Eremurus

Just back from driving down to Ishkaham then driving along the Wakhan corridor right the way to Langar. The whole valley is dominated by mountains over 5000 meters. The habitats are very unusual some areas are limestone then you cross into granite bolder fields with granite sand were you find Eremurus growing in the pure sand,cushion plants of Arenaria form large dense mats which help stabilise the banks. The weather here is very hot we were told that there has been very little rain and snow cover here for the last 2 years and about 6 pm the wind picks up and you get these sand storms which are horrific to walk in. From Langar we followed the river Panj with the border only meters away and again the vegetation is steppe Artemisia, Astragalus and finally at the check point we headed north over Khargush pass which climbed up to 4300m then headed towards the Pamir highway. We had planned to stay at lake Yashilkul but the lake was still frozen so we decided to drive back to Khorog. We are planning to stay here two more days as we need to meet with the Director of Pamir biological institute and discuss future cooperation,but we are heading back down south of Khorog to look for a very special Iris zaprjagajevii which we found in small areas but it had just finished flowering. Our aim now is to head north and explore Vanj, Bartang and Darwaz range.

Pedicularis

Wakhan valley

Ferula

Khorog

Location of Ishkaham