wildernessLectures
Swimming to Afghanistan on 24th January, 2024
by Chris Aslan
Event Details
Swimming to Afghanistan! Absurd, surely Afghanistan is totally landlocked? Well, Chris Aslan took an unusual approach to this benighted but beautiful country by swimming to it (and back) from Tajikistan, across the Panj River, the headstream of the Amu Darya. Not a wise thing to do but something of which he's still proud.
Chris has a wealth of anecdotes and near-death experiences and loves the opportunity to tell them. He talks about the trips he made to Afghanistan to buy natural dyes for his workshop, just after the Taliban had (supposedly) been toppled; explorations of Kabul and Kandahar; getting caught up in fighting and seeking sanctuary in a local home from an anti-Western mob, not to mention travels in Badakshan and the Wakhan.
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Chris Aslan
Chris Aslan was born in Turkey and spent his childhood there and in war-torn Beirut. After school, Chris spent two years at sea before studying media and journalism at Leicester University. He then moved to Khiva, a desert oasis in Uzbekistan, establishing a UNESCO workshop reviving fifteenth century carpet designs and embroideries, and becoming the largest non-government employer in tow...
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