As soon as we were on the other side, a podgy Kyrgyz man in a crowd of other men watching the clearing of the slide started screaming at me in Russian, too quickly for me to understand. He approached me with his hand raised, as if he were going to hit me in the back of the head, so I flinched and got out of arm's length as quickly as I could. The rest of the crowd, which included military and police officers, didn't even give the situation a cursory glance despite an obvious foreigner about to be whacked in the head.
Tag: Pamirs
Let’s Stick to Climbing on the Stones
Right at the base of the descent, the ground disappeared below my feet, and I fell into a crevasse.
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Did you bring food?
We hiked across the stream and set up camp for the night at the Onion Field trailhead. The next day, we had absolutely fabulous weather for the hike to Camp 1, and only a few instances where we could not find the trail because of snow. Camp 1 is at about 4400 meters above sea level, which was the highest I had ever hiked to before (this is the elevation of Mt. Elbert in Colorado). Needless to say, I was stoked for everything beyond.
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Khorog to Murghab: A Soldier’s Welcome
We arrived late in Murghab, just as it was completely dark, and went to the soldier's home, where a lot of his extended family was there to greet him. It was heartwarming to see such a return, and they welcomed Sailaubai and I in for the best two bowls of shorpa I had in Central Asia.
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Langar to Ishkashim: History & Culture on the Pyanj River
Sailaubai would explain to me that this fort was built by Macedonians from Alexander the Great's conquest of the region, but I cannot independently verify this. He also said those who controlled the fort could keep an easy lookout on the various traders moving through the valley to Langar or Wakhan, and take what they needed by attacking caravans.
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Murghab to Langar: Speechless on the Afghani Border
June 5th, 2014 was one of the most visually amazing days of my life. I rode in a taxi with Svend, Helen, and our new driver, Saule Boy, from Murghab to Langar, Tajikistan. The day started with a view of the sunrise over Muztagh Ata of China, and ended with a sunset illuminating the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan. In between, we viewed some of the most amazing lakes, rivers, and, most importantly, mountains, I have ever seen.
