I left Afghanistan via the same route I entered, and even met the same border guards as the day before (one Afghani guard was obviously annoyed to see me, sine I refused to tip him the day before for checking my passport- #sorrynotsorry). The customs entering Uzbekistan took about 3 hours this time , as the narcotic trade along this border is incredibly active, and admittedly, me going in for a night smells funny. This customs-all-day theme was starting to annoy me, but also made me reflect on the fact that, in a way, they are more secure than many of our borders. Of course we have dogs, and intimidating bald ex-miltary guys. Idk.
I found a nice enough taxi driver to take me into the Termez outstation (aka shared-taxi hub), where I would suggest any traveler and budding economist to go in order to study the laws of supply and demand. There was nobody going to Samarkand. Like, really? Nobody? But I’ve read in my guide book that there are lots of shared taxis going there…well, sorry Brandon, nobody is going. I had the option of renting our an entire cab to myself, spending the night (for $100 a night, since another supply/demand law states that there will be exactly two hotels in this town, both at that price), or figuring something out. I chose the latter, and convinced a taxi going to Tashkent to drop me off at the road bound for Samarkand, as that route passes right by. He agreed for a hefty price, but still cheaper than a hotel plus doing this again in the morning. So off we went.
It should be noted that this departure was about 6pm, and as we were embarking, I realized that all I had to eat so far was half a loaf of bread I bought in Afghanistan, that was confiscated at the border (how dare I bring that loaf of terror-dirt in here). The hunger pangs set it, but luckily, my back-seat traveling companion on my right (that’s right, I was in the middle back “seat”) offered me some swigs of Pepsi to hold me over. He was also incredibly talkative towards me. I say it that way because no matter how I communicated that I don’t speak his dialect of Uzbek/Tajik, he would just charge forward in his language right to me. I was amazingly lucky, or something, at timing my head nods, and managed to have some sort of “conversation” about phones, internet, Russia, Samarkand, Afghanistan, and of course, Pepsi.
I’ve vaguely talked about politics enough in my posts, so I figured I’d talk about that other dinner topic, religion. The people of Uzbekistan practice a form of Islam. The Dar-al-Islam unquestionably reached this portion of the world, and made probably some of the largest impacts on society and culture here. Central Asia is not only where goods were traded, but also culture, and importantly, religion. Think about the Buddhism of China, Hinduism of India, and Islam of the west meeting in one place. Christianity didn’t come till many years later from the Russian influence. As you’ll see in the pictures from Uzbekistan, the mosques, minarets, and arabic language are proof that Islam was the predominating influence in the region. It’s curious however, since the Islam of Uzbekistan today is very different from Isalm in most other places. My own observations (NOT research, though I’m sure that’s easy to lok up on Wikpeida, if I had better internet access), are that Islam has played a historical role in current Uzbek customs. It’s not Shi’a for sure, nor Sunni, but I’m curious if the traditions of Sufism (a more mystical form of Islam, highlighting a more personal relationship with God had a greater impact in this region. Ibn Battuta, the famed traveler in these parts, was a student of Sufism, and I can’t help but imagine him finding a bit of a home here in the company of great teachers. All of this is my personal projection, so don’t go teaching this to children.
Anyways, all of this comes to mind, and is supported by, some simple observations. Prayer rugs are very rarely used, though praying 5 times a day is still customary. Secondly, these prayers are often in small groups of people, rather than individuals setting to pray, or at a mosque. They time of ay will come, and people will sit together, and one person will pray. And finally, the reasons this comes up now, is because at the beginning of every car ride, everyone in the car will place their hands in front of them (like accepting a gift), and one person will be told to pray (the driver usually assigns somebody), and they’ll shout out a prayer for safe travels, and everyone, in unison, will run their hands down over their face. The hand-face gesture also happens anomy while driving, something I still haven’t quite figured out.
So I’ll admit, this wasn't the first time I had seen it. I’d seen it in Tajikistan a lot, and only occasionally in Kyrgyzstan. At first I just kinda watched, not wanting to step on toes or anything, but then I started feeling a bit disrespectful not joining in. I began to think about my own journey of faith, and how I take for granted things like praying for meals or taxi rides, or even other people. I decided that I would start saying my own prayer under my breath (so this whole thing wouldn't be a meaningless gesture), and with universal acceptance and smiles, I started joining in, in my own little way at the beginning of all of these taxi rides.
Faith has made an incredible impact on human civilization. It’s probably been the primary avenue through which culture has been exchanged throughout the great diaspora of human kind. The idea of “Dar-al-Islam”, or what is essentially the culture of the Islamic world, is a good way to express it. Religion has shaped cultures, and as a result there has been diplomacy, trade, alliances, wars, spread of language, and most of all, a unifying factor among a people. Amongst theistic faiths, whether belief in a higher power was evolved as we needed it, or, from all these angles, wether that faith itself is evidence of what (or who) it points to is another discussion outside the scope of my little posts. Amongst cultural faiths, these points can still be made, as societies are so impacted by them in such similar ways. I suppose my take away is: faith and its ability to unify people, wether you agree or disagree, is unarguably powerful and impactful.
I’m going to take the chance to say: without shrugging it off, consider faith, and what role it’s had in your life. My personal faith in God has had profound impact, and I think it’s a lens with which to view the world and the people in it that continues to impact me daily. And although traveling abroad has become a part of me in more ways than I probably appreciate, it’s my own personality to be a generally observant person of the world and details around me (#anesthesia). But I think it’s important to state that all of these little observations that I’m making aren’t in any way unique to being in Central Asia, or even Ghana or Peru for that matter. The truth is, I think we can see glimpses of all these things (culture, religion, human interaction) in every day life, and I hope that by reading some of my observations of these things, you can start to see those reflections wherever you are traveling, whether that’s abroad, at home, or even across the street to your neighbors house. I think we need a bit more community in our lives in our lives, and I think faith is a darned good way of going about it. Being reminded of that in a taxi ride in the [honestly] middle of nowhere, was a good reflection for me.
And back to my taxi ride- it was long and I almost died of starvation, but salvation (the theme here amiright) came in the form of a soup-and-bread stop, that was probably risen on the third day. Eventually, I was dropped off at the intersection off to Samarkand at about 12:30 am at a random (and way-too-fancy-looking hotel). It was pretty expensive, but I was happy for a bed, a shower, nice staff, and the ride. More importantly, I was thankful for the reminder that my faith is what matters to me, and while I’m thinking of those big things, I want to stay thankful for the little things, too. Thanks for reading!
-BK