alt.3945m~3940m
It's getting light around 7 in the morning lately. I get ready to get up. First I warm up the fuel bottle between my legs in the sleeping bag. Otherwise burning of the cooking stove doesn't go stable. I'll just waste so many matches. Cheap gas lighters do not work here.
I make hot tea for breakfast. Sometimes I make hot muesli with powder milk and honey as well. Cooking those takes time, but gives me great comfort in the cold weather.
Getting drinkable water is important in this area. There are streams or lakes, but there is always so much shit of sheep or cattles around. A water purifier is a must. I've got two kinds. One is a normal type with a filter. And the other creats chorine with salt, water, and batteries. The latter boasts that the chlorine kills viruses as well as bacterias, while the other type with a filter can only remove bacterias. So I usually use the more reliable one. But it has many problems.
Bubbles are formed up while electrolyzing, which are often blown in the strong wind and fall on my fingers. It hurts! The water in a chamber often disappears while I was mixing it with salt. Filling "a teaspoonful" of water from a pet bottle is always a difficult task. I make everything wet. As I try again and again, the purifier tends to indicate "low salt" error repeatedly, no matter how much salt I added. A mechanical trouble? Maybe the batteries were damaged in the cold temperature, though it was not indicated yet. Anyway, it's so irritating! I wasted more than one hour by the roadside today. Some drivers thought I had a trouble (indeed!) and offered me a ride. I finally gave up and left.
My patience will run out before I find out how to use it properly. I haven't thrown it away yet because it was so expensive.
The weather was fine today, though it became windy again in the afternoon. I really like the wide view of the desert with high mountains around.
I wondered at the junction to Vahan valley, if I should go to the valley as I planned, or if I should go on to the main route. A narrower space with many villages? Or the shortcut with wide view? Do I really want to meet with "nice" village people? Should I give up the chance to go to the remote area? I couldn't decide. I camped near the junction that evening. Sunset of the desert was beautiful.
9 Oct 2008, at the junction to Vahan valley,Tajikistan, 8761km(64km/day)
