Locals said that the barren mountain was sacred, ecologists forecast disaster and regional politicians were accused of incompetence after initially supporting the plan.

Beneath our windy spur was a majestic bay and on the far side barren mountains and a slender arm of land reached out to sea.

The barren mountains in the rear, and the wild and desert appearance of the surrounding country, accorded well with the impressive narrative of that disaster.

Its hinterlands consisted of a broad agricultural plain on the west bank and steep terraces on the east bank surrounded by barren mountains.

The more western parts of the steppe host lakes of glacial origin and grades into barren mountains or cold temperate forests along valleys.