Green valleys in the desert
Down on the Uzbek-Afghan-Tajik border meet are some facinating green valleys surrounded by desert ridges and mountains. It is a land of extremes, searing hot during summers, biting cold during winter. The end of summer-early autumn would be the time to visit when the produce is ripe on the stem and fruits brought to the market, skies are clear and the temperature is - right - temperate.... The areas around Garavuti and Shaartuz were indeed very nice.Much of the irrigated land here is taken up by cotton, a crop that does nobody any good here given the disasterously low price on cotton and the high input of pesticides, feritlizer and water. Cotton production in general in Tajikistan is really draining the country, but after 50 years of it i presume it's a habit that you cannot wean the nation off.
