Bishkek to Dushanbe
After a days rest and a bit of sight seeing in Bishkek I was ready to take on the Pamirs in Tajikistan. It was important to stop for a rest and get the opportunity to chat to a few western travellers in the guesthouse where I was staying. All were European and three of them were couples who had flown in for a few weeks of travelling in Kygystan. It is great to swap experiences for altho my trip was vastly different we were all there for the same purpose to enjoy the culture, landscapes and perhaps learn more about ourselves.
Bishkek has a pleasant leafy feel about it and it is just as well for it was hot. Kygystan is 90% mountains so the 500 km ride south to Ozron a small town east of Osh was stunning. Mr Mule climbed over several 4,000m passes one of which was under construction with bull dust a foot thick in places. The surface looked smooth but underneath was bare rocks. The trick was to keep going and not stop to let the dust catch up. When a Kamaz truck passed I was enshrouded in dust for a minute as there was no breeze.
The entry into Tajikistan the next afternoon was a poorly planned and in the end a dangerous adventure. I decided to climb to the border despite rain and being around 7pm. I had become a little obsessed with time as I has left myself just 7 days to get through Tajikistan and the Pamir Mountains was one of the highlights of my trip. Fortunately for me the Kygystan border departure had a huge roof and the customs official seemed quite happy to settle down for a chat as I was his only client being so late. Paper work completed I asked how far to the Tajik border entry. He threw up 4 fingers and I took that to mean 4 kms. By this time it was after 8pm and it began snowing with severe winds. The track through 'no-mans land' was horrendous especially as visibility was down to 10m with impending darkness and snow. It was first gear for some sections as it had been raining for several hours late that afternoon and water was running down everywhere. I soon realised that four fingers meant 40 kms. By the time I arrived at the Talik border it was dark and very unpleasant. The structures look bleak and uninviting being old fuel storage containers converted into offices. Pretty unique really!
I rode off into the snow storm at 10pm thinking oh my god, what am I doing here with more than 200 kms of unknown tracks to Murgab! Where am I going to camp? It was a hell of a night but I made it to Murgab by lunchtime the next day where whilst buying some backyard 'benzine' I was invited into their house for tea, bread, yaks milk and some sweeties for lunch. Not a bad service for a family that earn about $400/year.
Despite the fact that the road winds its way initially through broad open valleys one does not appreciate the fact that the elevation was constantly hovering at over 3,000m. Breathing was noticeably difficult even with the slightest exursion and Mr Mule became a little sluggish but kept up with climbs easily. Ascending to 4,300m at one pass took 2 hours. To the south were some massive mountains on the Afghan border that were a tad under 6,000m and covered in permanent snow. It was absolutely stunning scenery being essentially a desert landscape with towering jagged, exposed, rocky, precipitous mountains all around. From the last high pass I decended for three days through Khorog and more than 300kms of following the same massive river valley with Afghanistan territory on the far bank. The river was steaming with huge waves and massive flows through a valley no wider than 400m in places. The road was often cut out of the cliff face above the river and it was a true credit to the russian engineers who constructed this road back in the early 1930's. It is amazing what man did to protect their territory from the marauding invaders to the south. Despite being in an exceptionally deep valley with water right beside, it was an exhausting ride as the temperature rose to the mid-thirties. I had anticipated making Kulyab that night but the road was very rough and in places under construction, so progress was slow and hot. Fortunately I was invited to stay in a house that night by a young guy standing by the road where I stopped for wash. It was a new house and his family, I ascertained, had been lucky to acquire some assistance from somewhere to construct this building. They had an amazing garden with more than 6 vegetables and four different fruit trees growing. The village was full of young people with traditional islamic style structure with the extended family all living together.
The next morning I departed early for I knew it would be hot. The track was under construction in places and consisted of piles of crushed rocks. It went through waterfalls, fast flowing side rivers and eventually into open grassland steppe on route to Dashanbe.
The Tajik people were poorer than the average church mouse yet maintained a generosity and open friendly nature that defies their dire circumstances. With average Tajik salary being just over $200 US/yr these people deserve some help. Their recent history gives them little reason to rejoice with evidence of wars less than 10 years prior. Yet their attitude is positive and extremely welcoming to tourists such as myself. I cannot give the Tajik people living in these valleys enough praise for simply surviving with making do with the most basic of lifestyles. They are happy, healthy and very attractive folks with kids to die for.
I arrived in Dushanbe in a lather to stay at the Adventures' Inn (Hamsafar Travel). Its leafy garden and great hosts made it a fitting destination to rest for a couple of days. Dushanbe is densely leafy through the main 'official' streets. It is clean and well looked after. It also has the widest streets in the world with no line markings. So navigating around the traffic is fun. I like the feel of Dushanbe on my arrival but am reluctant to go out exploring today as it again 42 deg.
In some ways I was happy that I could travel in these temperatures as I am expecting Uzbekistan to be similar for the remaining 10 days.
Mr Mule got a wash and I am now trying figure out if I can squeeze another 2,000 kms out of my rear tyre. The heat is bound to have a deteriorating affect on wear and I am now concerned as I am unlikely to be able to purchase a tyre at least until western Turkey.