Gusgarf Waterfall, Tajikistan

Well, I hiked here.  It’s about 15 miles north of Dushanbe.  The hike was fine, the waterfall was a little anemic, and after winding for about 2 steep miles through a village the trail became rather a suggestion through boulder fields.  But I did see a big bear poop.   

(Check that air quality in the background. Sheesh.) 

The most remarkable thing about this hike, honestly, is that I made it back.  I took a taxi out to the trailhead.  When I finished in the evening, I walked out to the highway (the main road into Dushanbe from the north) and wondered how the crap I was going to get back to the city.  I was in the middle of a gestural conversation with an old Tajik man on the roadside about how there are no buses that I can take from this location into town when an empty taxi sped past! And it stopped for me!, my very own miracle ride back to Dushanbe.