Buzkashi: Extreme sport - extreme weather

Finally--March 21! Sadly, the weather wasn't at all spring-like. Our Hike-Tajikistan-sponsored trip to see a buzkashi game near Shirkent was made an even greater adventure with the strong wind and spits of sleety rain. This is how Lee felt about the weather:

But going to Tajikistan without seeing a buzkashi game would be like going to the U.S. without seeing an American football game, right? You gotta do it!

In Tajikistan, the game is played in the spring time, in a natural "arena."

Here, there are no teams, just every man out for himself, on horseback, and trying to grab the goat carcass and carry it through a goal--these two mounds:

Imagine a rush of 200 horses running toward that space, instead of one. And yes, the guys stand up on the mounds the whole time, those adrenaline junkies!

Traditionally the prizes are sheep or carpets:

...but it looked as if for this big game (sponsored by the mayor of the town of Hisor, I was told) there might be a bigger prize:

It's a time for guys of all generations to gather. There are plenty of people on horseback, even if they're not playing.

Like American football, the game doesn't always seem logical to an outsider. We saw plenty of players just standing around. I wasn't sure if they'd finished a round or were waiting for the action to come near them.

The field can seem empty while the action is down at the other end of the valley. Then suddenly there will be a breakaway and hundreds of horses will careen down toward our end again:

Then there's a melee or chaotic scrum, with dozens of riders pressing on each other. You know someone has the carcass in there, but is it possible that any rider could get out of that mass?

Yes, something's happening! Spectators are rushing out of the way:

And here comes a rider with the carcass!

(It's the brown vertical hairy thing in the middle of the photo.)
I'm not sure whether that player scored a point, but it was good to see the action.

After a while it was time to break for prayers...

...and lunch:

Dumplings

Hot dogs

Fried dough

No, we didn't eat there. We got in our vans, grateful to get warm again, and took the rainy road back to Dushanbe.

(Earlier in the day, the president had driven that road for a big Navruz parade in a town a bit past the game, Tursunzoda. (The parade goes to a different city each year.) So, of course, the road was lined with flags, festive decorations, and signs showing the president with fruit, with grapes, with machinery, with the constitution, and all manner of useful things.)

If you are interested in buzkashi, you might like these professional photographs.