We left the homestay after lunch for – what turned out to be – the highlight of the whole trip for me. We made our way up the mountain side … and further up … and – well – further up – until we could see the first stop of this afternoon excursion – Yamchun Fort.

Yamchun Fort sits on a cliff well above the Panj valley … at – I would guess – a good 400m above the valley floor. The fort clearly offers some of the – if not the – most stunning views of the whole trip … covering the valley and beyond into the Wakhan corridor.

While all sources agree on the stunning setup of the fort, there is quiet a bit of dispute regarding its history. Some sources see the fort as going back to 300 BC with it playing major role in silk road history, while other sources associate the fort to the 12th century AD only.

In the end for me, the age of the fort did not matter … walking around the premises and taking in the different views and angles certainly was a key highlight of the trip.

Another highlight was waiting for us after the visit of the fort. We were now continuing on the same road, we had used to come up – and made our way further into the mountains. After a drive of about 15 minutes we had arrived at our destination – the Bibi Fatima hot springs.

For the locals (especially the women) bathing here has a purpose, as soaking in the hot water here for women (supposedly) has a positive impact on her fertility (I just hope, she does not send her husband to bath in parallel, as the hot water would certainly have a negative impact on his near future fertility). For us though, the hot spring was a basically a very welcome bath after days of travel on dusty roads with only rudimentary shower options … also add to that the relaxation effect of the hot water – and you have a winner 😉