Exploring the “-stans”: Review of “Silk Road to Ruin”

Few travelers make it to the “-stans”. Visas are hard to come by, infrastructure can be almost nonexistent, and danger is rife. Ted Rall ventured there anyway, writing (and cartooning) ”Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?”.

This book is an excellent read for anyone curious about Central Asia; Rall’s writing is compelling and his cartooning captivating as he evokes every emotion ranging from laughter at his foibles to horror at the widespread human rights abuse to the sadness of human suffering. Ted Rall is a cartoonist who contributes to over 140 publications and was a 1996 Pulitzer Prize finalist.

There are relatively few books about Central Asia and many people cannot even name most of the countries that constitute the “-stans”. There are actually seven countries that have the suffix in their name: Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan; dozens of regions also end in “-stan”.

In “Silk Road,” Rall writes of narrowly escaping execution by the Taliban. After his would-be-executioner (who had orders to kill all Americans) pointed to where Rall and his companion would be shot on the side of the road, he informed them they could have a few minutes to pray. Rall used this time to strike up a conversation with the man, learning that he had once lived in New York City, Rall’s hometown. They chatted about the city, and Rall and his friend were allowed to live. Such perilous encounters are not unusual in “Silk Road”.

A story that vagabonders will find particularly horrifying is the tale of three Dutch backpackers who were stuck between Kyrgyzstan and Chinese borders, unable to legally cross into either country, surrounded by minefields. When Rall met them, they had already been stranded there for 29 days and were eating grass and leftovers from Kyrgyz troops, severely sunburned and desperately stranded. He was unable to help them enter either country and never knew their fate saying, “For all I know, they may still be up there.” It is enough to send a chill down the spine of even the most hardened backpacker.

Even more horrifying is the string of human rights abuses detailed in the book. From the regime of Uzebeki torture, where people were boiled alive (including a father of four whose mutilated body is photographed on page 160) to the massacre at Andijon that left hundreds (or perhaps thousands) dead. Rall does not tiptoe around the fact that the United States government finances some of these regimes, utilizing their proximity to oil as well as the battlegrounds in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Even sport can take a deadly direction in Central Asia, as shown in the sport of buzkashi, the regional sport where competitors sometimes die as they fight for control of the buz, the headless body of a goat. The victor drags the carcass through the goal and is rewarded with prizes ranging from carpets to cars. Maiming is quite commonplace, with people not infrequently blinded for life by a riding crop to the face or an eye-gouging. Ears and noses are also lost in the melee.

Despite the difficulties and dangers of travel in Central Asia, Rall keeps returning to the region, once even bringing a tour group with him in 2000. Listeners of Rall’s Los Angeles radio program “Stan Watch: Breaking News from Central Asia” accompanied him through several countries on “Stan Trek 2000”.

The end of the book features a handy how-to section for the traveler who wants to explore the “-stans”. Rall offers tips on obtaining visas and hiring “fixers” to help straighten things out along the way. But you don’t have to travel there to appreciate this tale; it is an excellent read for anyone curious about a region of the world that receives little press and has a fascinating culture and history.