Dear Readers,
Please accept my apologies this should come before the Pamir trek entry. For some reason the program failed to save this one when I wrote it up a couple of days ago so here it is:
From Ishkashim to Langar the track continues to wind westwards. To our right our constant companion te Panj River separates us from the rugged mountains of th Afghan Wakhan corridor. Breaks in the foothills yield views of the 7000metre snow clad peaks of the Hindu Kush, tantalising and tempting trekking country.
Hindu Kush
At Kargush the dirt track veers left and we start the slow ascent up to the 4200metre Kargush Pass. To our right the Pamir river, a tributary of the Panj now separates us from Afghanistan. The mountains have changed and are now the heavily eroded ribbed and corrugated Pamirs. We have turned our back on the Hindu Kush.
Kargush Pass
The river now seems in parts to be more like a fast flowing creek that it would be easy to wade across and make the illegal border crossing. We see herds of whimsical Bactrian camels and finally we leave the Pamir river to tackle the steep switchback dusty climb to the pass. As we climb the rugged hills give way to gentler striated rounded mounds with colourful bands of yellow, red and brown soils. We have levelled off onto the 4000metre altiplano, so reminiscent of Tibet. Apart from the yurts here even the scruffy little villages look the same.
The landscape is dotted with salt pans and salt lakes varying in colour from turquoise to deep navy blue. We drink from sulpherous mineral water springs and sit down to watch the show provided by a cheerful little geyser.
Bulunkul Lake
Yamchen fort
Thermal pool