Impenetrable mountains stretch from northern Pakistan and Afghanistan in the south to Tajikistan and Kyrgystan in the north, a distance of more than 500 kilometers. One valley - the Wakhan Valley - provides a path for travelers, traders, and invaders to cross. Separating the Hindu Kush from the Pamir Mountains (and created by a crustal-scale detachment fault), the Wakhan attracted me by its isolation, striking views, and relatively habitable setting.
A small group of UCA faculty visited the Wakhan for a "Wellness Trip". These are faculty retreats sponsored by our employer to provide a break from work and small-town life. We stayed at a sanitorium (how ironic) which is actually a hot spring resort from the Soviet era - each one specializes in healing a different malady. This one specialized in fertility(!) and we visited another that cures poor vision. I submerged my eyes in the latter and they immediately burned in the carbonated water. I'm cured! We also visited a Buddhist shrine and the Yamchun fortress, which for several millenia has overlooked this splay of the Silk Road.
The Tajik and Afghani farmers were harvesting hay and potatoes this week while starting to plant winter wheat. Ibrahim, our Tunisian economist, wanted to stop and dig potatoes but couldn't enthuse the rest of us. While driving home we passed someone who turned out to be the cousin of Murodbek, our Tajik geographer. The cousin hitched a ride and, after learning he made a living as a barber, we stopped in his village and I got my first Tajik haircut ($1).
Murodbek also stopped by his parent's home to pick up some home-grown honey, which led to an invitation for tea in their lovely Pamiri home: sunken central floor, five pillars, central skylight, and comfortable furnishings throughout. Now retired, Mom and Dad were both Soviet-trained high school physics teachers. Mom prepared the full tea and then withdrew to bake bread in the wood stove, while Dad joined us and eventually showed photo albums of Murodbek's early years. A lovely visit.
