I took a trip to Panjakent in early November (7,8) 2009 with Ninoska and Rafik, two Canadian friends of mine who also work for the Aga Khan Development Network. See the pictures here. Panjakent is known for being one of the stops on the ancient Silk Road.

The trip to Panjakent takes about 5 hours by road under normal conditions. However, as soon as we left Dushanbe heading north, we encountered increasingly heavy snow. This didn’t stop us, however, and we made the journey in about 6 hours. We didn’t stay long, but we still managed to visit Old Panjakent (the site of ruins dating back to the Silk Road days), re-enact some silk trading, and hike around the area around 7 lakes (it was quite foggy).

It has taken me a while to update this blog, due in large part to being busy at work and the post-fellowship job hunt. I’ll be playing catch-up for the next few posts, which should cover developments up to early February.