Hiking the Glenn Highway through Alaska. Published in Asphalt Pilgrims.
Paul Salopek
Every hundred miles Salopek pauses to record the landscape and a person he meets, assembling a global snapshot of humankind. Milestones reflect straight-line distances, but his walked distances are generally much longer. More on these waypoints here.
Every hundred miles Salopek pauses to record the landscape and a person he meets, assembling a global snapshot of humankind. Milestones reflect straight-line distances, but his walked distances are generally much longer. More on these waypoints here.
Eshembay Joldoshbaev led the way on horseback across the last valley of Kyrgyzstan. We were walking out of the Alai range. We were headed to the high mountain wall of the Pamirs—to Tajikistan. Joldoshbaev sometimes sang Kyrgyz songs as we inched across the pasturelands. What kind of songs? “Love songs,” he said. They involved boys and girls, of course. But also horses: The lovers played out their tragedies and triumphs on horseback. By tradition and legend, Kyrgyzstan was a herder society: a redoubt of horse nomads. A man or woman on foot? Ach—they would hardly be worth courting.
A wraparound soundscape at this Milestone
This Milestone’s location on a map
Photos of the ground under Paul’s feet and the sky above at this Milestone
A brief question and answer with the first person Paul meets at this Milestone
Nurperi Orozbayava
University student and shepherd, age 17
Who are you?
I'm here tracking our animals. Cows. Sheep. Ten horses. One of the horses is a stallion. This is hard, especially when it rains. So difficult.
Where are you from?
I'm from Taldesur. It's over there. (Points across valley.)
Where are you going?
I'm going to university in Osh. I'm studying international relations. I have four more years to study. After working a year here in Kyrgyzstan in the government, I hope to go to other places, maybe America or Russia.
A video showing the landscape around this Milestone
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