Two years ago, to the day, I found myself staring at the end of a long dirt road weaving by a gushing creek of ice-cold melt-water. Silver-capped mountains gleamed in the distance. My destination for that night was somewhere there, deep amidst the towering peaks in a beautiful valley pine forests, vast open meadows and lush green hills.

That excitement and giddiness of hauling all my clothing and gear up into the mountains apart, it made me wonder why I made the decision of heading to this mountainous heartland of Central Asia. I already knew the answer: I love being amidst the mountains. And that was why I was relocating back to the west coast after that trip, where mountains are not just a dot on a landscape, but a region with innumerable nooks and crannies waiting to be explored and photographed.

I could not think of a better place to enjoy my last few days in this amazing country, for in going to the mountains, I was going home.

Altyn Arashan

Kyrgyzstan