Organic Hedgehog

The Pamirs has some stunning vistas and no matter where you look there's something to photograph. From mud brick huts, the weathered faces of the farmers we met or the beautiful children full of fun provided plenty to photograph. The huts that we saw were plain looking from the outside but inside they were spacious and comfortable with walls and floors adorned in beautifully detailed rugs. On many occasions we would have dinner or lunch with a relation or friend of someone in the group. 

In some homes there would be a spiky little bush, no bigger than a dinner plate, at the door way or somewhere near. The little bush grows high in the mountains and is believed to ward off evil and bad luck; I doubt if you sat on this little organic hedgehog you would be inclined to agree. 

 We had one in our van for most of the trip and it was only when a hitch hiker who had some seriously nasty body odour got in. That's when things started going pear shaped. His smell, which I'm sure he had been working on for weeks, must have over powered our little plants ability to do it's job. Apart from the bad luck of having this smelly individual in our van we had a break down and Courtney (my fellow mission member and car companion) got sick. I have to admit she was a bit ill before the guy got in but he was enough to set her off on a spray. Once he got out he had trouble shutting the car door and after three attempts we found our little bush mangled. I like to think it tried to jump out and bite him but got caught in the door. Upon saving it our little bush was safe and sound and what do you know, things got back to normal.