From Silk Road to Steel Road: The Trans-Asian Railway

Photo From CNN.com

A quick glance at the map, with both the modern era and centuries past in mind, is all it takes to confirm that the most flourishing cities of human civilization tend to gravitate toward coastlines and their seaports. Commercial success in places like Venice, New York, Lisbon, and Hong Kong were the result of a long history of maritime trade coupled with ideal geography. The world's hinterlands, whether deep in the North American Rockies, the Pampas, Patagonia, and high deserts of inner Argentina, or the sparsely populated interiors of Russia or Australia, are all areas that were only delicately penetrated by traders, pioneers, explorers, and any other harbingers of mass migration and expansion. The isolation of these lands from the coast, and the long journeys required on foot or meager vehicles, stood as obstacles in stark contrast to the swift travel on coastal and high seas as well as the introduction of canals that let ships come inland.

In 1829, the steam engine was introduced, and from that year onward the world was transformed by the potential of railways to carry men and goods across vast expanses of land like never before. By 1900, the map of the world was greatly affected by the revolutionary relationship between rail, commerce, and empires. In 2014, new railroads still offer powerful possibilities for the peoples, governments, and economies of Central Asia that lie straddled between economic superpowers on the coasts. While the Silk Road once tied together trade from east to west, it is now a Steel Road that offers a new future through conflict ridden and downtrodden lands.

The Trans-Siberian Railroad is well known term that symbolizes the very geography of Russia--stretching from east to west in a curious way that leaves it with one foot in Europe and one in Asia. However, the sprawling geography of Asia should not be oversimplified, as the Trans-Siberian railroad is also a sort of yardstick, along which can be measured a changing spectrum of culture, geography, and history from the Asian west to east. Additionally, the idea of such a west to east line draws attention away from the existence of porous states and societies running north to south, with less homogeneity between themselves than there may be across the Russified northern expanse called Siberia. Indeed, what lies to the south of Siberia is a myriad of cultures and states.

The Trans-Siberian Railroad - Photo from TransSib.ru

Furthest west, in the Caucasus region, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan sit on the frontier of several regions, essentially a pivot point between Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Russia itself. Across the Caspian Sea, Turkic speaking peoples inhabit a variety of countries ending in "-stan", a Persian term denoting a place or land. Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan are all former Soviet Republics which are enjoying a novel independence while sitting upon  wealth of mineral resources, oil and gas, not to mention potential rail routes that could compete with the Russian hegemony to the north or sea routes to the south. The Persian legacy persists in Tajikistan as well as Iran itself, both rugged countries with abundant resources, the latter being a massive producer of oil and natural gas as well as a highly structured society that is a powerful exporter of culture and politics. Finally, Pakistan and Afghanistan serve as buffers, extensions, and wildlands between the economic hubs in Indian, China, Iran, and Russia, with their own potential in oil and minerals as well as trade routes.

Adding Europe and even the Middle East to this list of economic hubs illustrates the concept of transporting goods and resources between them. In such a wild interior, only a handful of trade routes exist in the form of roads, pipelines, limited waterways, and railways. By the end of the 1990s, the void left by the collapse of the Soviet Union and its satellite states was being filled by resurgent economic growth as well as an influx of outside aid and investment into the Asian interior. the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) eventually developed a forward looking plan based off of dozens of individual studies for a Trans-Asian Railway (TAR), including concepts for both north-south and east-west networks.

ESCAP determined a group of specific criteria for the railroad's routes and endpoints. These include "capital to capital links (for international transport) ... connections to main industrial and agricultural centres ... to major sea and river ports ... to major container terminals and depots". Much of the railway infrastructure exists already, but a map was produced showing a complete plan for the major east-west links after the gaps were filled in. Fundamentally, this map demonstrates a plan to offer maritime economies access into the Central Asian and Caspian region--with Iran, Russia, China, and all having independent links to the interior without sharing ports of entry. India, however, remains limited by its need to cross through Pakistan, an unstable neighbor, and by the limited development in Afghanistan leaving no rail links to the bustling economies further north. Europe as well is limited by access through the Ukraine, and hence Russia, or else through Turkey or the Black Sea region. Both of these are simple misfortunes of geography, as Afghanistan remains difficult to develop as well as unstable due to the rugged Hindu Kush range, while the division of Western Europe from Central Asia is due to desert, sea, or mountain barriers that foster instability in the Middle East and the Caucasus.

From ESCAP's report on Development of the Trans-Asian Railway

The development of multiple railways will primarily benefit the Central Asian republics, giving them more direct control over who they sell and ship resources to, rather than having to exclusively export through Russia, China, Iran, or whichever neighbor offers the best transport. Mongolia, for example, benefits economically, but also has little say in its trade with China, as the Chinese government builds highways stretching up to the Mongolian border thus offering routes for mineral exports. Kazakhstan, with rich deposits of oil and gas in its west and minerals in the east, can find clients in every direction as it continues to develop. The key function of these new railways is to fill in the gaps in the interior, using specific routes through the high mountains of the continental interior. Railways can rarely support more then a four percent grade, thus making routes though rugged mountain ranges and foothills meticulous but possible. More limiting, however, is that freight trains are challenged beyond a one percent grade--thus, despite the open and empty wilderness of Central Asia, the new rail routes are still particularly few and undetermined.

Rail development has particularly accelerated on a micro-level scale, and the remaining feat is to simply link existing networks. Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan all require junctions to one another and hence increased access to China and Iran, while China itself would be connected overall to Europe by linking these networks. In the Caucasus region, Georgian and Azeri networks connecting to Turkey--and hence Europe--offer a way around dependence on the Russian rail networks, and can bring economic development to the poorer regions of Georgia and even Armenia. Iran, as well, would find better access to the Caucasus as a result of such development. Russian trade is what is truly at risk, as Russian has a long land border with resource-rich Central Asian countries rather than a plethora of seaports with access to maritime routes like Iran, India, and China do as they look to the south and the east.

From the Afghan Ministry of Public Works

Curiously, the missing link lies in Afghanistan. The US-led coalition in Afghanistan has a chief goal of establishing stable Afghan self-governance and sovereignty, but this is less an economic goal than a moral one. The beneficiaries of such stability are those countries that would find railway access accompanying peace--countries like Iran, China, and India, who can access to Europe and one another via a potential rail link in Afghanistan. Thus, as the US considers the feasibility of stabilizing Afghanistan, these other countries are poised for economic intervention and participation despite their lack of military commitment. Current routes in Afghanistan stretch across the north from the Iranian border in the east, at Herat, to the Uzbek border in the north, and then from the Uzbek border across the east to the Pakistani border in the south.

These Afghan routes current support a small amount of trade, but require expansion to support anything of significant volume. While Chinese and Indian companies are beginning to extract copper and iron from large deposits found in Afghanistan, the funds to support a drastic railway construction project are still still difficult to come across. While Kazakhstan, with it's own sizable pools of natural resources, is able to generate its own funds as well as attract outside investment, Afghanistan struggles primarily due to the threat of government collapse and ongoing civil war. In theory, Afghanistan has much to offer as a crossroads as well as a source of mineral wealth, but in reality it is nothing more than a risky investment.

Part of the newest railway in Afghanistan - Photo by the American Embassy in Kabul

The overall idea of rail development in Central Asia is paradox--while railways will bring about stability, wealth, and improved international and intercultural relations, the lack of those very things is what limits railroad expansion. In addition, geography, while conquerable, is a towering obstacle in the face of economic and human development. The mountains and culture of Central Asian are stalwart, and the connection of coastal powers through a taming of the interior may prove difficult in the decades to come just as it was ephemeral for empires of trade and ideology of the modern and ancient eras. As development continues in much of Central Asia, it is Afghanistan that has become--and will remain--the crucible of globalization on land.

The Seven Sister Cities

The concept of sister cities is meant to propagate an international sense of friendship, cooperation, and community. The idea was born in the years following the Second World War, and today has proliferated across the globe bringing together cities small and large. Most major Americans have a sister city, some due to economic ties, some due to cultural ties. For the avid traveler, these sister cities can be alluring destination both close to home and far, far away. While there are truly few places to which the adventurous should never travel, there are seven pairs of sister cities that serve as especially magnificent pairs of American cities and foreign counterparts for those in search of wonder and awe. These are them.

1. Eugene, Oregon / Kathmandu, Nepal

While not Oregon's most famous city, Eugene is an outdoors paradise with a bit of flower child flair. With only a short drive west to the Oregon coast, and a short drive east to the Oregon Cascades, Eugene offers access to a plethora of adventure ranging from rafting to skiing to surfing--or good old beer drinking. A college town, Eugene is the birthplace of Nike, home to the University of Oregon, and a shining example of an outdoors paradise. It's sister city offers much of the same, but on a gargantuan scale. Kathmandu lies in a relatively low valley of Nepal, but offers unbeatable access to the world's most majestic mountains--the Himalaya. Within a day's travel are peaks as famous as Annapurna and Everest, as well as dozens more you've never heard of but don't want to miss. While not the microbrew rich, student inhabited mecca that Eugene may be, Kathmandu has a fascinating cultural appeal that drew those flower children just the same. As a bonus, you may want to try the Everest Beer ("It's Our Beer").

2. Bellingham, Washington / Punta Arenas, Republic of Chile

Bellingham is no Seattle, just as Eugene is no Portland, but it is still a college town, a port city, and rests in the shadow of one of America's greatest peaks. Home to Western Washington University and the American Alpine Institute, Bellingham is only a short distance from the towering Mount Baker and the pristine wilderness of Skagit country and North Cascades National Park. Follow the North Cascades Highway east and watch civilization fade away while the peaks yawn toward the clouds. Mount Baker ski area holds the world record for the most annual snowfall at a ski resort, at a whopping ninety-five feet. The city is known for its history as a port as well as its connection to inland logging. A float on Bellingham Bay offers incredible mountain views of both the Cascades and the Olympics, while a further trip to the San Juan Islands is prime for whale watching. Meanwhile, just a few hairs away from the South Pole--in a rough estimate--Punta Arenas, Chile offers a similar atmosphere with a different cultural flare. Magellan's famous circumnavigation of the globe gives the Magellan Straight its name, and Punta Arenas lies right along his route. Chile's Antarctic region--as they claim in--looks to Punta Arenas as its capital, while Patagonia lies not far off either. The world famous Torres del Paine National Park, home of the magnificent Patagonian towers, is only a few hours away at most by land, sea, or air, offering the best access of any city in South America. A city that was once a capital for both shepherds and sailors, today it is simply an anomaly among ports for its positioning between some of the most wondrous spots in the world. Skiing, boating, cruises to Antarctica, visits to penguin colonies on Isla Magdalena, and a short voyage to the southernmost point of South America are all on the agenda for any visitor to this portam australem.

3. Juneau, Alaska / Vladivostok, Russian Federation














Welcome to the last frontier--a term that applies equally to the American state of Alaska or the far eastern Russian outpost of Vladivostok. Juneau is the main city on Alaska's marine highway, accessible by ship from far north and far south. A destination for ferries, cruise liners, and pontoon planes alike, Juneau offers a taste of what the greater mainland of Alaska has to offer. Kayaking, whale watching, skiing across the water at Eaglecrest, or excursions to the Mendenhall Glacier just thirteen miles out of town, there is little that the area can't use to lure the outdoors enthusiast to its shores. Cold and wet, it is still the warmest and most temperate of Alaska's main settlements. And not to be forgotten, Juneau is the home of the Alaskan Brewing Company, a familiar site in any beer aisle. Across the Pacific, Vladivostok is something even more remote and strange. In Russia's far east, it is no surprise that this city has both historical and modern connections with many cultures. It's climate is shared with China's Manchurian territory, and by sea Vladivostok is linked to Japan and South Korea. Vladivostok is the final stop of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, and like Juneau offers a similar taste of what lies further into the hinterland. A historic center of Russian maritime trade and power, Vladivostok today is a replete with looming harbors, grand bridges, and enduring Soviet architecture. Around the city are more Russian islands, and access to desolate volcanic mountains that are a destination for explorers, heli-skiing, fishing, and adventuring into the unknown. And don't forget to sample the vodka--it is Russia, after all.

4. Cody, Wyoming / Lanchkhuti, Georgian Republic

Cody, Wyoming, while perhaps a backwater town in the minds of many, has a strong connection to the echoing legacy of the culture of the American West. Buffalo Bill Cody was famous for his exploits out west, being a bison hunter and old fashioned cowboy. Later, Buffalo Bill would tour the world with his wild west shows, and be a central figure in the founding of his namesake town on the edge of Yellowstone National Park. Cody is still full of wild west spirit, while also a lesser known outdoor sports paradise. Heading west, any visitor will soon enter Yellowstone via the Fishing Bridge Entrance, after passing the South Fork area that is famous for its ice climbing--an fishing, of course. In the heart of grizzly bear country, and in the center of the historic American Indian country, Cody offers a powerful look into life past and present on the frontier. Enjoy a steak downtown, a snowmobile ride up past the Chief Joseph Highway, or a grand tour of the country's oldest national park. Meanwhile, Cody's sister city in the Caucasus has its own story. Lanchkhuti, Georgia is a small town in Georgia's western Guria province, situated at the base of the majestic Caucasus Mountains and alongside the Black Sea. While Yellowstone is a short trip from Cody, Lanchkhuti offers access to Kholketi National Park. Kholketi is known for its wetlands and rivers, as it lies in a coastal plain between sea and peaks. The Caucasus, and isolated towns such as Mestia, give this area a beautiful backdrop, while ancient structures permeate the landscape as relics of Georgia's fascinating but little known history as a link between Europe and Central Asia. Georgia, like Wyoming, lies on a frontier, as it is the last country of the European Union before the world becomes Asia, and hosts a culture that is more rugged and unchanged than its better known cohorts. Cody has its cabins and cowboys, and Lanchkhuti offers its own mountains, monasteries, and windswept vistas.

5. Flagstaff, Arizona / Blue Mountains, Australia

Flagstaff, Arizona is not the typical image of Arizona, with flat desert and cactus. Instead, Flagstaff is a small city, host to Northern Arizona University, at nearly seven thousand feet--on the edge of the San Francisco Mountains and just a short jaunt from Sedona and the Grand Canyon. Rock formations are abound in this beautiful area, and outdoor sports such as rock climbing, mountain climbing, and even skiing at Arizona Snowbowl are easily enjoyed. Several naturally formed nationally monuments are nearby, such as Wakputi, Walnut Canyon, Natural Bridges, and Sunset Crater. The famous Route 66 also runs through Flagstaff, and into the desert further east. Blue Mountains, Australia parallels Flagstaff with it's own rock formations and scenic vistas. Impenetrable to early European explorers, the Blue Mountains region was home to many aboriginal Australians, and today still pays homage to their legacy. Several towns lie within the Blue Mountains, and Blue Mountains National Park generally defines the whole area. A short distance from Sydney, Blue Mountains offers a complete change from the coastal scenery of Australia's best known metropolis and remarkable natural beauty for anywhere in the world. Blue Mountains features some of the most extreme rock climbing in Australia, while also offering the casual hiker a run for her money. Canyoning is also popular, and is an activity offered by many guide companies in the area. While not as remote as the Outback and far off Australian destinations such as Ayers Rock, also known as Uluru, Blue Mountains is sure to offer a rush of an outdoors experience to any visitor n Australia.

6. Snowbird, Utah / Zermatt, Switzerland

Utah hosts some of the best skiing in North America; Switzerland some of the best skiing in Europe. Between Snowbird and Zermatt, one can thus find the pinnacle of skiing worldwide. Snowbird shares a small valley with the town of Alta, Utah, and since its settlement in the late 1800s has grown from a mining destination to one of the best powder spots on the continent. Trailing only Mount Baker, Washington, Snowbird benefits from the climactic effects of the Great Salt Lake, as well as the magnificent access to its slopes from Salt Lake City, less than thirty miles away. Glorious in every season for the hiker, climber, skier, and sightseer, Snowbird boasts granite peaks and fluffy snow that backs the "Ski Utah!" motto seen on many a license plate. Relying mainly on skiing itself for industry--not tourism or real estate--Snowbird is less resort than it is simply peaks and slope. This mountain town offers a true taste of Rocky Mountain shredding, and despite the snowmobiling, snowshoeing, and other sports that may fit into its image, skiing is the true theme here. Zermatt offers nothing less, if not more. A town almost completely void of cars, Zermatt is situated below the world famous Matterhorn, one of the most difficult and last peaks to be climbed in Europe. Monte Rosa, Switzerland's highest summit, is also close by. Furthermore, most of the Alps' highest peaks lie in the area surrounding Zermatt's Matter Valley, making it no surprise that this is the mountaineering capital of Europe. But even if you aren't a skier or mountaineer, Zermatt is a top notch destination for camping, hiking, and even sampling Swiss cuisine like fondue and rabbit fillet. Not far from the Italian border and its own quaint alpine villages, Zermatt is a true world destination and offers more beauty than you can bargain for, without a doubt.

7. Boulder, Colorado / Lhasa, Tibet, People's Republic of China

The final two sister cities on the list are both well known and yet exist in completely different atmospheres. Boulder, Colorado, just outside Denver, is an outdoors Mecca, a full spectrum college town, and is host to a very liberal society. Lhasa, Tibet has been shackled and subdued by decades of Chinese occupation, and despite such a totalitarian setting is still the home of a world famous religious movement--Tibetan Buddhism--and the site of breathtaking scenery and architecture on one of the world's highest plateaus. Boulder is home to many Tibetan refugees and immigrants, as is obvious quickly on a stroll through the city. Juxtaposed with this cultural variety is the University of Colorado and the Boulder counterculture that makes it famous. Set in the forefront of the Coloradoo Flatirons and the Front Range, Boulder is a young city--younger than the national average in the US--and a bustling one, with both culture and business burgeoning. With now-legal Colorado mairjuana, not much has changed in Boulder, but what is important is what stays the same. The music scene, the outdoors sports, the artistic community, and a people-friendly town that offers almost sixty percent of its space as open to the public. Lhasa, meanwhile, has much that also remains the same despite a rough history. It's famous monuments such as the Jokhang Temple and the Potala Palace are as stunning now as they must have been over the centuries. Trekking is the name of the game, and mountaineering offers the daring some exhilarating ascents on some of Asia's higher peaks. Tea, incense, monasteries, and raw Tibetan culture are all as integral to the experience as the Chinese grip on the region, while the history offers insight into how much has changed in the people despite the steadfast scenery. Accessible through tours and a tricky visa from either Nepal or major cities of China, Lhasa offers far more than the trouble to get there may take away--and is even home to the "beer from the roof of the world", Lhasa Beer. Indeed, there is something for everyone, whether it is the beer drinker, the alpinist, or the seeker.