7/17
The Atlas Hotel in Dushanbe provided an exceptional breakfast spread. I love that in other countries you can get fresh vegetables for breakfast, and I enjoyed wonderful ripe cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and some amazing roasted vegetables, along with some delicious local cheeses.
After loading up, we drove through the valleys and mountains of the area. Our new guide is Erkin, and he is Uzbek and will be with us for the remainder of the trip. He has an assistant, Somon, from Tajikistan who is only 18 who is with us to represent this country. Erkin speaks excellent English, is easy to understand, and is very knowledgeable.
Pointing to where we were (once we got to the village described below)
We are in the Pamir range here and stopped at a vantage point in what are called the Fann Mountains to take photos. It is hazy here because of pollution, probably because of all the cement factories.
At lunch time, we took a short hike through the peaceful Fann Mountains to Iskander Darya waterfall, or Fann Niagra. The Iskander Darya river flows from the famous Iskandarkul Lake, named after Alexander the Great who purportedly loved the place. The massive, majestic waterfall falls from a height of 38 meters. A precarious metal ledge had many holding on to cameras and phones tightly. I braved reaching over for some photos and videos.
Vantage point before approaching the Islander-kul lake.
From where we had lunch.
A little girl who must live near the lake (or whose parents work there) came up to us with two different bunnies, which she clearly wanted to show off.
These below are from the hike to the waterfall.
I have good video of the waterfall, which I may put on social media. It is too hard to include videos to save with the slow internet here on the blog. The power of this was incredible.
The views were unbelievable. Photographs cannot capture the feeling of standing among these tall peaks.
We spent two nights in a local homestay. A note on these are that they have been very helpful for these remote village economies. They are not usually their own home but right next to them and made more like small inns. They get a lot of climbers and hikers from Europe here.
View out the window of my room. This homestay was built with the help of a Russian investor and was only a year old and very nice.
The meals we have had prepared for us at these stays have been absolutely wonderful and delicious with lots of fruits and vegetables and delicious soups, and main dishes. The main course on this evening were stuffed bell peppers.
The apricot trees were loaded with fresh fruit, and we have enjoyed our fill of them and dried ones on this trip.
Part of the village where our guest house was.
We are along the Zurmich River of these mountains
7/18
After breakfast we hiked 4 km into Voru Village. Voru comes from the old Sogdian language, which was along the Silk Road and is now extinct. It means fortress because there is an ancient fortress here.
I hiked across from the village to capture these photos.
Settlements have been here hundreds of years, and the people in this village can trace back their ancestors to the 16th century. The Mongols had driven out many people during their time and then the village populated again.
An old tandoor oven, which is no longer in use.
An elder of village. He has six children, and only one or two live in the village still.
We had sweets and tea and homemade bread at a home in Voru and learned about their ways. Some leave and make money in Russia to send back to their homes. They grow crops of potatoes, corn, and some of their things, and a type of hay for their goats and cattle, which are grazed in the mountains in the summers. They survive mostly on what they grow and raise. There are four cars in the village, our guide said, and they take one occasionally out of the area (a looong bumpy drive) to bring back things for the village. There is a school there with about 20 teachers. I have included photos of a visit to a blacksmith where we got to take a turn pounding hot metal. I purchased a horseshoe for good luck and as a souvenir of this memorable visit.
These children sold us some bracelets and things. I selected one for myself to purchase.
This is the current school, but a new one is just in the beginning process of being built, which is larger and will be nicer. Believe it or not, there are 20 teachers. They are not in session in the summer.
This family invited us to peak in the living quarters.
Also, cooperative programs with the state of Qatar and also with Germany are working on sustainable practices and growing climate change resistant crops. This was an absolutely enthralling visit, and the people and children were very eager to visit with us. The parents did allow us to photograph them, which is an important thing to ask when photographing children and people.
On the way to the homestay, we paused at a campsite where an absolutely scrumptious lunch of fruits, fresh vegetables and palov (rice pilaf) was prepared for us.
We had a choice to spend the full afternoon at leisure or take an additional hike. It was hot, but this is the last hiking opportunity, and if you know me, you know I love hiking and the mountains. I was the only one to go on this because it was strenuous and hot, but I was willing to suffer for the views, which are absolutely spectacular and breathtaking. I went alone with a young guide assistant.
The village we stayed in is back behind me.
We saw a goat herder who moved his goats. They have fleas, and Somon told me that the herder moved them away from us because of that.
Somon was a friendly young man. He knows Tajik, Russian, and is really learning English quite well. He is working on student visas to study international tourism in Toronto, Canada next year. We had fun talking about music and television shows and movies. We even discussed politics a little, because he had questions about the U.S.
After the lake exploration, we headed back to the homestay for a delicious Tajikistan dinner. This was a magical experience for our group, dining on amazing local cuisine, lovingly prepared, with the most memorable and striking 360 degree views. I loved that evening and hold it in my heart.
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