Wakhan, Valley

It was a cool night: 7 celsius in my tent.  It's going to get colder!  Here's the view from the camp-

Our first stop this morning was at Vrang to see a 4th century Buddhist stupa. 

More mountain views of the Hindu Kush/Pakistan/Afghanistan border-

Donkeys are used for hauling hay-

We made it as far east as Langar where the road became too steep and too switch backy for us to continue.  Will made a valiant effort trying to turn this corner.  Quite a few wheels were off the ground.  I was too horrified to take a picture of that!

We had no choice but to turn around and head back to Khorog :(

Here are some typical homes along the way.  They're made of stones, then covered with stucco, then whitewashed.  Notice the satellite dish! 

We stopped for lunch and this is what we got!  Yes, there were 7 weiners and 1 egg!

Here's a manned look-out tower looking towards Afghanistan-

We had to pull over to check the truck and meanwhile, there was shooting further up the valley.  A local said it was the Mujahadeen shooting towards Tajikistan.  Not sure if he knew what he was talking about or not, but when we went through that area, the shooting had stopped-

Rather than bush camp tonight, we're in a hotel in Khorog so we've all had showers and are feeling pretty good!

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!