When life gives you lemons....Make your own gaddamm mittens!

In a place where people LOVE to warn you about the cold, it's incredibly difficult to find warm clothes! So we had to get creative and losing 1/2 of my stuff actually turned into an excuse to have some fun...

To market, to market... first on the list was something water and wind-proof to replace my gore-tex. A very friendly local who was excited to practice his English and French led us on a whirlwind tour of the market, touch-testing jackets (mostly adidas track suits) to see if they might work. No go. I wasn't in any position to be picky about fashion, but I absolutely have to have something waterproof. His next idea was a wonderful one: the section of the market where they sell military clothing. There amid the black boots and camoflage overcoats (Sorry Tavis, nothing waterproof in camo or I would have done it just for you!) was the perfect rain jacket. Made for someone my height (it reached right down to my toes) and twice my girth, there was enough rubber there to have my rain jacket and use the rest to make waterproof overmitts and rain chaps for my legs!

Strangely, there were no mittens to be found and I needed some extra warmth for my hands. Hmmm... Also needing a warm upper layer I opted for a very fuzzy lime green pyjama set - the top would at least partially replace my down jacket and our heads were just spinning with possibilities for how to use the bottoms (Jodie couldn't resist how fuzzy they were and opted for her own hot pink set).

A quick stop at the thread-and-scissor man and we were on our way back to our guesthouse. Soon pink and green fuzz was flying everywhere and our fingers were busily stitching up new mittens, neck warmers, leg warmers and slippers! I even lopped the tops off my moccasins to use the leather as another layer for my hands.

For less than $100, I'm completely decked out with warm stuff and ready to take on the Pamir mountains! And I even learned a bit of a lesson from all of this.... as an outdoorsy type at home, I've gotten to be quite a snob about having the 'right' clothing for the activity that I'm doing. Here I've managed to piece together enough to keep me warm from basic materials that I could find anywhere in the world. What I originally feared might be a trip-ending tragedy has just turned into yet another fun part of the adventure!

Christine