“KILLER OF HINDUS,” THE Hindu Kush Mountains, hillside forts that taxed the silk road and defended empire, farming communities, a mighty river, exotic border markets. And some seriously rocky roads.
The Yoged Guesthouse, a beautiful respite after a day's hot and bumpy travel. Little did we know, it was just the start.
Mouth watering figs fell from the trees above the topchan, the central Asian "day bed" used fro eating, resting and resting and eating.
At a police stop on the road to Khorog, we got lifts in trucks. 14 hours of being pinballed around the cab, a breakdown or two, some truckstop food and stunning views later, we arrived i Khorog. Should have taken a share taxi.
On a walk near Yoged.
Two young men fish the Tajik bank of the Pyandzh river. The other bank is Afghanistan.
A man rides a donkey in Afghanistan. From Tajikistan we saw soccer matches, farming, the odd motorcyle, villages and more.
A roadhouse, a mdenr say chaikhana, on the road to Khorog. Mountain and river views kind of compensated for so-so lamb and bread.
A weekly border market near Khalai Khum allows Afghans to cross the bridge and trade.A great little surprise we had no idea about.
An Afghan village viewed from Tajikistan. The green scenery of Afghanistan was quite unexpected.
Motorcyles climb a steep slope in Afghanistan.
The border market was small but packed with faces, colour and flavour. Many were reluctant to be photographed.
All the fun of the fair, at the border market.
Khorog is the gateway to bot the Pamir Mountains, and the Wakhan Corridor. While we waited for a taxi, we got our knife sharpened. He looked at it with disdain.
Up a steep winding road, high above the Panj river, Yamchun Fort has guarded and taxed traders since the 12th century.
The Wakhan Corridor is a finger of land in Afghanistan, where to the north, Czarist Russia eyed of the British Raj to the south.
Yamchun Fort is known locally as Zamr-I Atisht Parasht, the fortress of the fire worshippers, marking it as a Zoroastrain monument.
The Pamir River. The Hindu Kush mountains. Wakhan Corridor. Tajikistan. Afghanistan. Exotic names which conjure up adventure and intrigue.
This dusty, unsealed road is the main thoroughfare through Tajik Wakhan. Always a feast for the eyes, rarely a pleasure on the bones.
A road through a village, which my notes call Langar, although maps have Langar somewhere else.
No luxury bus, just a belching Lada with too many passengers, but one spectacular drive.
Ruins of Qala-e-Panja, once the largest settlement in the Wakhan, situated in Afghanistan. We probably had walked out of Tajikistan to get a better view, although the river kept us out of Afghanistan.
Cars are few and far between along this route.
Snow capped peaks in the height of summer, and the winter feed collected.
Villages are squeezed between the mighty river and dramatic mountains.
Boy in a barrow.
Much scrambling, wrong turns through people's front yards brought us to Vishim Qala (Abrashim Fort), which for centruies guarded against Chinese and Afghan attacks, and still provides awesome views of the surrounding Wakhan Valley.