March 6

I climb up here in the heat of the morning sun. I climb up here in the cool of night. From here I look over the roofs of the town below and into the stretching valley beyond.

To the north, over the foothills, the valley will open to the steppes of Kazahkstan and beyond to the mountains of the Altai;

To the east lie the peaks of the TianShan with China behind.

To the south west a larger valley emerges with passes to northern India.

North west lie the Aral, Caspian and Black Seas with the plains of Hungary beyond.

​I was born near here in a town by a lake in the shadow of the TianShan.

I have returned for a ‘pause in my life. I will tell you of my experience.