The land

Some readers have asked us to show some pictures of the land around us here.  Sorry it has taken so long to reply, we do not get outside of the city very often, and when we do we have to be careful to not be seen taking pictures.  Last week when I went out to visit several micro-hydroelectric power projects I was able to snap some shots for you.  

Our town, elevation 2850 ft, sits on a river flowing north from the high central mountains.  Uniform, moderate hills cover the landscape in every direction.  To the south, the hills grow into more jagged mountains, and to the north they dry out and flatten into what we call the dasht, meaning, uninhabitable desert wasteland.  To travel east or west you have to cross the hills into different river valleys, valleys which differ in their water supply and soil quality.  Generally it seems that the dryer, poorer places become vulnerable to insurgent infiltration.  It's sad to me that we cannot reach these vulnerable people right now because of this.  The area that is deemed "safe enough" to work in has shrunk dramatically in the past year and a half.  There are mixed opinions about whether this area will continue to shrink until we are completely restricted from the rural districts, or if security will improve and the safe spaces will grow.  For now we're cautiously going with the positive notion that gradual improvement may come, and it's worth sticking around a while to wait for that.  

The microhydro projects I went to visit are about a 75 minute drive on dirt roads.  Here are a few pictures from that valley:

Here's the riverbed in this valley.  This is typically a wide, flowing river, too deep to cross by vehicle here.  This is evidence of the drought that this region is going through.

There is still green in this valley, however, and it's beautiful to see.  On a good year this valley has enough water for orchards, vineyard, nurseries, and some irrigated fields.  This year they have to pick what to give water and what to let die.

Looks a bit like Lal doesn't it?  I've seen pictures of this places during a rainy spring, and the entire hillsides were covered in green.  We never saw that in Lal!

Alright farmers, can you help me identify what kind of bean this is?

Corn tassles are sure to make an Iowan happy.  The way they grow corn here is quite different.  Their companion cropping methods (planting corn late, amidst leafy plants) protect the tender young roots from being scorched by the intense sun, but then the mature plants look very weak.  Any suggestions farmers?

Thanks for taking a little look around with me!