Adventures in Asia: Langar, Tajikistan

From Khorog, today we headed south and into the Wakhan Valley. This involves leaving the "official" Pamir Highway (M41) and taking the longer, more scenic route, sticking with the Panj River and the border with Afghanistan. 

At one point this morning we saw Afghans bathing their herd of goats and sheep and we stopped to watch. They waved at us from the other side of the bank and we waved back--a friendly encounter across an international border!

We stopped for lunch in Eshkashem, where there is a bridge to Afghanistan.

This is the restaurant we ate in--nice enough . . .

. . . but the toilets were, I have to admit, a bit below my standards.

After lunch, we continued following the river and the border, but turned northeast, and entered the Wakhan Valley. Our first afternoon stop was the ruins of the Khakha Fortress.

The fortress was established in the 2nd century BCE and lasted almost a thousand years until destroyed by Arab invaders. 

The fortress and the cliff it is on made for interesting exploring and climbing, and the views from the top were excellent!

I was back down to the parking lot before Rick and Sarah . . . 

. . . so I took the opportunity to take a walk down the peaceful, tree-lined "highway."

The Yamchun Fort was our next stop and this was even more impressive. We drove up several hundred metres and then clambered up and down some rocks to reach it. That is Afghanistan behind the fortress, and in the distance, the snow capped mountains are in Pakistan!

Here we had an incredible view of the valley.

Even further up the mountain is the Bibi Fatima Zahra hot springs. 

Unfortunately, my leg is still bandaged due to the dog bites, so I decided I better not take a dip in the springs, but Rick and Sarah enjoyed a bath while I did some more walking nearby. 

After the hot springs we rejoined the highway. Sunset was approaching and so we were slowed down by "rush hour traffic."

We are spending the night at a homestay in the village of Langar.

This is the home's common area for guests.

This is the dining area.

The family has a picture of the Aga Khan displayed proudly in the cabinet.

Outside, in their compound, they have a truck I found worthy of a photo . . .

. . . and a large garden (with an incredible view!).

Remarkably, one of my roommates here, Aitor, is a doctor from the Basque country. He took an interest in my dog bites and gave me some helpful advice and also some antibiotics, which he encouraged me to take to fight infection.