Aunty (Tamara) brings me rice with salty milk, 3 boiled eggs, bread, cherry jam and yoghurt for breakfast. M and B turn up later after farewelling Mohammeds Mum, who is a teacher, off to school. A decision is firmed up- we condense Days 16 and 17 into 1 in order to take a day off here in Alichur. I think its a good plan:
2. I can have a shower (!!) in the spotlessly clean bathroom and potentially wash my hair (joy), although I have been firmly instructed not to do so until after lunch when it will be a bit warmer as I will catch a cold.
6. I can have some time out, as can M- I still think its a tough gig for a guide to spend 23 days with a solo traveller the same age as his mother. Got to say though, from my perspective, at Day 14 it has been a lot
easier than I thought it would be- I think the fact the itinerary has been so varied has helped, plus I like to think Im not high maintenance (although probably everyone thinks this of themself)
7. I get to have the yurt as my base and go ALONE as I please- they will meet me for lunch then I can rest some more- Perfect!
I decamp to the yurt. Tamara lights the stove with sparse vegetation to lift the chill. The yurt is fully carpeted and cushioned and elaborately decorated. it was Mohammeds grandparents before being passed on. I partially get up to speed on my journal before Tmara beckons me for a shower- serious luxury moment! The little shower room has a furnace that has been stoked up and it is hot inside. She shows me what to do- get scoops of boiling water from the furnace and mix it with the large bucket of icy river water to the desired temperature. Sheer luxury to be stripping off yet again and ladling HOT water over myself. I wash my hair with actual shampoo. I couldnt care that the water is murky, it is hot,
it is just beautiful. T also gives me a tin tub to wash my clothes in. I end up standing in the tin tub and washing off the worst of the dust off my clothes in that water, then rinsing off with the murky water. Its a lengthy process but by the time i finish I feel very, very warm and clean.
Off to the sheep pen from here to wring the clothes and hang them up in the weak sun. Just finish when M rocks up- he wanted to go eat fish at his aunties restaurant but the fish season was finished- back to Aunt Tamaras for wanton soup with mutton- REALLY, REALLY good. I convince M that I will be fine for the afternoon- he should go rest back at his Mums place. Phew- this allows me to wander all afternoon (my idea of rest). I head over the road to the cemetry- very old with many of the grave sites open. Then off into the wilderness to get up not too close and personal with the yaks grazing in the summer pasture. After a couple of kms I decide to follow the Alichur River, a snaking
serpentine of river. Lots of bird life- tiny waders, medium waders, shell ducks, seagulls (!!!??), crows, little black and white birds and 1 dead one. The river is well utilized- an old woman and her son arrive on a motorbike with their laundry. She is in waders hunched over (no doubt due to all this washing), I get coerced into helping with the wringing process!
On, on to more yaks of the baby variety. Closer to the town the trash in the river increases. From here a traverse around the town checking out the buildings- so many styles of architecture. I am beckoned into a homestay- I must meet my friend- your friend from England!, OK, no amount of explaining that Im alone without friends in this neck of the woods is going to be accepted. I am given tea and biscuits and introduced to Dave from Cardiff, we chat for an hour, he tells me of his accident in 2016 where he fractured multiple vertebrae after falling from a truck in Eritrea- he is one tough cookie. Hes cycling the Pamir/Wakhan and planning on hiking the Overland Track in Tasmania in December- we exchange details. I
like him. Say goodbye as the clouds descend - so spectacular, couple of raindrops and then its over. I am well rested.
