bartang valley

we had four days left to get to dushanbe, which meant there was just enough time to go on another little hike. first, we took a shared taxi from khorog to rŭshan along the border river, so we always had afghanistan in sight. what we didn't have in sight was my backpack falling off the roof rack because the driver hadn't fixed it properly. my flags got a bit dirty, but luckily, nothing broke.

from where we had to find some transportation to get deeper into the mountains. to reduce weight, we left some of our stuff in a little supermarket and managed to find a guy there who drove us an hour into bartang valley for about 20$. just like when we were looking for a shared taxi in khorog, an english student helped us translate, it's always great how they turn up just when you need them.

we still had enough time left in the day, so we got right to hiking. it was a really beautiful trek sloping uphill along a valley floor. hannah had a near death experience when she almost stepped on a big snake, but the goat herd we encountered further up the mountain made up for it.

eventually, we made it to a remote mountain village that can only be reached by foot. we met a couple of italians there, but decided to go a bit further to find a camp spot next to the nearby lake. i made some wrong decisions regarding water depths, split a toe nail and almost drowned my electronics, but at the end of the day, we had a beautiful little camping spot.

the next day, we left our bags there and went further up the mountain to see another alpine lake. hannah was feeling weak and dizzy after a while, so we took it slow. i think she had the same issue that i had had on moses peak. after lunch from a friendly old lady back in the village, we headed back down.Read more