Sometimes thing come different as planned. Today, I wanted to cycle on over two passes to Kyrgyzstan. But when I got up in the morning I saw that the weather at the passes is developing in a bad way, so I decided to spend the day at Karakul. The decision was right, because later in the day a big storm with snowfall hit the whole region. Crossing the pass would have been very unpleasant if not dangerous.

As I was not the only guests who was blocked by the weather, I had good company. With me was Frank, a German motor cyclist who I met in Murghab and who also drove to Karakul yesterday. Also at this homestay was a French film maker with his crew who was filming scenes for a movie that will be broadcast on television later this year with his drone. After the snow storm was over I had the chance to observe his work in the field and he told me lots of interesting facts and stories about movie making. So in the end it turned out to be a very interesting day.

Tomorrow I will then start another attempt to cycle to Kyrgyzstan.

 

There are quite a few high passes on the Pamir Highway, the highest of them is Ak-Baital Pass at an altitude of 4655 m. It connects the city of Murghab with the plateau of Karakul, a salt lake that was formed after a meteor strike. Today I crossed this pass and reached the village named Karakul, the last village before the Kyrgyz border and at the same time the first village after Murghab. Even though being acclimatized, it was a big challenge for my body to get my heavy bicycle and me over the pass due to the altitude.

Continuing my trip on my own

I met my travel partners Lucie and Anne over an Internet platform called warmshowers.org and we chose to travel together because we share the same route. If it works out from the personal point of view is another question and this is only answered once travelling together. While I got along very well with Lucie travelling through Iran, things got more complicated once Anne joined in Uzbekistan. Anne and I had very different personalities and our motivation for this bicycle trip was also very different. For me, the goal was to experience as much as possible, enjoy nature, and also have moments of silence, especially in the evenings. Together with Anne this was impossible.

Also, due to poor choice of equipment and overestimation of her fitness, Anne’s travel speed especially in mountainous regions was much slower than mine and made me wait for more than two hours each day. This made travelling together more frustrating than a pleasure. Therefore I decided to continue my trip alone and let Lucie and Anne travel together independently, also because Lucie seems to like Anne’s way of travelling more than mine. It is the best solution for all involved people.

Lonely part of the Pamir Highway

Now back to my trip: At Murghab, trucks leave the Pamir Highway in order to take a pass into China. This leaves very little traffic for the part of the Pamir Highway north of Murghab. The remaining traffic consists mainly of 4×4 vehicles and motorbikes of tourists, and some isolated cyclists like me. In the first three hours since I started cycling at 7:00 I did not meet any vehicle at all on the way and I had the beautiful and desert-like landscape all to myself (and some marmots, Yaks, and an Eagle). During the whole day I only saw roughly 10 vehicles. This was really enjoyable, especially the silence in these remote valleys.

Cold feet in the morning

My cycling day did not start so well, because one of the bridges over a small river was broken. While this is not a problem for motorcycles and cars which simply drive through the shallow waters, for cyclists with the bags attached very low and the pedals also only a few centimeters above ground, this meant taking off your shoes or getting them wet. So I did and started pushing the bicycle and carrying the bags through the ice-cold water that originates from some snowy mountains. Even though I was at most one minute in the water with my feet, they still felt cold 2 hours later. Luckily, all other bridges were in good shape.

Climbing up Ak-Baital Pass

From Murghab, the total climb to the top of the pass is around 1000 m, spread almost steadily over 75 km. And except the last 3 km, the road was in an excellent condition, making the climb very efficient. The last part of the road before the pass was not paved, but also not technically difficult. What caused me much more difficulties was the altitude. The higher I got, the slower I climbed, and shorty before the pass I basically climbed 10 meters and then had to take a rest for half a minute. I did not feel any symptoms of altitude sickness, however I felt that the body just lacks oxygen. For that reason the last 3 km of the pass took a lot more time than expected, but finally after a bit more than 5.5 hours since my start in Murghab I was on top of the pass.

Descent to Karakul Village

What followed the climb was a planned 55 km descent to Karakul village. I was looking forward to that, as it is my reward for the tedious climb. However, soon after starting the descent, the road conditions got really bad. First only some holes in the road and loose rocks that I could cycle around, but later on in the flatter parts the typical bumps in regular intervals of around 30 cm (in German: “Wellblechpiste”) across the whole width of the street, making it impossible to avoid them. Cycling over these bumps is very annoying as you cannot accelerate properly with the bicycle and everything is shaken through. Only 20 km after the pass the road was paved again and allowed cycling at a normal speed. In addition to the difficult road conditions, I also had strong head wind for almost the whole day, reducing the fun even more.

I was not sure in the morning if I will reach Karakul village because the total distance is more than 130 km and there was this high-altitude pass in between, but it was the first village after Murghab, and also where there is a homestay, so I set this as an ambitious goal for today. In between there were just some isolated buildings of farmers and some ruins.

Having wasted a lot of energy on the pass and the terrible road afterwards, I really doubted at times to still reach Karakul. But the perspective of sleeping in a warm room with a decent dinner kept me cycling completely exhausted for another 35 km and I reached Karakul shortly before sunset. The alternative would have been to sleep in a tent on above 4000 m at freezing temperatures between the highway and the Chinese border fence in a rocky and windy environment.

I was really glad I was travelling alone today. If I had still traveled in the group of three, I would have never reached this goal and most likely I would have had to camp even before the pass.

Plan for tomorrow

Tomorrow I plan to exit Tajikistan via two passes north of Karakul. However, the weather forecast for tomorrow is not good at all, so I will decide tomorrow morning if I actually will do it. The perspective of getting trapped in a snow storm on a mountain pass between two countries (the border posts of the two countries are 20 km apart, also known as “no-man’s-land”) is not so tempting.

Detailed Track

Yesterday’s 8 hour ride left me quite tired in the evening. Also, the next two or three cycling days will be above 4000 m and very remote, so I could use some time for reorganizing myself, buying food for that time, and last but not least visit Murghab, even though there is not too much to see.

Murghab – A wild-east city

It is a very special atmosphere here in Murghab. It is basically a city with two paved roads, one leading north towards Lake Karakul and Kyrgyzstan, and one heading east towards the Chinese border. Between these two roads, there are simple one-story houses arranged in a less organized way with sand or gravel between them. As Murghab is not connected to the electricity network, there are countless stinky diesel generators in operation. Thanks to such a generator I am actually able to write this post. The city itself has no charm at all, but the location in the middle of the mountains compensates a little and as there is not much traffic, it is a quite relaxing place.

Shopping at Bazaar

The Bazaar in Murghab is basically a collection of containers and old trailers or train wagons that have been turned into shops. The good thing is, there is a surprisingly big diversity of articles that can be bought here. I was able to get vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, which is impossible to find in any small village. Anne and Lucie even got some cherries. And of course the more common vegetables like potatoes, onions, carrots were available too. My lunch today consisted of fresh tomatoes and cucumbers with fresh bread – with the knowledge that in the next few days I won’t be seeing any fresh vegetables.

Food for cycling

The shopping for the next few days was clearly focused on the volume, the weight, and the nutritional value of the food, because I have to carry every gram up to the more than 4600 m high pass. This basically rules out any fresh vegetables and fruit except some potatoes and carrots. So I will survive the next days with polenta, rice, pasta, cans of vegetables and meat, Mars and Snickers, and some sweet stuff such as dates, raisins, and cookies.

A long day tomorrow

The route tomorrow will go north from Murghab (3640 m) for 75 km up to Ak-Baital Pass (4655 m). As I don’t want to sleep in this altitude to prevent a headache and other altitude-related symptoms as well as the freezing temperatures, I also want to descend again to around 4000 m, preferably to Karakul, a small village another 55 km from the pass where there is a homestay.

If the weather permits, I will start cycling early in the morning at 7:00 with the goal to reach the pass at noon or in the early afternoon. This is ambitious because a 1000 m climb in this altitude is not easy and because the weather can change very quickly. Should either my personal fitness or the weather prevent climbing the pass, I will have to camp before the pass on around 4000 m. This is the reason I will take that much food with me. And the weather forecast for Tuesday is not very good, so it could also happen that I will have to spend a second night in a tent before either continuing to Karakul, or if the bad conditions persist, returning back to Murghab.

After a beautiful morning ride through a very remote nature road along Bulunkul Lake, a non-existing Geyser, a very remote farm at Ak Jar, and around one hundred small descents and climbs in desert-like environment I reached the Pamir Highway near Alichur after 38 km. After a short lunch break, I decided to continue as far as possible towards Murghab, the next and last bigger village / town before Kyrgyzstan.

38 km of scenic road

To get to Alichur from Bulunkul village, the easy way would have been to cycle back 14 km on a bumpy road and then follow 24 km on the nicely paved Pamir Highway. However, my travel guide suggested to see Lake Bulunkul in the morning from the eastern shore, which was only accessible on a dirt track. And indeed it was worth starting to cycle at 6:30. The water of Lake Bulunkul was very calm and reflected the surrounding mountains and the blue sky in its water.

After that, I followed the same dirt track, which was also leading to Alichur, but on very difficult terrain at times. 10 km after the lake there should have been a geyser. While the signs of volcanic activity were clearly visible by colorful mini-lakes, salty, and sulfuric ground, I was however unable to spot any geyser. Nevertheless, the scenery was just stunning, and as there was absolutely no traffic on this dirt track, I was there completely alone. The only other living creatures I spotted were dozens of marmots, yaks, cows, sheep, and birds.

After about two thirds of the dirt track, there was a settlement of one or more sheep farmers named Ak Jar. When I was getting off my bicycle to take some pictures, the farmer spotted me and invited me to his home for a tea. Inside his home, I also met his mother who was sewing a blanket out of sheep wool, his wife, and his two children. He told me also that in Winter, he lives in the village of Alichur, but the Summer months he spends in this settlement with his family and his couple of hundred sheep, 12 km away from the next civilization and only accessible by the dirt road I was on. Life is very simple and hard up there, but this did not affect the Tajik hospitality by serving me what they had to offer: freshly baked bread, yoghurt, butter, and of course tea.

After another 12 km through the desert, I finally reached Alichur, where I found some small shops to buy some simple lunch.

From Alichur to Murghab

As Alichur did not have a lot to offer and it was only noon, I decided to continue cycling towards Murghab, which is another 103 km. In order to reach Murghab, I had to cross Niezatash Pass (4137 m), which is 300 m up from Alichur. As normal in this part of the Pamirs, there was strong wind from west, which resulted in tail wind for me. This allowed me to progress easily to the Pass, followed by a 600 m descent down to the city of Murghab, which also facilitated cycling a lot and allowed me to reach Murghab by 18:30 after 8 hours and 140 km of cycling.

Arrival in Murghab

I was quite tired when I arrived and I was happy when the hotel receptionist told me that there is hot water in the shower. Unfortunately, some people already showered before me, so it turned out to be a cold shower after all. Also, I met Anne and Lucie again at the same hotel here in Murghab. After a nice dinner in the hotel, I went to bed soon. The highlight today was the off-the-beaten-track route in the morning and the encounter with the shepherd and his family in the middle of nowhere. Also, I really enjoyed travelling alone today as Lucie and Anne already went ahead and I did not have to wait for anybody.

Tomorrow I will spend a day in Murghab for recovering from today. I don’t think there is much to see here in Murghab, but I can plan my onward trip through Kyrgyzstan and fill my stock of food.

Detailed Track

For more than two weeks we have been following the Tajik-Afghan border. Today it was time to say goodbye to Afghanistan as we were heading north over the 4344 m high Khargush Pass in order to reach the M-41, also known as Pamir Highway. After that we planned to go to Bulunkul, a lake and a village with the same name. In the end only I arrived at Bulunkul, I don’t know exactly where Anne and Lucie stopped.

Goodbye Afghanistan

When people hear about Afghanistan, they immediately think of Taliban, the IS, bomb attacks, and the critical security situation as it is continuously presented by the media. While these reports are undeniably true, there are also regions in Afghanistan where it is peaceful. And these are the regions that we have been following.

Even though there was a very high military presence on the Tajik side, mostly to fight drug trafficking, we did not encounter one single situation where we felt unsafe or where we had the feeling that on the other side of the river bad things are happening. On the contrary, we saw farmers all along the way doing exactly the same things as their counterparts on the Tajik side: Farming. They also were very friendly and happy to see us pass, even though the river separated us.

Today, we leave the Afghan border and head inland.

Khargush Pass

We already crossed a few passes on our cycle tour, but none of them was higher than 2700 m. With its 4344 m, Khargush Pass is a real test. We started the climb early in the morning in perfect weather from last night’s sleeping place in Khargush on 3900 m. Surprisingly, the road up to the pass was in a very good condition as compared to the previous two days where we had to fight with the worst imaginable road conditions for cyclists. We managed the 400 m climb in less than two hours and after a short break we were looking forward to descending to the Pamir Highway.

But the negative surprise started soon after the pass: The road conditions on the other side of the pass were partially very bad: Long sand stretches, bumpy and rocky roads, and mud. Instead of descending relaxed and in a decent speed, the descent was challenging material and body and after tedious 20 km I finally reached the Pamir Highway, which was paved.

Race against the upcoming storm

In the past few days, we usually cycled at our own pace, meaning that Anne and Lucie cycled together (even though Lucie could easily keep up with me) at a slower pace because Anne had to push her not-so-optimal bike for the Pamirs through most of the sandy or steep climbs. I usually went ahead and waited from time to time for the girls to catch up.

Today, we did this the same way, and it also worked fine on the top of the pass. However, when I reached the Pamir Highway, there was no sign of Anne and Lucie, even after waiting for an hour. As a big storm was coming up, I had to do something because I was basically in the middle of nowhere without too much water left and a hungry stomach. So I decided to continue on my own to our target Bulunkul in order to arrive before the storm hits me.

As already experienced in Khorog, it can go very quickly until a big storm is formed here in the Pamirs. Compared to my experience in Khorog where there were farm buildings every 1 km to look for shelter, here on almost 4000 m there are no buildings within 15 km. So I cycled as fast as possible over again partially very bad roads towards Bulunkul, and also directly towards the big storm. I already had a very strong head wind and ten minutes after my arrival at a homestay in Bulunkul at roughly 14:00, the visibility went to almost zero due to the storm blowing around sand in all directions. I was very exhausted and had a decent lunch at the homestay. I definitely won’t forget this adventure. If I had not made it to the homestay in time, I would have had to set up my tent in the middle of nowhere to protect myself from the chilly wind, sand, and snow.

Unfortunately, Anne and Lucie did or could not follow me to Bulunkul. I hope they made it safely to Alichur.

Beautiful Evening

The storm raged for at least two hours, but after that the sky cleared up, so I took my bicycle and cycled up a hill west of Bulunkul village, from which Bulunkul Lage and also the larger Yasilkul Lake can be seen. It was chilly, but very beautiful to watch the weather changing between clouds, sun, and snowfall.

Detailed Track

After a cold night on 3550 m we continued our climb towards Khargush Pass. Even though we only have to climb 350 m net, the road and the up and down made our lives hard again. In the afternoon we reached Khargush, a military base and also a stop for shepherds migrating in spring to higher altitudes with their cattle. On 3900 m, this is our last night at the Afghan border and also the last stop before the pass.

Beautiful Night Sky

As announced in yesterday’s post, I expected the night sky to be great at this altitude. And I actually managed to get up at 3:00 in the morning. I picked up my tripod and the camera and left the tent. Outside the temperatures were quite chilly, but luckily not freezing.

It was worth leaving the warm sleeping bag. The view on the Milky Way was just amazing, and at dawn, the first high peaks of the Hindukush could be recognized with the stars and the Milky Way still visible.

Continuing the climb

After a short breakfast, we continued yesterday’s road. The surface was still very challenging, often there were big rocks or deep sand, so keeping control of the front wheel and the whole bike was difficult and reflected in the average speed of less than 10 km/h during the whole day. Especially when going uphill, but also on flat parts it was hard to proceed.

The scenery itself changed quite a bit today. The valley got much wider and the high peaks were much more distant from the road as they have been in the previous day. It was still beautiful cycling through this emptiness, but I preferred the panorama of the previous days.

Sleeping in Khargush

Having arrived in Khargush, which is basically a military base with some simple houses for shepherds, a strong and chilly wind blew in our face. We are now on 3900 m, so this is basically not really a surprise. Still, we wanted to spend the night as comfortably as possible. And luckily, one of the shepherds let us stay in his simple home consisting of four rooms. And even better, he also gave us some pasta with potatoes for dinner. There is no heating or electricity here, but for sure it is more pleasant than being outside with potentially minus temperatures and wind in a tent.

Detailed Track

The last two weeks we followed mainly the Panj River from village to village. Every day we had at least a shop, a village, or even a restaurant available. For the next few days however we will have to live without all the amenities of civilization, including mobile phones and we will camp on the way to Khargush Pass in our tents.

Leaving Langar

After a very pleasant night at a homestay in Langar at roughly 2900 m we started our ascent. And right after Langar the road went up very steep, and because the road is not paved anymore and there were lots of big stones and sand on the road, we were climbing very slowly. Today I was really happy about my bike’s Pinion Gearbox which has a wide spectrum of gears – today I needed mainly the first gear. Thanks to that and my wide tires, I could bike up almost all the way without having to push my bicycle through rocks and sand, which is very tiring given the weight of my bicycle. Anne’s and Lucie’s bicycle are less optimal for these kinds of roads, and Anne basically had to push her bicycle up almost the whole way, making progress very slowly today.

Following a high plateau

After the initial climb of more than 500 m, we could cycle the rest of today’s ride on a high plateau between 3300 and 3500 m with wonderful views of the high peaks of Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. On the way we did not meet many cars at all, but many shepherds with hundreds if not thousands of sheep and cows. They were also bringing their cattle to higher grounds for the summer. As the road was quite narrow at some parts, passing these herds was not always very easy and required a lot of patience.

Camping at end of high plateau

At some point the high plateau ended and the road continued inside the valley next to the river. As there is not much space for camping down there and the view on the plateau is much better, we set up our tents at the last possible location on the plateau and could observe a wonderful sunset. We also stopped already at 16:00 after 30 km on 3550 m because the road conditions were only marginally better than during the initial climb and because of better acclimatization for the high altitudes in the coming days.

As the sky cleared up in the evening, we will most likely also have a wonderful night sky. Let’s see if I can convince myself to get out of my tent during the night with freezing temperatures at this altitude.

Detailed Track

Today, we started the day with a bath in the hot springs of Yamchun. The spring is located 600 m above the valley floor on a steep and rough road, so for once we moved there with the car of last night’s host. Only after that we started cycling towards Langar, the last village in the Tajik Wakhan Valley.

Typical Pamir houses

The family where we spent last night was living in a typical Pamir house. This means that the house is basically one story high and has a big living room (where we as guests usually sleep) with an opening in the ceiling so when making fire inside, the smoke can escape. I am not sure however if people still make fire inside their homes and hence this hole in the ceiling is still useful.

Usually there is a small garden around the house were people plant vegetables, and a place where the goats and cows stay overnight. All in all, these houses are usually very simple places, just like the lives of those people.

Hot Springs and Fortress

High above the valley floor at Yamchun, there are the “Bibi Fatima” hot springs as well as the Yamchun Fortress, a more or less preserved fortress. The hot springs of Bibi Fatima were nice, however they cannot keep up with Garmchashma, which we visited 3 days ago. From outside it does not look inviting at all, but once you enter the building, you get to a cave where hot water is coming out of the rock walls. In the end it was still a good start in the day.

On the way down to the valley, we also visited the ruins of Yamchun fortress. The remaining stones however were not that impressive, however, from up there one can overlook the wide Wakhan valley with the snowy peaks on the Afghan and Pakistani side.

Starting to cycle – or not

Because of our morning program, we only were ready to start cycling shortly before 11:00. At least we thought so. When I took my bike and wanted to load it with the bags, I noticed that I had a puncture in the front wheel. So this had to be fixed, which delayed us by another 30 minutes.

The road to Langar

The road presented itself from the worst side yesterday afternoon. Luckily, on today’s 40 km segment, the road was much more suitable for bicycles, only a few kilometers were still either deep sand or big rocks. So we reached Langar in less than 4 hours. Tonight we will stay in a homestay, which in contrast to staying with a family is a commercial offer. But we still stay at a local family’s home.

Tough day tomorrow

Tomorrow we start the steep climb towards Khargush Pass. We will have to climb 1400 m over a distance of roughly 80 km, which does not seems like much, but given the elevation of 4344 m, the thin air will slow us down a lot. We plan to reach the pass only on day 3 of our climb.
As this part of Tajikistan is not covered by a cell phone network, the journals for those days will follow with a few days of delay, depending on when we will have network again.

Detailed Track