Valley, but, to be very honest, it is not enough to explore the side valleys, which is where the most stunning landscapes are.

Amazing road! – Tajikistan travel itinerary

If you don’t have the time, I get it but, if you do, here are all the places you need to stop at:

Karakul (1 night) – The first big settlement coming from Kyrgyzstan, Karakul has a very big lake and with some pretty cool snow-capped mountains at the background.

Murghab (2-3 nights) – Murghab is the main town on the M-41 and a base for visiting other places and valleys. We first stayed 2 nights because we waited for a festival and then we stayed a 3rd night after coming back from the trek.

The mosque in Murghab – Tajikistan itinerary

Gumbezkul Pass trek (2-3 nights) – If you have your own car, you can do this trek in 1 day but we did it in 3, cause we walked all the way from Murghab and spent one amazing night with some real nomads in the middle of nowhere. For more information, I wrote the full guide for Everything Everywhere: How to trek the Gumbezkul Pass.

Alichur (1 night) – Very cool landscapes, yaks, trekking and Marco Polo sheep safaris.

Madyian Valley, close to Murghab – things to do in Tajikistan

Bulunkul (Stopover) – The coldest place in Central Asia is home to a beautiful lake. The trek from Alichur to here is a popular one. You can find a few homestays.

For most travelers, the Pamir Highway is, definitely, one of the best things to do in Tajikistan.

For more information, don’t forget to check my guide to the Pamir Highway

The festival we attended in Murghab – Things to do in Tajikistan

Places to visit in Tajikistan – Wakhan Valley (3-4 days)

Many travelers tend to classify the Wakhan Valley as part of the Pamir Highway (M-41), which is completely wrong because they are 2 different places.

Actually, to reach the Wakhan Valley you need to leave the road and drive towards Afghanistan for several kilometers.

The Wakhan Valley

Anyways. The Wakhan Valley is one of my most favorite places in entire Central Asia and my most favorite place in my Tajikistan itinerary.

And the reason is that, besides being home to intriguing and jaw-dropping landscapes, the Wakhan is of great historical importance as the ancient border between North Asia and South Asia and on the remarkable Silk Road route, which can be seen in the many fortresses and other sites of cultural heritage there.

Moreover, in the 20th century, the Wakhan Valley marked the border between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan and the Soviet tanks came through here to invade Afghanistan in the 70s.

Today, the river you will go along during your whole journey, whose other side is in Afghanistan, is the main entry point for smuggling products, especially heroin, and, from the window of your car, you can wave and say hello at the many Afghans across the river, from whom you are separated by only a couple of meters.

Once again, this is a small summary, so for more information, don’t forget to check my guide to the Wakhan Valley in Tajikistan.

The views from Khaaka fortress – Left side is Afghanistan and right Tajikistan – Places to visit in Tajikistan

These are all the places we stopped at:

Langar (1 night) – The first big settlement you find is Langar.

We personally didn’t like Langar, as it is the only place in the Wakhan where the locals are very pushy in trying to promote their homestays, plus it is actually far from the river.

I recommend you continue for a few kilometers to Hisor, a more genuine village and with nicer views to actual Afghanistan.

Vrang (stop) – Vrang is another old village that has an ancient Buddhist temple. It is worth stopping for a few hours.

Yamchun (1 night) – The most striking fortress in the Wakhan, which stands with the Afghan Hindu Kush on its background.

Yamchun fortress – Places to visit in Tajikistan

It also has some famous hot springs called Baby Fatima that are believed to have some fertility benefits.

Namadgut (1 night) – There is nothing in particular to see here but travelers don’t tend to stop here, so it is quite untouched. That is why here we had the best cultural experience with a local woman who blessed us with her hospitality.

Kaakha Fortress – The second most famous fortress after Yamchun has also great views to Afghanistan.

Ishkashim (1 night) – The main town in the Wakhan Valley. It used to hold the Afghan market in no man’s land but it is temporarily closed. It is also the border to Afghanistan for those interested in doing the Afghan Wakhan corridor.

For more information, read my guide to the Wakhan Valley

Wakhi people – Best things to do in Tajikistan

Tajikistan itinerary – Khorog (2 days)

After nearly two weeks of showering with buckets, using holes and bushes as toilets, exclusively eating shorpo and with no internet at all, getting to Khorog felt particularly good.

It is not a very big town but it has a good local market where you can buy many food items that were not available in the Pamir Highway, like cheese, and supermarkets with cold beer.

There is also an Indian restaurant that tends to be filled with travelers and a really good Tajik restaurant by the river, serving high quality grilled meat and other stuff.

Other than this, Khorog is a place to just chill, where we spent 4 days just catching up with work and filling our bellies with decent food.

By the way, the famous Afghan market takes place on Saturday.

Afghan people in the Afghan market of Khorog – A travel guide to Tajikistan

Where to stay in Khorog

Backpacker Hostel – Pamir Lodge – All right, it is a cool place and there is a friendly atmosphere. However, the hostel has the capacity for nearly 100 people and it only has two toilets and two showers, so when I came in August, it was very difficult to find them empty, apart from being quite dirty of course.

Backpacker Hostel – Hostel Do Nazarbayg – An alternative to Pamir lodge. You will find fewer backpackers but the location is much better and it is not that busy.

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Guest House – Riverside – A quieter, more homestay-style place.

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The journey to Dushanbe – 1 day

The road to Dushanbe is a very long way.

Shared taxis take around 12 hours and cost 30USD. They leave from near the market but you need to be there early, 7am at most.

We arrived before 8am and there weren’t any marshrutkas or taxis left, so we decided to hitchhike and it took us 3 days, spending more than 48 hours in a truck.

The distance is only 518km but the road is really bad but beautiful and interesting as, again, it goes along the Afghan border for the most part of it.

The road from Dushanbe to Khorog: the left side is Afghanistan and the right Tajikistan

Things to do in Tajikistan – Dushanbe (2 days)

The capital of Tajikistan is another place to chill for a few days while you collect some visas, like the Uzbek or Turkmen visas.

Well, not the Uzbek visa anymore, as from February 2019, they started issuing visas on arrival. Check my Uzbekistan travel guide for more information.

Dushanbe has cafés with real coffee, a variety of restaurants and a few pubs where to hang out at night.

What I liked about Dushanbe is that it was my first introduction to the real Tajikistan, as most people you meet in the eastern part are Kyrgyz, Wakhis or Pamir, so you will see a significant difference with the people living here, especially in the way women dress.

Don’t forget to check the main bazaar and the Rudaki Park, which holds the second tallest flagpole in the world

Where to stay in Dushanbe

Backpacker Hostel – Green House Hostel– We spent so many days here because the hostel was really comfortable. Comfy beds, a big kitchen and a living room with awesome couches.

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Budget Guest House – Hello Dushanbe – If you want a less backpacker-friendly place, Hello Dushanbe may be slightly more expensive but the facilities are great. It has both private rooms and a dorm.

Click here to see the latest prices

Lovely Tajik women

Hissor Fortress – Day trip from Dushanbe

If you are bored to be in Dushanbe, we also did a day trip to a fortress named Hissor, which was built by the Uzbeks in the 18th century, as this part of Tajikistan used to belong to the Emirate of Bukhara. The north was part of the Russian empire.

All right, the fortress itself was boring, as it was overly refurbished, but we always like to get out of town, take a local marshrutka and just see other towns, so it was worth it only for this reason.

How to get to Hissor fortress

From Dushanbe, you need to take a marshrutka to a town named Khisor. From there, take a taxi or hitchhike back to the fortress which is 4 or 5km away.

The fortress

Places to visit in Tajikistan – Penjakent and the Fann Mountains (3-4 days)

Once again, this is a small summary.

For all the information needed, read my guide to the Fann Mountains.

While they are not as stunning as the valleys around the Pamir Highway, the Fann Mountains are also very pretty and their main advantage is that, unlike the Pamirs, they are heavily populated and filled with several tiny villages where actual Tajik people live.

Tajiks from the Fanns

Therefore, visiting the Fann Mountains is a great opportunity to discover the real Tajik rural life, so different from anything you have seen during your Tajikistan itinerary.

Most people come to the Fann Mountains to visit Iskanderkul lake but I recommend going to the area around Penjakent and doing the 7 Lakes Trek.

Trekking in the Fanns

The reason is that, although Iskanderkul is a beautiful lake, no people live there plus it is always busy with domestic tourists, which isn’t a bad thing, but you won’t see much of the local culture.

On the other hand, the 7 Lakes trek starts in Penjakent and goes through several tiny villages where you can do homestays.

From Penjakent, we took a UAZ-452, the classic Soviet mini-van, and drove to a village named Rachnapollon.

That area is really off the beaten track, so the driver himself invited us to stay at his place, for free, but we decided to give him a generous tip because he had been feeding us.

How to get to Penjakent

First, take a local shared taxi from Dushanbe to Penjakent, which costs 70TJS (8USD). It is a 230km journey.

In Penjakent, for just a few somonis, we got in the UAZ-452 to Rachnapollon, from where we started walking on the next day.

Remember to check my guide to the Fann Mountains

Random people during the trek

Places to visit in Tajikistan – Khujand (2-3 days)

Khujand is the purest Tajikistan in its most genuine form and one of the oldest cities in Central Asia (2,500 years old).

It is the second largest city in the country, a city with little international exposure that has kept its traditional values.

Most travelers use it as a mere transit point, as it is close to the closest border with Tashkent, but I recommend spending here two nights at least.

Arbob Palace Tajikistan

Things to do in Khujand

Don’t forget to check the traditional bazaar, one of those traditional bazaars where everybody asks for a photo and gives you free stuff; and all the mausoleums and historical buildings around the main square. The Arbob Palace is also worth checking out.

Mosques in Khujand

Where to stay in Khujand

Budget Hostel – Somoni Hostel – The best choice for backpackers and a really cool hostel.

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Budget Hotel – Golden Apartments – The alternative to a backpacker hostel.

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Khujand’s bazaar

More information for visiting Tajikistan

Here you can find all my articles and travel guides to Tajikistan

And here all my guides to Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan.

Traveling to Iran? Find all my articles here

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