Ahhh.....grab me a beer, it's the Pamirs!
Trip Start
Nov 14, 2007
1
62
92
Trip End
Apr 20, 2009
Karakul,
Tajikistan
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Our first encounter with Tajikistan and 'Tajikdom' was back in Delhi when we applied for our visas. Despite the one day turnaround for the visa (unheard of in Central Asia) other things were not so encouraging for our impending visit.
The Consul was a short, gold teethed man who might have stepped off the set of Martin Scorcese's little known epic "Goodfellachniks". My doubt in this chap was confirmed when Christina, momentarily absent from the room, became the topic of a conversation we had:
"She is your wife?" he asked wide eyed,
"Yes" I said, (it tends to be much easier to say we are married- rather than engaged- for the sake of officialdom)
"But she is so beautiful!...." he says, (i nod my head) ".....like she is thirteen..."
ahhhh
Picnic at the summit above Lake Karakul - 4300m
. right. now. to be fair, some people out there are still coming to grips with english and "thirteen" is very often intended as "thirty". I quickly set to work on a plan to extract the truth of what was meant:"So then, how long is our visa valid for?"
"Thirty days"
"Three Zero?"
"Tri Zero. Exactly"
Exactly.
So, now that we are here it will not be hard for Tajikistan to make a better impression on us then. And already, in just two days we have had an excellent experience of the Pamir Landscape. Since we crossed the Kyrgyz-Tajik Border we have been enjoying the surrounds of (yet another) Lake Karakul (3900m). This lake is the most sublime 'Karakul' that we have come across yet. Together with a few other travelers who shared the jeep from Osh with us, we took a day walk up a peak with outstanding views of the lake and its setting within the Pamir Range. It was one of our best hikes yet and led to a very satisfying summit picnic.
More soon!
ciaociao.
