**GOING-GOING-GONE**

Today is a day for celebration (yes, another one). Ancient Persians marked the first day after the winter solstice as the victory of the Sun over darkness. I can relate to this. BUT, apparently we slept through the lunar eclipse, a rarity when it coincides with the winter solstice.  We'll have to wait another 80+ years for the next one!! On a more pragmatic level, for us it means that from today the sun crests the mountains earlier, and heats up the valley for longer each day. Hooray! In three months, winter will be over! As yet, we haven’t seen any snow, nor had REALLY, REALLY cold days. We are told that from the 5th of January, for a period of two weeks, it will be bitterly cold. Everyone here is a walking ‘Farmers Almanac’. When one lives at one with nature, we suppose that’s just the way it is. Icing on the Pamiri Cake - No 'Frosty The Snowman' here It’s almost two weeks now since our short four day visit to Dushanbe. Called to meetings there, we dutifully complied...

His Highness commonly known as "HH" (the Aga Khan) Finally, I suppose it's time to talk about the weather here. Since arriving in Khorog, we have had just one day of rain... every other day has been filled with startling blue skies and sunshine. But, as the days draw shorter, the sun struggles to show its face over the mountain-tops. Which means that most of the valley sits in the shade until 10am. So, progressively, the edges of the river have started freezing and our daily walk across the wooden suspension bridge is a little more slippery. As Jelte mentioned, two weeks ago we took a trip to Roshan, Darwaz and the Gisev valley. It was pretty cool. This last week, we took a trip to Ishkashim; it was COLD. Both of us are eternally grateful to my sister Paula for guiding us through the necessities of cold weather gear. I know that our thin California blood would not have made it thus far without our thermals and countless other layers. The only items that we have still t...

  Encounter during one of our weekend hikes Just as we are slowly settling into a routine of work-weeks and free weekends (spent on hiking through mountains or attending Pamiri weddings) it is decided that we are going on a couple of road trips to experience and check out the “tourist” product. No punishment. Another day at the office…. Landscape along Afghan border Picked up early in the morning by an experienced driver and our colleague Aydigul in a four wheel drive, we are soon making our way towards the city of Rushan. The road from Khorog leads north along the Afghan border and while the driver is artfully avoiding donkeys, sheep, cows, schoolchildren and goats we take in the incredible sites of the Afghan landscape on the other side of the river.  Children on their way to school We visit several districts during this trip and local convention dictates that we meet with the local area-manager first, go over the program and then visit the sites. So, after an exte...