Part 10. The astonishing lakes and a skinny dip when no one was around.

 In the morning it was icy cold outside and we watched a couple of lorry drivers light bonfires under their diesel tanks to make them easier to start. As we ate breakfast an American couple arrived on a bus from the north, a proper 12 seater minibus with a tourist company logo. We all set off together to the neighbouring stable where the policeman’s wife had recommended we rent horses to get us round all the 5 lakes in one day.

The animals were scrawny to say the least, but were like trekking ponies in Wales, they knew the route around the lakes and would saunter to each one in turn, allowing you to tether them and give them hay at each tethering point at each lake. I am no horseman, but this was easy, more like a donkey ride on a beach, just without someone leading them by their halter. The American couple were easy to get on with and had been travelling in considerably more style than us for about three months, a world tour before getting married and settling in to their lives at home. We had water and watermelons, apples and other fruit in our saddlebags alongside freshly cooked flatbreads.
The scenery was just mind blowing, one of the most beautiful places on earth. We lounged and soaked in the ambience at each lake each of the five being just a slightly different colour. The midday sun made it feel so warm we could travel in just shorts and t shirt, such a contrast to the night time. The lakes were cold but so beautiful. Four of us took a very bracing swim in the third one before having our picnic lunch and sun bathing.
The ponies would get restless if you stayed too long at any one site, the Americans took photos and filled in journals and when we got back the Policeman’s brother was waiting to take us back for dinner. It was all a bit less formal, and didn’t feel as uncomfortable as it had the night before, he was interested in my exodus from the city in England and choice of a simpler more rural life striving for self sufficiency and working at making and selling crafts, candles and jewellery in Wales.
Turns out he was a bit of a conservationist with a dream to preserve the area around the lakes and mountains (he was born in the area) for his children and their children, he discussed sustainable tourism and wildlife conservation, stuff that was really way above my frame of reference. It would be nice to think that he or his family were involved in the eventual establishment of the National Park status, achieved some 20 years later, and eventually the Unesco World Heritage status that the area still enjoys today.
We got a free ride back to Kabul with the American couple in their tourist bus, in exchange for a bit of the remaining Afghan Black, proper suspension, padded seats, luxury for us and just a small tip for the driver to not mention the extra passengers to his boss in the city.
We had another night in Kabul and I got a note from my Irish friend, at Sigis, to say he had had a great journey across the north route , was sorry to have missed me in Kabul and hoped we might cross paths again as he had travelled on to Pakistan. The girls decided to travel south to Kandahar and I bought a bus ticket to Peshawar in Pakistan via the Khyber Pass.




Go To part 11. the silk road & Khyber pass











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