Merlan walks over a hill in the Ak Bosogo mountains near Gulcha in Southern Kyrgyzstan.

As night fell we came across a family who had driven off the road. In a testament to Tajik hospitality, all of the next 5 cars stopped and together we picked the car up and out of the ditch. On the isolated road, my friend described it to me this way: if it had been any of us we would hope others would treat us the same. (at Chanak Highway, Tajikistan)

Smoke fills the air through the length of the Iranian built Hanzob tunnel. This 8km tunnel through the Fan mountains is unlit and poorly ventilated. Small lakes of standing water intermittently require drivers to change lanes unexpectedly. Glad we’re through! 👍 (at Chanak Highway, Tajikistan)

The Chanak Highway snakes through the Fan mountains. (at Chanak Highway, Tajikistan)

A father and son make their way down Rudakli, one of the main streets in Dushanbe. The city hosted high level meetings on water cooperation these past days and as a result most roads were closed to cars. (at Dushanbe, Tajikistan)

A wonderful place to have lunch. (at Varzob, Tajikistan)

Jasmine plays in her grandmother’s kitchen in Shahri Nav, a few kilometers from the border with Uzbekistan. Like many Central Asians, she moved to Moscow, although she is visiting her relatives for the summer. This rural-urban migration is often caused by the perception that the city offers greater access to education and opportunity. (at Shahri Nav, Tajikistan)

A family loads their belongings into a taxi at the Zaruf Shon queue. One can find domestic and international rides from this informal taxi depot at the end of the bus line outside of Dushanbe. (at Zaruf Shon Taxi Queue)

An imported Chinese statue “holds” the Tajik flagpole in Dushanbe. Last year the flag held the record for tallest in the world. (at Dushanbe, Tajikistan)

The sun sets over the national flag and arches in the center of town in the main park of Dushanbe, Tajikistan. (at Dushanbe, Tajikistan)

A mother and son walk past Soviet built apartments on the outskirts of Umed’s hometown Hissor in Tajikistan. (at Hissor, Tajikistan)

I can’t wait to photograph Umedjon and Nona’s wedding later this week in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. They met years ago when Nona worked here and have recently made the decision to tie their families together. Nona’s parents trusted their daughter and flew out of the US for the first time to be at the wedding. Umed’s family accepted Nona despite the non-traditional arrangement. It’s not everyday that you get to see a connection develop between two families from either side of the planet. These are amazing bonds that have brought everyone to this city. (at Dushanbe, Tajikistan)

Ali squeezes through a tunnel 400m deep in a cave system in the hills surrounding Aravan on the Uzbekistan border. (at Aravan, Kyrgyzstan)

On Saturday, I met a few friends from Osh who drove over to Aravan. We spent the day in Talisman cave, a system located up in the mountains surrounding the town. This is Ulan, shining his headlamp on the feed of Ali as he squeezes through the next 4 meter section of cramped space before the next chamber. I have tons of photos from this day and will post a link to them on here later next week.

Spent Friday evening in a mahalla in Aravan with my coworker Ikbol and his very nice family. We played football with a group of Ikbol’s friends that night. Because of Ramadan, we started the game around midnight.

"Edgar", as pictured, was playing goalie, when he randomly asked me to take his photograph. With the game still going, he neglected his duty as goalie and quickly took 5 steps forward before proudly throwing his arms up with a casual smirk. I snapped a few pictures just as the ball was coming back across the field. Everyone laughed and called him a diva in Uzbek and we kept playing. I put the camera down a few minutes later and rejoined them until around 3. It was a fun night.

Ydyrys teaches younger journalists at Radio Yntymak as they produce his show, Normalizer, a daily investigative report on conflict themes. It is Yntymak’s most popular show, broadcast in both Kyrgyz and Uzbek.

Have had the opportunity to follow around a few reporters and workers at a local radio station. This is Jaanbek, a DJ and water engineer at a “beer house” after a day at work.

The Sulaiman Too Mosque is the newest of several hundred mosques located in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. In this ethnically diverse area, more than 80% of the population is Muslim. On the average day, one may hear an azan (call to prayer) through the loudspeakers of nearby mosques

A young girl watches older women prepare food through a serving window in the kitchen of an Uzbek Chaihana in Southern Kyrgyzstan.

I had dinner with a group of MSF security guards and mechanics in a separate room.

Work has been pretty busy, so we took a short day trip to Lake Папан last weekend. The view is always worth the climb!