Below the river terrace where UCA sits is the town of Khorog. Home to 30,000 people, it's the regional center and gateway to GBAO (Gorno-Badakhstan Autonomous Oblast) in Tajikistan. I've made several trips to buy groceries but I can't say I really know the town. That will take many months.
The Gunt river divides the town into two sides; a couple of road bridges and several walking bridges connect the two sides. A week or so ago we saw a nighttime soccer game with spectators packed three-deep...we found out later the two teams represented each side of town.
Homes are generally 1-2 story, rectangular, flagstone or cinder block, with a sheet-metal roof. There's a lot of older (Soviet-era) apartment buildings that are 4-story. Everyone has electricity and satellite dishes are common. Streets are relatively narrow with lots of alleys.
The downtown region has banks, small shops, government buildings, some homestays, a few restaurants, a lovely park, and the main bazaar. I've only found one ATM that works; the others are empty. We had an excellent dinner last week on the outdoor covered patio of Chor Bagh, perched at river's edge. The souvenir shops have local crafts, mostly new and some old, but I'm not buying yet. Most of my time has been spent at the bazaar buying groceries at one of the 100+ stalls. Lots of fresh bread (which I can't eat), vegetables (potatoes, onions, beets, carrots, green peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes), fruit (apples, melon), grains (wheat, rice, noodles, barley, lentils), and in a few shops dairy (cheese, yogurt, eggs). No coffee... Meat is apparently sold somewhere else that I haven't found yet. Overall I shop for breakfast and dinner ingredients every week, while eating lunch in the UCA cafeteria. Prices are about 1/3 of US prices.
The people that we see on the streets of Khorog seem friendly and welcoming. I get a few extra looks because of my size (the typical Tajik man is 5-9, 160 pounds) but our conversations (mostly hand signs, more rarely in English) are pleasant. By the way, the locals usually know a couple of tribal languages including Shugni, the local dialect, as well as Tajik and Russian. They can probably make out Farsi and some know English. So your typical resident knows 5-6 languages. And I feel completely illiterate.
Incredible place for you to be.....enjoy! Thanks for the blog. Mel