21 January, 2013

Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor - Pictures, More From National Geographic Magazine

Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor - Pictures, More From National Geographic Magazine: The khan dreams of a car. Never mind that there isn’t a road. His father, the previous khan, spent his life lobbying for a road. The new khan does the same. A road, he argues, would permit doctors, and their medicines, to easily reach them. Then maybe all the dying would stop. Teachers too could get to them. Also traders. There could be vegetables. And then his people—the Kyrgyz nomads of remote Afghanistan—might have a legitimate chance to thrive. A road is the khan’s work. A car is his dream.

“What kind of car?” I ask.

“Whatever car you want to give me,” he says. The ends of his mustache curl around a smile.