Photos

Silk road travels:
We were invited for tea by this nice couple in the Wakhan valley. They showed us their Pamir-style house that they built themselves with the help of neighbours. You see the living room in the center of the house, made of wood (aspen or willow), the outer walls and the roof are of adobe. There is a window on the roof. Guests can sleep and eat in this room. From the living room you have access to other rooms and the kitchen. The toilet is in a separate shed outside the house. Water is hauled from the "bisse" (=irrigation ditch) outside the house.

We always paid for tea and food even if the hosts did not ask us to and did'nt mention a price. The amount we paid usually was what we would have paid in a tea house. We always asked for permission before taking a picture, this explains the pose of the couple.

Above their heads you see a part of the portrait of Karim Aga Khan (His Highness Prince Aga Khan IV). The couple met him personally during the Khan's annual visit in the Wakhan valley. Karim Aga Khan is the 49th generation successor of Imam Ismail and the spiritual leader of the Sunni Ismailit moslems. The Aga Khan lives in Paris but thanks to the Aga Khan foundation he is very present in all parts of the world where Ismailits are living.

The village were this took place is Namadgut Poyon (2580 m alt.), at the southermost point of the Wakhan/ Panj /Oxus/ Amu Darya river.