Wakhan Valley, Tajikistan

On the road again....  This is what we woke up to!

We stopped for water in a village.  This man was sleeping on the roof of a house.  We woke him up!

There is fresh water flowing from hoses everywhere!  Here, Matt is filling the tank.

We had the chance to visit a typical Pamiri home.  There is a raised area in the wooden ceiling which will have a skylight.  The four different levels represent air, water, earth and fire.  This particular ceiling was patterned after Ismoil Somoni's home in Dushanbe.  The house is 640 square feet and will be home to 10 people, possibly 20!

This gentleman and his son are responsible for the carving-

More of Afghanistan-

A village in Afghanistan-

We stopped for lunch at Khorog. It's the capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) region.  We needed a GBAO permit to travel in this region.  There are many irrigated fields in the valleys and it seems they produce most of their own food.  The GBAO makes up 45% of Tajikistan's area but only 3% of its population.

We're on our way to the Wakhan Valley.  We saw some Hindu Kush (Killer of Hindus) marking the Afghan, Tajikistan and Pakistan border.  They are the snow covered mountains.

Graves are surrounded by metal fences-

We met this gentleman at a pee stop-

Isn't the erosion crazy on this mountain?

This is 'no man's land' where on either Saturday or Sunday, depending on which book you read, the Afghans and Tajiks meet to have a market-

We're bushcamping tonight and hope to make the Pamir Highway tomorrow!

Tajikistan, Afghanistan

We had good intentions of making miles today so we left camp at 7 am, only to be stopped about 5 minutes later at a bridge.  Workers were welding on it - hmmm ?? and so we waited, waited and waited some more.  We ended up leaving at 3:00, but before we did, the diaphragm on one of the air brakes was changed, and then changed back again when that didn't solve the leak!

Here is the queue of trucks waiting to cross-

Not sure what these bone-heads were up to, but they ended up stuck in the sand-

Then, their car wouldn't start.  Notice the improvisation with the water jug-

We eventually moved to the start of the line and then were off!  Notice the bridge on the right and the support of some kind underneath!  Hope we make it!

More Afghanistan-

Most vehicles that we see are packed.  Here's an example-

More beautiful scenery-

The land is so rugged-

The mountain water is a beautiful blue, but the river itself is churning silt-

Farmers stook their crops.  We even saw a small thrashing machine-

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White water rafting anyone??  Still the Pyanj River-

It's another bush camp tonight and then tomorrow, to the Wakhan Valley!  

Tajikistan

We're on our way to the Pamir Highway and so it was a scenery kind of day.

Here are cattle and goats in a harvested field-

Dry, dry, dry.....

We had plov for lunch.  It's meat on rice pilaf, with a few vegetables-

Can you believe the road we were driving on?

A stream crossed the road.  It was no problem for us-

but this car had to move some rocks to get through-

We needed water, so filled the tank this way-

These kids were playing soccer in a pasture.  The people here are so friendly.  They wave and holler as we pass-

Can you believe this!  In one hour, we travelled 17 km!  We made 215 km today and our goal is 200 km /day for the next few!

Where we're camping-

Iskander Kul, Tajikistan

Last night's bush camp was fabulous with the full moon and clear sky!

There is such a thing as a "3" (somani)  bill!  It's worth 60 cents!

We're on our way to Iskander-Kul, an opal blue mountain lake at 2195 meters.  Notice there are no guard rails!

We stopped in Ayni for groceries.  I had a meat pie with hot sauce that cost .80 US.  It was delicious!

Sinks like this are in front of public places-

A stop wouldn't be complete without a toilet break.  This one wins the award..... so far!  I'd rather do a bush pee!

People here are super friendly.  They take pictures of our truck, holler 'hello' and always want their picture taken-

These boys ran up to our truck to sell cheese balls and apples-

The route to Iskander-Kul was beautiful until.....

We ran into a bit of a road block.  This rock was in the way, so we had to move other rocks to make the turn-

We walked up to the next switchback to see if it was passable.  Notice the truck in the bottom right corner-

We got around the large rock and only had trouble at one other switchback.  Here is the route.  Aren't the colors fabulous!

We arrived at Iskander-Kul.  Here is Marianne-

We had to wait for this troupe to pass-

We're now enjoying the lake and a few pivo!