Wakhan Valley - Vrang

One of the major historic sites of the Tajik Wakhan Valley, Vrang Stupa	A short way up that hill behind the village of Vrang are the remains of an ancient Buddhist Monastery	The driver leads the way up to the stupa at Vrang	Our driver from Pamir Highway Adventures
Climbing to the Buddhist Monastery at Vrang, Tajikistan	The village of Vrang with the Panj River and the mountains of Afghanistan across the Wakhan Valley	The wall to the Buddhist complex with its stupa	Remains of the gate to Vrang
Information plaques about the Vrang archaeological site	The Buddhist stupa is believed to date from the 5th-6th Century	Cliffs above Vrang	Gorge splitting the monastery from another set of caves, Vrang
Up to 60 small caves used as monk's cells have been carved into the cliff	Some historians believe Vrang may have its origins at a Zoroastrian fire temple	Village of Vrang seen from the Buddhist stupa, Wakhan Valley	Village of Vrang seen from the Buddhist stupa, Wakhan Valley
Remains of the monastery wall protecting the stupa	With more time, there are other trails that look like they might be interesting to explore	From Google Earth it looks like the trail leads into the upper gorge at Vrang	Down in the village of Vrang, Tajikistan
Vrang, Tajikistan	Vrang, Tajikistan	The stupa rises like a stepped pyramid above the village of Vrang, Wakhan Valley	Large caves have been cut into the hillside beneath the stupa at Vrang
Traveling into the gorge beneath the Vrang Stupa	The caves appear empty and difficult to access	Vrang stupa and Buddhist monastery with the mountains of Afghanistan, Wakhan Valley	A small stream has caved out a narrow gorge at Vrang
The gorge at Vrang	Walkways on either side of the mouth of the gorge at Vrang	The stream as it leaves the gorge and enters the village, Vrang, Wakhan Valley	The Buddhist Monastery at Vrang with the stupa on top of the hill cut with caves
The second set of caves to the west of the stupa across the stream	The village of Vrang, Tajikistan	"Welcome" written in English on the hillside at Vrang	Sandy section of the Wakhan Valley with the mountains between Eshmareh and Qala Panja, Afghanistan
A military outpost between Eshmareh and Qala Panja, Afghanistan, across the river from Vrang in the Wakhan Valley	The next village to the west of Vrang Stupa	Mountains on the Tajikistan side of the Wakhan Valley	The village of Yamg is about 5 km west of Vrang and has two interesting sights
Observatory in the village of Yamg founded by Sufi Mubarak Qadam (Mubarak-i Wakhani) in the 19th C.	Stone instrument, part of the Yamg Observatory, Tajikistan	View through the stone to a point on the mountain	Historic tablets in English and Tajik about the Yamg Obervatory and the Sufi Mubarak-i Wakhani, Tajikistan
History of the Yamg Observatory	The Mubarak-i Wakhani Museum at Yamg, Tajikistan	Hindu Kush - Lunkho E Dosare (6902m/22,644 ft), Afghanistan-Pakistan	Horns of a March Polo sheep with the Hindu Kush in the background, Mubarak-i Wakhani Museum, Yamg
Horns of an Ibex with the Hindu Kush in the background, Mubarak-i Wakhani Museum, Yamg	Mubarak-i Wakhani Museum, Yamg, Tajikistan	The Mubarak-i Wakhani Museum is housed in a traditional Pamiri house	Mubarak-i Wakhani Museum
Art on the south facing porch of the Mubarak-i Wakhani Museum	Book about the Isma'il- Sufi Sage of Pamir, Mubarak-i Wakhani	Pamiri Polular Anthropomorphic Caldendar, Mubarak-i Wakhani Museum	Pamiri Polular Anthropomorphic Caldendar detail
Mubarak-i Wakhani Museum, Tajikistan	Mubarak-i Wakhani Museum, Tajikistan	Nosiri Khusrav	Skylight of the Mubarak-i Wakhani Museum, a traditional Pamiri building
Detail of the skylight of the Mubarak-i Wakhani Museum	Detail of the pillars of the Mubarak-i Wakhani Museum	Detail of the pillars of the Mubarak-i Wakhani Museum	Mubarak-i Wakhani Museum, Wakhan Valley, Tajikistan
Traditional Pamiri stringed musical instrument	This stringed instrument is modeled on the crest of the hoopoe bird	The hoopoe bird on a book entitled Journey into the Past	Demonstration of a traditional Pamiri stringed instrument, Mubarak-i Wakhani Museum
Traditional Pamiri stringed instrument	Pamini man's cap	School in the village of Yamg, Wakhan Valley	Yamg, Wakhan Valley, Tajikistan