Fann Mountains-Khojand City

We head a short distance from the guest house to the bigger village and enter a first house with several local women who are there to give us a cooking demonstration. We sit on floor mats and the first woman gets on her knees and starts rolling the dough for dumplings. She expertly rolls and stretches it till it is quite thin. Then we take turns filling the dumplings. Next up, bread. Again mounds of dough are kneaded and plumped into individual loaves. A series of women and children alternate into the room we're in, then we go outside and enjoy the beautiful scenery in the valley of the mountains. A separate room holds the tandoor over. Our host dons potholders made from the legs of jeans, builds the fire in the oven, tamps the flames down once the proper temperature is reached, and sticks the loaves to the side of the oven to bake. The perfect loaves that we sample after a few minutes. Next, we have the pleasure of going to the village school and meeting 7 of the 10 faculty, all men who have come out on a weekend afternoon to greet us. We learn a bit about their school that serves k-8 grade, with bigger kids having to leave the village to continue their schooling. It is clear the teachers take a great deal of pride in what they do and are highly respected by the community. We leave the next morning for the drive down out of the mountains. We, blissfully stop by the lake with the sun at the perfect angle, unobstructed by clouds, creating a magnificent set of reflections of the mountain ranges that ring it.Read more