The extreme conditions of high-altitude desert and strong winds, combined with lack of opportunities beyond yak and sheep breeding, make life in the High Pamir Mountains of eastern Tajikistan a fight for survival. Yet in recent years, the village of Alichor has seen a turnaround in its fortunes, with a nascent tourism industry slowing the outflow of people to neighboring Kyrgyzstan. Photojournalist Janyl Jusupjan paid the village a visit.
Tourism Revives Remote Tajik Mountain Village
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Most houses in the village have no fences or yards, with the door leading straight onto the street.
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Girls pose by a wall.
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Local teacher Zamir Nazarmambetov in the school library. We can see the portrait of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon on the wall. The books are mostly in Russian and Kyrgyz. Zamir says that there have been no new deliveries from Kyrgyzstan since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
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Zamir's mother, Meyman, in her house. She is one of the first generation of nomads who were settled here by the Soviet government.