At Khalai Khumb with "husband" Brian and my friend Kylea. Again, Afghanistan is to the left, or the other side of the Panj river. By coincidence, an article appeared in the New York Times today, calling naming this very river, which marks the Afghan-Tajik border, one of the world's least traveled boundaries. See http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/02/world/asia/02tajikistan.html?ref=asia

A "husband," you might ask??! In Gorno-Badakstan, one of the most conservative districts of Central Asia, it was fairly impossible for two people of the opposite sex to travel together without being married. So, we had a quickie "marriage" and then a quickie "divorce," all in the duration of our visit.

Notice that my friend Kylea keeps her hair covered. Since she is also "married" (her boyfriend would be unable to even come to visit her otherwise), she must cover her hair.