From Ghor to Herat

Today we flew from Ghor to Heart, 7400ft to 3200ft and much warmer temps. Our time in Ghor was great. It included visiting a camp of the nomadic Kuchi herders for a lunch of huge chapattis, yogurt, and sheep meat, climbing a ridge to visit their camels grazing on a rhubarb like plant, seeing a marmot (!) and snow, attending a CRS staff party with lots of dancing, drama, and games, visiting more soil and water conservation projects, and falling asleep on the roof under a sky incredibly full of stars. It was grand. After we arrived in Herat today, we explored the big city (relative to Chagcharan where a car on the road is an event) with one of Chad’s colleagues. Herat is considered the cultural heart of Afghanistan and sits at a crossroads on the silk road where routes connecting the Middle East, Central Asia, and India meet. On the streets there are carts full of peaches, oranges, giant melons, apples, plums, bananas, cherries, and more. And there are shops with pails piled with colorful spices, dried fruit, and nuts. We visited a glass shop and saw the glass-blower in action, a small man seated in front of a raging fire contained in a kiln. He expertly rolled, blew, and swung, the super-heated glass into cups and vases, an impressive art (and very hot). Across from the glass shop is the Friday Mosque, a beautiful blue and green and yellow tiled building over 800 years old. We visited after prayers but at prayer time the nearly 100x100yd courtyard is apparently full of people. From the mosque we proceeded to a shrine where you lay down and are rolled on a gravel field to determine if your intent is true. Turns out Chad and I didn’t roll that well but we generally rolled in the direction of the bush and that’s a good thing. We also visited an impressive citadel, a fort that’s been rebuilt numerous times but originally by Alexander the Great and first rebuilt after destruction by Genghis Khan in 1415. And finally a trip to the mausoleum of Gowhar Shad who is said to be one of the most remarkable women in Afghan history and was heavily involved in politics and lover of art. Today the park surrounding the mausoleum is the place where women of Herat go for picnics on Fridays.