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plan that mirrors the ancient Silk Road , or more aptly , Silk Routes , that series of roads that once connected China with Europe through Central Asia , a path we were now following . Conceived over two thousand years ago , the lands where modernday Tajikistan and Afghanistan now sit , were economic powerhouses profiting from an early form of globalisation . The trade routes continued for well over a thousand years , providing impetus for growth in areas such as religion and education through cultural exchanges and shared technologies .
The Silk Route went into decline at the time of the Crusades in Europe and the Mongol Empire in Asia , grinding to a halt during the Russian and Soviet Empires of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries . Once economic and cultural powerhouses are now seen as impoverished nations clinging to what they have . The Belt And Road Initiative is perceived as helping with the recovery .
And here we were , at a sort of crossroads of the old trade routes , with a history of at least two thousand years , looking straight into the yards of people who are mistrusted due to their Taliban government . It felt like we were sneaking into something dreaded , something we had always been told was wrong , was evil . And yet , we had received many friendly waves from across the Panj , and even the occasional “ hello ” yelled above the raging waters , it felt surreal , not only the interactions but also the road .
Anyone with a taste for adventure will speak of the Pamir Highway . A road that traces its history to antiquity through what is now Afghanistan , Uzbekistan , Tajikistan , and Kyrgyzstan forms the Pamir Highway , although historians and
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