Have you ever heard of the Panj River? Have you ever crossed the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan?

I'm not going to talk about all the virtual intricacies of traveling in Tajikistan, no need, you will never actually go. I can tell you Dushanbe is an amazing, beautiful, convivial small berg, but unless you speak Russian, like to quaff copious amounts of vodka and have traveled from Afghanistan to get here, you will not understand it.

On the southern side of the Panj River men are still beating to death other men for having melodic ring tones on their cell phones. Women are basically non-existent or walking around town burqha-clad, maybe one woman to every one-thousand men. Children do not play; they work either in some sort of menial establishment or minding the flock. Girls are still married off to whomever their father chooses. Foreign technology is banned for the most part, unless, of course, it is a Russian made rifle or Czech made plastic explosive. Western nations build schools, the locals blow them up. European groups bring steel plows for argriculture; the locals melt them down to make AK-47 bullets and carry on furrowing with a wooden peg. Simplicities like literacy can get you killed.

The first and foremost difference on the northside of the Panj is women. Directly after the river crossing, not only does the grass literally become greener, but there is a woman with her hair styled as she wishes, checking passports -- no head gear, no billowy sheet hiding her figure, no submission.

Driving through the countryside north towards Dushanbe factories, schools, tree-lined roads, tractors pulling plows, children playing in the streets, and women, women, women are everywhere dressed in colorful, individual dresses working and living alongside men.

I had almost forgotten that women play a role in society, three months of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan will do that to you. My wife had forgotten what it was like to be given a menu and asked directly what she wanted. Alcohol is ubiquitous. The guide book, which I will not name, claimed that Chaikhanas (teahouses) where on every corner, maybe the writer was unable to read Russian, as every corner has a beer garden and over the three weeks spent in the city, I never came across these teahouses. Then again, the map of Dushanbe wasn't even correct.

Again, the central role of women in the functioning of Dushanbe was overwhelming. Going out to a club on Rudaki, Dushanbe's main thoroughfare, women enjoyed dancing, drinking and the general bacchanalia that you find in any club in the former USSR. It was heart-wrenching to watch men and women enjoying each other so thoroughly whilst less than a three-hour drive south, chauvinistic oppression is plaguing the masses, the one dollar bottles of vodka cured my heart-wrenching. The most amazing aspect was the architecture. When crossing the Panj we left Asia and entered Europe.

My wife and I didn't want to leave Dushanbe. The cities simplicity held us there. The shady avenues lined with neo-classical buildings built by the Soviets brought the masses out of tribal dementia and into a productive, educated people. Note: the way people still live in Afghanistan to the way people now live in Tajikistan. Unlike, Eastern Europe, which already had a functioning infrastructure when the Soviets arrived, much of Central Asia was locked in a time warp and controlled tribally from mud huts and little else. The Soviets forced qualities like education, homes, infrastructure and jobs on these people to bring them out of the tenth century and into the twentieth century.

Tajikistan today is fairly banal, economy-wise. Years of civil war tore the country apart. Basically, the Mujaheddin wanted to create and Islamic state of Tajikistan a la Afghanistan fresh from their victory there in the mid '90s, backed by Iran. Luckily, Russia backed the secular opposition and the Mujaheddin were routed and fled back into Afghanistan and Tajikistan is a secular nation that keeps religion where it belongs, in the rear of society and used for historical reverence rather than societal limitations.

The country is comprised of massive mountains, although, outdoor activities are fairly archaic and not accustomed to non-Russian speakers.

Hopefully, one day Tajikistan will be on a real traveler's itinerary. Until then, only the daring and educated (you have to realize it exists) go to this mystical, beautiful outcrop of civilization deep inside Eurasia. And be mindful, there is little crime or violence, but if you cannot hold your alcohol - anywhere in the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) is not the place for you - and Tajikistan is no exception.