Hannah in North Afghanistan: The horses are wasted and we gasp at the thin air
Agu 12, 2004 10: 52 EST
Hannah and her teams journey up to the Wakhan corridor in Afghanistan continues. As a woman, Hannah has found difficulties to travel the region without full cover up; Matthew, the head organizer jumped ship due to a kidney infection; and car problems and delays heightened some tensions within the group, as they drove through big opium poppy regions by the light of the headlights: "90% of the heroin used on the streets of the UK is the produced in these peaceful, moonlit fields that we now pass."
And here's the latest:
"The night was terrifically cold, which is something I always feel a little uneasy saying considering I am going to the South Pole in November. Nevertheless, by the early hours of the morning I was wearing 2 pairs of jeans, a jumper, my big coat and my towel was draped over the top of my sleeping bag. Despite this and the rough stones beneath and the incessant braying of two of the donkeys, I actually feel pretty well rested this morning.
It takes a while to break camp and load up the donkeys, but as soon as they are ready we mount up and set off across the river. Just as I am almost across I hear a great commotion behind me and I turn to see Moobin, on a horse for the first time in his life, plunging sideways as his horse looses it's footing in the boulders of the river and the pair come crashing down into the water. Moobin drags himself out onto the bank and lies clutching his leg. For a few minutes it seems as though he might be seriously hurt, but when the shock subsides, he hobbles to his feet and nothing is broken.
I have optimistically mounted my thin gray horse this morning, hoping that a night's sleep will have helped him, but the moment we come to the first hill, just across the river, it becomes clear that he is still exhausted. I dismount and start to climb on foot, and it isn't long before everyone is forced to follow suit. The path is only about a foot wide and is little more than a scratch in the steep mountain side. The horses are led up the rocks by their unconcerned handlers and we follow on, gasping at the thin air..."
Read Hannah's full report in her dispatch today.
Hannah McKeand travels in Northern Afghanistan in search of the source of the River Oxus. After Afghanistan, Hannah will go for the South Pole this fall, and will then finish up the trifecta by hopefully competing in an around the world sailing race. Hannah uses Contact 3.0 for her updates.
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