The Hindu Kush

Our drive today continued along the Afghan Border in the shadows of the Hindu Kush Range, which is the prominent feature of the Wakhan Corridor.

Yesterday we followed the Pamir River but today it joined the Panc River to continue it journey towards the Aral Sea. On this journey it’s name will change twice more as it passes through different counties.

Today travel saw our elevation slowly decreasing from 3200 to 2100 metres with mountains on the Afghan side reaching up to 7700 metres and 5600 metres on our side.

At time the valley floor was wide enough for faming on both sides then the next moment there was just enough room for a road on each side.

Another very sticking thing of the past 2 day is the commencement of Autumn or Fall in this region. Nowhere else have we seen the change of colour starting till we entered the Wakhan Valley.

All the farmer in the valley are in a frenzy of harvesting all the grain and getting all the grass stored on the tops of their homes and barns for winter stock food. Some of the grass is stored with the seed on, while some is threshed to separate the seed. The threshing method vary with some farms using the old method of walking cattle around in circles on the hay stacked on the road too the farms that have a small motorized thresher.

The day ended with our arrival in Khorugh for a 2 nights rest. Todays stop may be advantages as the Peugeot reported brake troubles on the arrival in town.