After a night at the Garmchashma hot springs we cycled down to the Panj Valley again and continued to climb this valley along the Afghan border. Today’s destination was Ishkashim, a border city at the southern tip of Tajikistan.

Hot start in the day

Last night I spent in a tent around 200 m away from the Garmchashma hot springs on almost 2600 m. It was therefore obvious that I wouldn’t miss the occasion to warm up in the hot springs after a rather cool night in the tent at 6:00 while watching the sun rising from behind the tall mountain peaks in the east.

After a short breakfast, we descended again 300 m to the main valley where we followed the Panj River upstream.

Weather change in the afternoon

Having started the day with a cloudless sky, in the afternoon big clouds formed over the mountains, and every now and then some showers went down over the valley. While this is unpleasant while cycling, it is a great subject for pictures. And we were even lucky, it only rained during 5 minutes in total, all the other rain showers went down in other parts of the valley.

Staying with locals

After a few nights of staying in a hostel in Khorog or in the tent before and after Khorog, today we had the chance again to spend the evening at a local family here in Ishkashim. Ishkashim itself is not a pretty city and there are limited options for staying at hostels, so we were glad to find this option. And because the weather outside was rainy and stormy, we definitely preferred having a roof over our heads.

English-speaking Youth

Just like in the other parts of the autonomous region of Badakhshan, we met surprisingly many young people who greeted us in English in the streets here in Ishkashim, as compared to the rest of Tajikistan (incl. the capital Dushanbe) where English is rarely spoken. The efforts of the autonomous region to teach English as a second language seem to work and opens the youth new possibilities e.g. for studying or working abroad.

One of these young people joined us tonight, she was the sixteen year-old daughter of our host’s neighbor. She was happy to practice her English with tourists like us, and because she spoke English, we learned also a few interesting things about Badakhshan and Tajikistan in general. And her English was very good, many Swiss at that age don’t speak English that well. When asking her however if she could also use her English abroad, she told us that she had never left Tajikistan so far, and actually even never went to the next larger city Khorog, which is only 100 km away. Nevertheless, she is dreaming about studying in Canada or working abroad as a translator in Dubai in the future, and I hope her motivation is getting rewarded in form of a scholarship. Because here in Ishkashim, there are no perspectives for young people like her.

Detailed Track

It is very nice to relax after another exhausting cycling day in hot springs in the middle of beautiful mountains. Today we reached the hot springs of Garmchashma, one of the many natural not springs here in the Pamirs. But we had to earn this with a very steep ascent for the last 7 km.

Visiting Border Market in Khorog

After four nights in the Pamir Lodge in Khorog, today was the day that Anne was finally capable again of cycling. And by coincidence it was Saturday morning, so we decided to visit the Border Market with Afghanistan which is 5 km north of Khorog, so basically 5 km in the wrong direction. The idea is that Afghan and Tajik merchants can meet in a special area at the customs and trade goods easily. This was our chance to actually meet some of the Afghan people that we have been spotting for the last days when following the border.

This market originally took place in Ishkashim in the south, but was moved to Khorog and is supposed to take place every Saturday morning. As we were aware that the market is a delicate thing and is often cancelled, we confirmed at the tourist office that the market will actually take place today. So we cycled up those 5 km.

When we arrived at the border bridge where the market takes place, there was however nobody. One of the employees told us that the market does not take place today due the unstable political situation in Afghanistan. Disappointed we cycled back to Khorog with 10 additional km in our legs.

Fixing tires when going south

After the not so successful morning, we started cycling south from Khorog. The scenery along the Panj River was beautiful as always, and as we were going uphill more and more, the river got narrower and hence we were even closer to the Afghan side than a few days back.

After a few kilometers we had to stop however as Lucie had a puncture. And of course it was in a hot place without shadow and any villages nearby. It took three attempts to properly fix the puncture, we easily lost an hour. But then we could continue our ride.

Heading towards Garmchashma

After around 30 km, a side road turned into the mountains, to the village Garmchashma. It is home to one of the most famous hot springs in the Pamirs, and we decided to go there for the night so we could get a warm bath before sleeping in the tent. The side road however was extremely steep, and I was completely out of breath and sweaty when I arrived there. So a bath in the hot springs was even more welcome now.

Bathing culture

Unlike in Europe, the baths here are strictly separated between men and women, and people do not wear any bathing suits. Where there is only one pool, there is a schedule that regulates when women and men are allowed to go bathing. In the case of Garmchashma, there was a beautiful outdoor pool (see picture) and a simple indoor pool. I was lucky that it was the men’s turn for the outdoor pool, Anne and Lucie had to go to the rather small indoor pool. Still, they enjoyed a nice bath, and maybe tomorrow morning they can also visit the outdoor pool.

Detailed Track

Nothing really spectacular today. Anne is slowly doing better, but still she is not able to continue cycle. Therefore I have another day in Khorog. Compared to yesterday, I did not feel like doing another day trip, instead I took care of some things in Khorog.

Getting Cash

In theory it is easy: If you need cash, take your credit card and go to the ATM. This turned out to be much more difficult here in Tajikistan as most banks don’t support our cards. Today, after trying already the past two days, I finally managed to get some money out of the ATM. This was very welcome, because I really want to prevent running out of cash in the middle of the Pamirs. So far I am still travelling with the €1100 that I had with me when I left Switzerland almost 2 months ago, and I haven’t used any of my cards at all since then because nobody accepts credit cards.

Running Errands

The rest of the day I spent buying things for the next cycling days such as dry or canned food, and another battery for my cell phone because the one bought from the Bazaar a few days ago did not really perform so well. This time I found a new battery from another store, this one should give new life to my phone.

Outlook

Anne seems to be doing much better again, so tomorrow we will continue cycling south. We also need to make some progress because our visas that expire on June 12. By then we must have exited Tajikistan, and ahead of us is a long and tough way for another 800 km.

Today we had another full day in Khorogh due to Anne’s recovery from her stomach problems. As we have seen the city already yesterday however, it was a perfect occasion for a day trip. While Lucie preferred running up some mountain, I chose to explore the Shakhdara Valley on my bicycle. Because I could leave all my bags in the hostel, I was travelling very light for once.

About the Shakhdara Valley

As compared to the Ghund Valley in the north where the Pamir Highway runs through and the Wakhan Valley in the south, there is nowadays no transit in the Shakhdara Valley due to a destroyed bridge. So cycling in Shakhdara Valley means going into a dead-end, but luckily a beautiful one. It also means that there are far less foreigners entering this valley.

The valley itself is around 160 km long, which of course was too much for me on the bicycle on one day, but I managed to get 50 km into this beautiful valley and climb up to 2800 m. On the way I got to see dozens of nice mountains, rock faces, and a few glimpses on some of the 6000+ m peaks in this part of the Pamirs.

Unpleasant weather surprise

As in the morning the weather was perfect, I decided to go with a T-Shirt, shorts, and sandals. In sunny weather, this is perfectly fine because the sun is very strong up here. After climbing up 40 km along the valley road however, when looking back to Khorogh, the sky looked very dark there. At my current location however it was still wonderful weather. As I assumed that it’s already raining in Khorog anyway, I continued another 10 km, accompanied by a tail wind towards the blue sky. But the bad weather caught up with me much faster than expected, and at kilometer 50 when I decided to turn back towards the last village, I had a very strong wind blowing first sand, later on also rain into my face. Being dressed in a T-Shirt only, this was very chilly on 2800 m, so I quickly went looking for shelter at a farmer’s house.

After 15 minutes, the storm however was already over again, the sun came out, and it looked like if nothing happened. Even though I was never really in danger because there were farm houses every few kilometers to find shelter, I still was very surprised how quickly the weather changed from excellent to horrible and back to excellent again. I will keep this in mind for the future ascent into the high altitudes of the Pamirs.

Returning to Khorog

After the storm I decided to cycle back as quickly as possible to Khorog, because I assumed there will be more storms coming. However, I still had 50 km and 600 m to descend on a very bumpy road, and around 20 km before Khorog I saw black clouds over Khorog again. I hurried up a little and this time I made it right in time before the next rain started back to the lodge. After 100 km of cycling on bad roads it is time now for a decent dinner. Tomorrow, we plan to continue south towards Ishkashim in the Wakhan Valley, our south-most point in Tajikistan.

Detailed Track

After a full week of cycling, today our bicycle will stay at the Pamir Lodge in Khorog. As this is the last city before the high plateau of the Pamirs, we used the day to restock with dry food and trying to get a new battery for my cell phone. As the city otherwise does not have a lot to offer, a lot of relaxing was also part of the day. My back for sure appreciated it.

As there is not too much to write about the city apart from the fact that it’s located beautifully between the mountains, I share with you two stories from today. Below still a few photos from Khorog.

How to get a battery for the mobile phone

As mentioned already in a previous post, the recently bought battery of my mobile phone is faulty and worked less and less as the days went by. So I set myself the goal to get a replacement battery here in Khorog. The catch: The model of the mobile phone (Samsung Galaxy S5) is not sold in any of the mobile phone shops here in town, so my hopes were modest.

After visiting two or three shops my worries were confirmed: The type of battery is not sold in any of the shops. I was disappointed, but not surprised. I really wanted to get my mobile phone working properly again as it is basically the only means of communication with family and friends.

Then I tried my luck on the bazaar which was just across the street of one of the mobile phone shops. Apart from dozens of vegetable, cheese, meat, clothes, and many other kinds of shop, there was also a lady selling electronic articles such as power cords, calculators, and pocket lamps. But I did not see any cell phone articles for sale. Desperately as I was, I still took out my phone and asked her if she had batteries for mobile phones. I was waiting for the usual “Niet”, but surprisingly, she asked me, what kind of battery I need. I first thought she did not understand my question, but when I showed her the actual battery, she took a small plastic bag full of used batteries out, was looking for a few seconds, and voilà: She actually found a battery of the exact same type. It was a used battery, but I happily bought it for a bargain ($1.50).

It is not the first time that I found things that I believed were impossible to find in Tajikistan on a bazaar or market in the end. But still, it’s really a crazy story. The battery by the way works fine so far.

Water from the Fire Department

The Pamirs have lots of water flowing down the countless rivers, especially now in spring where the snow is melting. However, the amount of potable water available is a completely different story. There are also many aid projects from international organizations here in the Pamirs with the goal to give the population access to clean drinking water. That this is indeed a problem even here in Khorog I witnessed today: The Pamir Lodge, our hostel, was running out of water, i.e. their water tank was empty and due to lack of drinking water, it was also not possible to simply refill it. Therefore a big fire truck arrived at the lodge and filled the water tank in around 30 minutes so guests like me can take a shower again or use the bathroom. One guy of the lodge told me, that it’s a nice service of the fire department, but they only do it once they actually have time, so I can imagine it could well be that guests will be here without running water one day.

This story also makes me appreciate once more that all the basic needs are covered back in Switzerland without having to worry about drinking water.

Outlook for tomorrow

As Anne caught some stomach problems yesterday and basically was resting today the whole day and needs another day of recovery, I will take a small day trip tomorrow to one of the beautiful side valleys around Khorog to let Anne recover better. So there will be no live tracking again.

It has been exactly one week since we left Dushanbe. After cycling two days through populated areas we had 5 days of cycling over passed, through gorges, and little villages in places that I could not imagine that people can survive. It is nice to finally arrive in Khorog which I thought we would reach earlier. It is basically the last city before we go to the east Pamirs, a very remote area of Tajikistan, and a welcome occasion to relax and give my back some more recovery time.

Wet morning

We were really lucky with the weather so far, but last night there was a lot of rain, which filled the holes in the streets with water and left a dramatic looking cloud cover over the valley. But against the weather forecast, there was only around 10 minutes of rain along the way and then the weather got better again.

Road to Khorog

Because the road to Khorog was in a fairly good condition, we made good progress today and reached Khorog after around 4 hours of cycling. The scenery was nice as usual and the last few kilometers before Khorog the valley opened up and we could spot the airport. Yes, there is a daily flight from Dushanbe to Khorog, in case of good weather, and it is said to be very scenic because the plane has to descend between the valleys to make it to the runway.

On the way we saw at several places the effects of international organizations that rebuilt mud dams, and sadly also removed land mines that are still very present in this areas due to the countless internal and external conflicts in this area. It is nice to see how the money however is used for useful projects.

Now I am looking forward to get some time off and organize the things I still need like my cell phone battery, more cash or extend my SIM card. And I heard that there is a nice market here, so I will probably get the chance to eat some fresh vegetables, which is always welcome in this area.

Detailed  Track

As in the previous days, today we followed the Panj River towards Khorog. In the morning, nothing eventful happened and we were following the bumpy road through steep gorges for 45 km in sunshine and blue sky and after 85 km we reached the village of Rushan.

Beautiful morning

After a nice night sleeping on a terrace overlooking the gorge, we started cycling early in still perfect weather.

No more blue sky

In the afternoon the weather started to change and the sky got darker and darker. The scenery with the tall and snow covered mountains started to look dramatic. We were hoping that the rain would wait until we reach Rushan. And we were lucky. When we arrived at Rushan on 2000 m, the first raindrops started to fall and during the evening, heavy rain set in. Since we found a place in a homestay, we did not have to camp outside so the rain was, at least for the night, not of any concern.

Rain, and above a certain altitude snow, in this area are however problematic as we are cycling through narrow canyons with steep rock faces. Wet conditions increase the risk of landslides or even avalanches, the latter however is currently less of a concern because the snow is only high up in the mountains. But later on our trip when crossing passes over 4000 m, snow will become an issue. Also, heavy rainfalls make the rivers rise and some of the roads might be flooded, so we would have to carry our bicycles, bags, etc. through ice cold waters. Hopefully, the rain is only for a short amount of time and the blue sky will return again.

Problems with my cell phone

As if the decreasing quality of the cell phone network here in the Pamirs were not enough, in the last few days my cell phone which I basically need for everything for this blog (Internet connection, GPS tracking) as well as staying in touch with my family started making problems. The new battery that I bought just before departure seems to be faulty, and the longer I use it, the more it cannot keep up the voltage, which causes my phone to reset itself randomly. By now I guess I can use only about 25% of the battery’s capacity. I hope that I can get a new battery in Khorog tomorrow as otherwise I am afraid my phone won’t be usable anymore during the rest of the trip. So apart from all the challenges from nature, also the electronic devices can give me a headache.

Vodka party on arrival in Rushan

When we were approaching Rushan, a group of around six men at my age were partying next to the road. It was not even 18:00 by then. Partying in this region means, the car is parked at the side of the road with the doors open, the volume of the stereo of the car is turned up and people are hanging around outside the car. The guys kindly invited us for a drink – which in this case was Vodka, and not tea as usual. As Rushan was only a few kilometers away, we joined them for a Vodka or two (or a few more for Anne and Lucie).

It was obvious that at least a few of them already had quite a bit of Vodka before we arrived, therefore the mood was good from the start. They were very proud that they have good Russian Vodka, and not some Tajik Vodka. And they were telling us proudly, that they are not Tajiks, but Pamiris. The background to this is that as I mentioned in an earlier post, we are now in the autonomous region of Gorno-Badakhshan. They don’t feel as Tajiks and live basically their own culture here in the Pamirs, even though they politically belong to Tajikistan.

After half an hour, we then left the party group and cycled safely the last few kilometers to Rushan where we found a place in a decent homestay with a warm shower and a western toilet. It was good after a few days of camping to take a good shower again. The amount of dirt washed off my body confirmed that we are in very rough and dusty terrain.

Tomorrow we will head to Khorog, the largest city in the Pamirs with a population of roughly 30000 people. This will be the last place to restock anything we need for the high plateau in the Pamirs during the next 3.5 weeks.

Detailed Track

It seems like we need more time than planned to reach Khorog, which in the morning was still 200 km away. On the partially very bad road conditions on the Pamir Highway we only made 50 km today. However, the scenery today was stunning again. In is incredible how a road on which trucks of up to 60 tons could be built in these steep gorges. And whenever the gorge opened up a bit, there are is civilization and a lot of green. And to complete the picturesque landscape, snowy mountain peaks were visible at the horizon all day.

Visitor at night

Last night was less relaxing than expected. In the middle of the night a dog showed up, and as we were sleeping on an only slightly elevated terrace, he started sniffing our things and was looking for attention several times during the night. At some point he simply climbed on the terrace and lay down next to us. While this was definitely a good and cute dog, he however still robbed us some of our sleep.

Cold feet in the morning

After a short breakfast we continued where we left off yesterday. But only after 2.5 km we had to stop cycling because a big creek a few meters wide went across the road. And unlike yesterday when we also had to cross some wet parts, this time the water was deep. There was no other choice then taking of shoes and socks and walk through the water barefoot. And because this water originates from snowy mountains, the temperatures were accordingly and I was glad to reach the other side so I could warm up my feet again. Luckily, this was the only river crossing today where we could not actually ride through the waters.

Still along the Afghan border

Also today we were following the Panj River and the Afghan border. What we observed already the last two days also was confirmed today: The Afghan side is definitely more beautiful because it is a lot greener and has more sunny spots than the Tajik side. So cycling on the Tajik side was not only politically the right choice, but it gives us much better views of the opposite side. Besides, the road on the Tajik side still seems to be a lot better than on the Afghan side.

Outlook for tomorrow

Tomorrow will probably be similar to today. We will continue towards Khorog and enjoy the beautiful scenery again. But first we spend another night on a terrace, and there are also dogs around. But this time I blocked the access to the terrace with my bike. Let’s hope that is enough to keep the dogs out.

Detailed Track

In Kalai Kumb we finally reached the M-41, the famous Pamir Highway. During the wars with Afghanistan, this highway served the Russians for the supply delivery to their troops at the border. During that time, the highway must have been in good condition, but nowadays, the surface of the road is a mixture of old tarmac with countless big potholes and dirt road. Nevertheless, there are still huge trucks using this route, as it is an important transit route from Tajikistan to China. And the trucks with their huge wheels don’t feel every pothole, but on our bikes, every single hole challenges us and the material.

Fixing Rack Mounts

Today, after only a few kilometers of cycling, Anne and Lucie noticed that their rack mounts were missing screws, or in Lucie’s case the screw which attached the rack mount to the frame was broken. For Lucie, it is not the first time that screws went missing. This is due to the bad road conditions in the last few days. So we had to perform some emergency fixes in order to continue.

Tiring Road Conditions on Pamir Highway

After yesterday’s smooth ride on almost perfect tarmac, today we got to know the real road conditions as we expect them in the Pamirs: Damaged Tarmac, pot holes, dirt roads, and sometimes also small rivers that had to be crossed. And whenever we were crossing a truck or another car, we were covered in a cloud of dust. With such road conditions, our average speed basically gets reduced by half, so today we only did around 70 km of cycling in more or less 6 hours. So I guess for our future planning in the Pamirs, an average of 50 km per day is reasonable.

Beautiful Scenery

Even though the part of the valley that we saw today was more open than yesterday, the scenery and the views to the Afghan side were still impressive. Again and again snowy peaks were visible and reminded us of the cool temperatures to come high up in the Pamirs, while down in the valley the temperatures were hot during the day.

Sleeping on a Terrace

Tonight we are sleeping on the terrace of a farmer’s house, which is located directly at the river. The night sky is stunning here as there are no light emissions, and the continuous sound of the river has a very calming effect so we can charge our batteries for most likely another day of bumpy roads towards Khorog.

Detailed Track

In the next few days we will follow the Panj River upstream and gain more and more altitude until we reach the high plateau of the Pamirs. Following the Panj River also means we will also follow the Afghan border. Today, we cycled the first 90 km and gained in total 400 m of altitude.

Cycling through narrow gorges

In the village where we spent last night, the valley floor was quite wide, but soon after starting to cycle, we entered a truly impressive gorge with high rock faces, with dimension I have not seen before. On a length of roughly 30 km the rock walls were going up very steeply for up to around 3000 m on both sides. The valley floor was sometimes only a hundred meters wide, from which the Panj River took up most of the space. The two roads, one on the Tajik side and one on the Afghan side of the river, were squeezed between these rock faces and the river and it was stunning to cycle through this narrow canyons, even though I was a bit nervous passing under such high rock faces, because there is always a danger of rocks falling down and the road was at some places covered with holes from falling rocks. And at one place, the whole road was torn down by a landslide, but there was already a workaround in place through lose rocks.

The Panj River itself was also very impressive. Now in spring it is basically carrying all the melting water of a large part of the Pamirs. Because of all the sediments that get washed down, the water was colored in a deep brown. There were violent rapids where the water was splashing up several meters when flowing over rocks inside the river. I am no river rafting expert, but I would never attempt to go down this river in a small boat, despite the awesome scenery.

After 30 km, the valley got a bit wider again, but not less impressive, as we could spot then better the high snowy peaks of the Hindu Kush on the Afghan side.

Life inside the gorge

There is not much space for life in these narrow canyons, but every few kilometers there was a small stretch of land either on the Afghan or the Tajik side not taken by the river. This land was then used for agriculture and small villages. Especially on the Afghan side, sometimes the houses were even built onto rocks leaving more space for agriculture. And where the slopes of the mountains were a bit less steep, there was also agriculture up the mountain flanks. They really optimize every usable square meter here in the valley in order to survive.

The political situation along the Afghan border

When I tell family members or friends that I am cycling along the Afghan borders, they usually get worried about it. But during the first two days, apart from the increased military presence on the Tajik side, everything was quite unspectacular. We passed quite a few Afghan villages with sometimes only a few hundred meters distance. The Afghan people on the other side were equally happy to see us as on the Tajik side waving their hands, children were playing outside, animals were roaming around. No sign of war at all. Sometimes it is a pity not being able to actually visit these small villages because I am sure the Afghan hospitality would be similar to the one we experience on our side of the river.

Staying overnight in Yoged

After 90 km impressive kilometers, we decided to stay at a homestay in Yoged, another small village along the river. Tomorrow we will continue the valley and collect more impressions of this wonderful area.

Detailed Track