We drove south from Samarkand to the Gissar Mountains. The Gissar Mountains are part of the western portion of the Pamir-Alay mountain system. The Gissar Mountains stretch east-west across Uzbekistan and Tajikistan for about 125 miles. Our purpose was to take a hike in the Gissar Mountains and visit the small village of Ohilik. Ohilik is a small farming town with about 400 families and about 2,000 people. We hiked up from the village and our guides said that we were hiking near the Afghanistan border. We were hiking at an elevation of about 3,500 feet.

We were just getting above the village of Ohilik in the first photo. A river came out of the mountains and ran through town. It was a small river but enough water to keep the town and farms green. The land above the village was not without plants but was mostly just dirt and dried grass at this time of the year.

One of the last buildings we passed on our hike up to a ridge was this couple’s goat barn in the second photo. We had started by visiting their home when we got off the bus but we hadn’t met them yet as they were out working. Their home is in the village but their goats are kept up in the hills. They let the goats out in the morning to graze the hills finding food and they lock them back up at night. When we passed them on the way up, they were raking up the goat manure. On our way back down, they were loading the bags of goat manure into a guy’s truck for him to take and sell or do something with it. We had a good chat with this couple. At one point, the woman said something to our guide and pointed to Vicky and myself, who were not standing right next to each other. We asked what they said and our guide said that she asked if Vicky and I were a couple. How she picked the two of out from the 16 people and many other couples, I don’t know. On a side note, I told Vicky that from now on when she works out in our garden, I expect her to be wearing something as fashionable and beautiful as this woman.

You can see one of the young goats in the third photo. If you look at the top right of the photo, you can also see some of their village.

Another family was drying apricots in the fourth photo. It was a small lot, so we weren’t sure if it was for home use or for sale. They were drying the whole apricot, pit and all.

The last photo was farther up the mountain. Some of the buildings are homes and some are just outbuildings. The wild plant growing on the side of the hill with the white flower spike on top was called “Erasmus”.