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February 12th 02 - Arctic Region and Satellite, Moon, Planet travel overland by car for seventeen hours to Khorog in the high Pamirs in the region of Badakshan.

Across the southern part of Tajikistan they travel, along the river Panch, also called Amu Darya, and in olden times the Oxus, Afghanistan on the other side of the river, on a rugged, stony and bone crushing cliff clinging road through breathtakingly beautiful and serene country side.

Hard to understand why this area has been so strife ridden over so many years. In the calm winter light with already a green sheen of new green grass appearing here and there it seems the most peaceful place on earth, far from the madding crowd. Small Afghan villages on the other side of the river hugging the mountainside, neat, clean and tidy, free of modern litter and also having no electricity and other modern facilities.

The age old transoxiana path is winding its way up and down along the river, much travelled by man and donkeys.

Khorog February 13th 02 - Arctic Region and Satellite, Moon, Planet have now found themselves a temporary place in our little house on the sunny side of the deep valley at an altitude of 2400m. They are

awaiting spring and the melting of the snows and thawing of the earth so we can climb the mountain behind our house and find a soft and undisturbed spot for one of the vases. The yellow of the vases are

spreading a wonderful light in our little room.

From a "brief explanation of the benefits and qualities of the earthly deity and auspicious treasure vases" by HH Dilgo Khyentse I read: "If the vase is hidden in the centre of a house, that dwelling will gain auspicious good fortune, wealth and virtue".

Therefore I shall now put the vases in the cupboard in the centre room of the house which is called the Pamiri room. The house belongs to a Pamiri family who try to earn a living by renting it out, while they themselves are living a humble side building at the back, so I hope they will benefit from the vases being in their house.

The Pamiri room is a traditional room built of stones, a wooden ceiling supported by five pillars, a symbolic number for the Ishmailies, with a centre hole open to the sky with a layered framework of carved wood for a stovepipe as originally there would be a wood
burning stove in the middle of the room

Around the side of the room are raised platforms which serve as furniture as all sitting and living in the room takes place on these platforms. There is no stove at the moment so the room is too cold for winter use. It is a very harmonious room and the vases will be in a good place until they can move to their place in the ground, in the conventional sense, when spring will be.

March 2-9th - The vase Arctic again travelled in my bag overland back to Dushanbe and up the Garm valley. Much unrest and fighting has taken place in the Garm valley thought it would be a good place for the vase. The snow was still too deep and the ground too hard so Arctic did not find a place but travelled back again the same way. By now this vase had done very many hours on the road.

March 16th - Walked up above the mountainside behind our house. Bright sunshine, still lots of snow on the mountains opposite. Find a potential spot for the vase. Not easy to dig in the ground as many stones. Took a picture from the view.

March 23rd - Across the high plateau of the Pamirs I reached Osh in Kyrgyztan for a day's visit. In the sprawling bazaar I bought a metal kitchen utensil and a pike which I could use for digging. In Khorog I had not been able to find anything useful for the purpose of putting the vases in the ground which is very hard and very stony.

April 12th New Moon
Khorog: latitude 37 degrees and 30 minutes North, longitude 71 degrees and 31 minutes East

There was an earthquake in the morning. The day was mild and sunny and in the afternoon I climbed the slope of the mountain behind our house and buried the vase in the spot I had found some weeks earlier.

Between 2-3 pm Arctic vase was buried about 3 feet in the ground at the edge of an overhang of rocks on the slope of a mountain on the north side of the river Gunt, running through Khorog, where it joins the river Panch. Accompanied with a deep-felt wish for peace and happiness for all sentient beings.

Photos taken four weeks before the burial: - Khorog view west: view from the burial site towards the west. The confluence of the river Gunt with the river Panch, Afghanistan on the other side of the river.

Khorog view south: view from the burial site towards the south, Afghanistan on the right hand side of the river Panch.

Khorog site: view of the mountainside on the day of burial, the vase place is in the middle of the photo. By the time I had descended the sun had disappeared and a group of boys arrived so could not take more photos.

April 27th Full Moon Ishkashim: latitude 36 degrees and 40 minutes North, longitude 71 degrees, 36 minutes East
The possibility for a ride to Ishkashim, 110 km south of Khorog, where the river Panch turns east through the Wakan corridor comes my way. The drive is three hours and I have three hours before we must return to Khorog.

On a previous visit I had climbed a mountain on the east side of the river and knew it would be possible to find a good place for the vase. I climbed and between 1-2 pm Satellite, Spacecraft, Moon, or Planet ( space 10) was buried one foot down on the slope of a mountain with a view to the south and the entrance to the Wakan corridor and west across the river to Afghanistan. Again accompanied with the wish for peace and happiness for all sentient beings.

Photos:

Ishkashim view south: view from where the vase was buried, towards the south along the Panch river where it turns east entering the Wakan corridor, Afghanistan on the west side.

Ishkashim view west: view of the mountain, the vase is buried in the middle of the photo. The stone writing on the lower left part of the mountain says: Welcome Hozir Imam, which was made in honour of the visit of the spiritual head of the Ishmailies, the Aga Khan Ishkashim site: close up of the burial site, middle of the photo.