Sovietistan
By Erika Fatland
"A mesmerising trip across Central Asia . . . A fascinating travelogue" Financial Times
SHORTLISTED FOR EDWARD STANFORD/LONELY PLANET DEBUT TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR 2020
Erika Fatland takes the reader on a journey that is unknown to even the most seasoned globetrotter. The five former Soviet Republics' Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan all became independent when the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991. How have these countries developed since then?
In the Kyrgyzstani villages Erika Fatland meets victims of the widely known tradition of bride snatching; she visits the huge and desolate Polygon in Kazakhstan where the Soviet Union tested explosions of nuclear bombs; she meets Chinese shrimp gatherers on the banks of the dried out Aral Sea and she witnesses the fall of a dictator. She travels incognito through Turkmenistan, a country that is closed to journalists. She meets exhausted human rights activists in Kazakhstan, survivors from the massacre in Osh in 2010, German Menonites that found paradise on the Kyrgyzstani plains 200 years ago. During her travels, she observes how ancient customs clash with gas production and she witnesses the underlying conflicts between ethnic Russians and the majority in a country that is slowly building its future in Nationalist colours.
In these countries, that used to be the furthest border of the Soviet Union, life follows another pace of time. Amidst the treasures of Samarkand and the bleakness of Soviet architecture, Erika Fatland moves with her openness towards the people and the landscapes around her. A rare and unforgettable travelogue.
The book begins with Turkmenistan and then moves on to Kazakhstan, while the tour begins in Kyrgyzstan, moves on to Kazakhstan, then Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and finishes in Turkmenistan.
It was quite fitting that Turkmenistan was the last country on the tour as after reading this section of the book I was intrigued and looking forward to visiting this country even more and for me it became the biggest highlight of the tour.
The Gas Crater in the Karakoram Desert and the White Marble city of Ashgabat were awesome features to witness at first hand. Turkmenistan has also been a ‘closed’ country for so long that I was excited to compare my experience with that of the author and can happily say we were aligned.
The author also describes the accounts from women who had been subjected to ‘Bride Kidnapping’ in Kyrgyzstan, an activity that I knew nothing about until I read about it in this book. But this prompted me to investigate this topic when in the country to discover it still occurs despite being illegal since 1994.
Goat Polo, Eagle Hunting, sleeping in Yurts…..I felt I was walking in the footsteps of the author and would highly recommend this book as essential reading for anyone planning to visit Central Asia."
