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| Kaulikalon Lake |
Day 1: Dushanbe
/I do not know what I have gotten myself into, but maybe some time without anything to worry about but travel with be good for me. I already miss my friends and my city./
After checking in I wandered around town and stopped for some Indian cuisine. As my tummy was already not feeling top notch, I'm not sure this was the greatest choice, but it sure was delicious. Funnily enough, on my way out of the restaurant I ran into 2 of the 3 other girls I would be spending the next 2 weeks traveling with. Then I wandered to the city garden to look at some monuments and a really strange man kept following me and trying to talk to me. After saying "I don't understand you, I only speak English" several times in both English and Russian I finally resorted to some very loud, "Please leave me alone," and "Go away!" in a very public area. When he finally started going away he still hid behind a tree for about 10 minutes while I took pictures. I felt weirded out, because this type of thing doesn't usually happen to me, and normally I enjoy being friendly with locals, but the way he was looking at me felt off, and I felt naked to the world even though I was fairly well covered in long pants and a t-shirt.
Eventually I walked back to the hostel and stopped to get a Powerade as my tummy still wasn't feeling great. I went to bed at about 8pm in preparation for the start of our epic travels.
Day 2: Dushanbe- Iskanderkul Lake- Sarytag Village
/My stomach is in utter pain, but I am still having the time of my life. This is a good cleanse from what has become an unhealthy life of eating out, drinking beer, staying up too late, and spending all my time on Netflix and Facebook. I want to travel more this way./
We woke up to eat some breakfast and then met the last member of our group as we packed up the car. We spoke briefly with our driver who quickly took our US dollars to gas up the car and dropped us to the grocery store to stock up on hiking snacks, water, and any only essentials for the next few days.
A little way down the road we got into our snacks and started our daily routine of sharing some morning chocolate. After some hours in the car admiring the views and taking photos we stopped to look at the lake, but were slightly underwhelmed because it was a cloudy day at the lake looked average with a slightly gross grey tinge. We tried to find a hiking trail, but Laura and I were both dealing with tummy issues at this time, and we just wanted to sit and attempt to drink water and eat some snacks.
Our drive continued to Sarytag Village where we were quickly given a private room and some tea. After our quick tea break we had a wander around the nature, and were met with more beautiful views and our first marmot sighting. Turning around we walked through the village and were greeted with many "Hello!"s and children waving. We were allowed to take pictures of the women working in the garden and a few children stopped and posed for us with animals or on their bicycles. Some even offered us a ride!
We ended our evening with a dinner of plov, a small shot of vodka each (for medicinal purposes), and more tea. It was an early bedtime with high hopes of more beautiful sights and improved tummies.
Day 3: Sraytag Village- Artush, Hike to Koulikalon Lake
After a really good night of sleep we woke up feeling slightly better tummy-wise and were up for a bigger, better hike. Throughout the drive I became more aquatinted with the "Vodka Drinking Girls" crew and the views continued to be more spectacular. However I still missed my friends and wished they were with me.
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| Iskanderkul Lake |
We drove back across the lake and were met with a far more beautiful view because the sun was out. We continued to several little villages where we were met with children running out to the side of the road to wave and scream "hello!" at us. The Almaty Girls game of calling out animals we saw for points was reinstated, but very quickly the point system seemed wrong because there were far too many donkeys and far fewer horses.
After Arriving in Artush we began our ascent to Kaulikalon Lake, however the usual road was a bit washed out, so our initial trail was unclear. Eventually we caught up with the real gravel and rocky trail, which was the first true test of our ability to gain vertical meters. When we reached the first major viewpoint we stopped to filter some water, take some photos, and have a quick snack. Then we continued on an easier, but still difficult path, before reaching the lake, where we dipped our toes (or whole bodies for some of us) in, and then began our descent. Soon after beginning the more difficult portion of the trail I slipped and injured my already injured knee a bit more. After a short break I was able to continue through the minor pain. We were constantly coaxed in for tea, and one lovely woman gladly traded scarves with Laura. Arriving back to our starting point we were quickly offered a dinner of the local dish (meat, potatoes, and carrots), sank our shots of vodka, and passed out. By this point my tummy was feeling much more normal.
Day 4: Artush Village- Seven Lakes- Penjikent
/I heard a song that I know belongs to us, but I grew quickly angry because this trip is supposed to belong to me./
We woke up to a cool morning, and headed outside to do yoga while admiring the mountains. Our trip took us backward, through similar but different looking views, and we finally saw some bikers along the road. We drove through the Seven Lakes, admiring the views of each one's different aquamarine color, while trying to take pictures from whichever side of the car had the best view at that particular moment.
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| The first of the Seven Lakes |
After some splendid driving by Omerbek(our driver) we reached the top where we had a watermelon and chip picnic while wandering around and having a look at village life. We found that the people in this area were less inviting and the women remained fully covered and did not want their pictures taken. Many cute children and donkeys were seen, but there was one little girls I was particularly interested in. I gave her a slice of watermelon and followed her back to her mom who was working in a field.
On the way back down we took few pictures and had some low key time to ourselves. The hashtag #relievednottobebiking was born as we watched a couple of bikers struggle even at the start of the hill.
Penjikent was a hot "surprise" in comparison to the coolness of the mountain. We grabbed some fruit and veggies from the market and left with more scarves than we came with. On the way back I grabbed an ice cream knowing it might be my last chance to enjoy one for awhile. After completing some sink laundry we sat on the balcony and sipped vodka while watching the sunset.
Day 5: Penjikent- Dushanbe (Sioma Valley Hike?)
We started out the morning with some eggs and then began the long journey back to Dushanbe. We stopped in Sioma Valley for a hike along a rushing river. It was gorgeous, but my legs were just not up to the gravel covered downhill after the previous day's slip, so after about 45 minutes most of us turned around to find a nice tree to relax under, while Elka continued the journey.
Pretty soon after we stopped a shepard came and offered us tea. We debated whether this was a safe move, but after being offered so many times we decided that this was a cultural experience 3 girls together could enjoy. Before long he was leading us to a tent in the middle of the mountains, surrounded by goats and a few dogs. The man kept trying to speak Russian to me, and then when I would pretend to understand and say something back he would laugh and make a comment about how terrible I was at the language. This joke went on, over and over again. While enjoying our tea I admired the simplicity of the life these 2 men lived.
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| Tea Break |
Once back in Dushanbe we stopped for more groceries and went to the Hyatt to get some beautiful postcards and stamps. I bought the group matching friendship bracelets. Arriving at the hotel we all soaked in the Wifi, showers, and opportunity to do more laundry before our trip along the Pamir Highway began.
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| Vodka Drinking Girls! |
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