The biologist and journalist Adriane Lochner, with a PhD in biology, set off on her journey to Tajikistan, where she visited the local nomad shepherds and rode yaks. In this photographic journal, Bergzeit Journal features a selection of her fascinating imagery.
Among other things, I was near the village of Alichur in the Murghob district in the autonomic province of Gorno-Badakhshan in the Tajik Pamir Mountains, “the roof of the world”, almost 4,000 meters above sea level. The village of Alichur lies on the Pamir Highway, a lonely trade route through the Pamir Mountains. Horses don’t cope well with the harsh winters. Therefore the locals use yaks as load and riding animals. Recently they have started to offer yak trekking for tourists. Women are now also being trained as guides. The income is used for wildlife protection (e.g. for ibexes, Argali wild sheep and snow leopards).
I went there on a research trip for the protection of the snow leopard. Various local and international nature conservation organisations are working in the high mountains to ensure that the poor rural population no longer needs to poach to feed on the meat of wild sheep and ibex and to protect their livestock from snow leopard attacks. Ecotourism is one method, alongside sustainable hunting tourism, the sale of handicrafts and subsidies for predator-proof fences. I tried yak trekking together with an American Vet.
On Yaks through the Pamir Mountains
Riding on “Cows”. As part of the Ecotourism programme, a non-governmental organisation, “Burgut” (Golden Eagle), offers yak trekking for tourists as an alternative source of income for locals to discourage them from poaching. | Photo: Adriane LochnerYoung Yak shepherd in the Tajik Pamir. Traditionally domesticated yaks are the livelihood of the locals. | Photo: Adriane LochnerYaks are not only used as riding and pack animals, but also for meat, milk and fur. | Photo: Adriane LochnerSkull of a Marco Polo wild sheep. The endangered species is a source of meat for poor mountain people, a popular hunting trophy for foreign hunting tourists and the food source for the rare snow leopard. The protection of the prey animals is essential to preserve the big cat. | Photo: Adriane LochnerThe Yak shepherds live in Kyrgyz yurts. One of the largest Kyrgyz communities outside Kyrgyzstan is located in eastern Pamir Tajikistan. | Photo: Adriane LochnerThe shepherds in the Tajik Pamir no longer depend solely on their livestock. An old truck from the time when Tajikistan still belonged to the Soviet Union is used for haymaking. | Photo: Adriane LochnerSaddled yak bull on the Alichur plateau. Anyone game to climb up? | Photo: Adriane LochnerWide plateaus, snow-capped peaks and sparse vegetation make life in the Pamir as harsh as it is beautiful. | Photo: Adriane LochnerMotorcycle: ride of the modern nomads. The shepherds make faster progress today than on their yaks. That is, as long as the fuel doesn’t run out. | Photo: Adriane LochnerBreakfast with the hosts. Visiting a small family in the mountain village of Bash-Gumbez “Homestay” is another alternative source of income for locals. | Photo: Adriane LochnerYoung shepherd with yak calves. Despite the hardship of life, the cold weather and the thin air, the people in the Pamir are exceptionally cheerful. | Photo: Adriane LochnerPreparation for the homemade wood oven bread? Not quite! “Yak excrement oven bread” is a better description. At 4,000 metres above sea level, trees no longer grow. | Photo: Adriane Lochner
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