Today we approached the part of Tajikistan that borders the Wakhan Corridor, the panhandle which stretches Afghanistan east to touch China. For the history buffs, this corridor acted as a buffer zone to separate the Russian Empire in the north (Russian Turkestan/ present day Central Asia) from the British Empire in the south (British India/ present day Pakistan and India). Preceding that even further was the Italian explorer Marco Polo who passed through this route in the 13th century to reach China, to what was then the Yuan dynasty ruled by the Mongols. Pamir Highway: Langar – Murghab
Given the significance of the Wakhan throughout history, and the hodgepodge of people who crossed or fought over this land, imagine my exuberance when our guide first announced that to our right was the great Wakhan Valley. The little girl in me who poured over National Geographic articles and pictures just saw her imaginations come to life.
Alas because obtaining an Afghan visa is expensive, and I am a poor college student, the only way to justify getting one was if I spent at least a week there, which was time we did not have during this trip. Also, something about the Taliban. And with that, I gazed longingly at the Wakhan Corridor, unable yet to be amongst it.
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