Posts Tagged ‘Cycling’

Day 156. 95km. Akbalik – Murghab

Posted: October 6, 2015 in Cycling, Tajikistan
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The plain was wide – sometimes grassy, sometimes just rock and sand. On both sides were rocky, snow-capped mountains. The sky was blue with beautiful white clouds. And the wind was at our back. Every bend in the road opened up a new stunning vista. I cycled the most beautiful road of my life with three others, and my, we had a day to remember.

The road to Murghab

The road to Murghab

We were prepared for the lonely road – no human life and no water for 100km to Murghab. Every now and then we spotted a lonesome yurt off the road and away from the bustle of the thoroughfare. This place is remote – a desert highland tucked away in a lost corner of central Asia. This is part of the appeal. So far from anywhere. Sitting in the little hut last night with the wind whistling outside, warmth radiating from the wood stove, one is at peace with the universe. On the Pamir Plateau, I am at peace with the universe, and at peace with myself.

The road to Murghab

The road to Murghab

The road to Murghab

The road to Murghab

The road to Murghab

The road to Murghab

The road to Murghab

The road to Murghab

Murghab

Murghab

Day 155. 13km. Alichur – Akbalik

Posted: October 5, 2015 in Cycling, Tajikistan
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I was the one with altitude sickness today. I had a headache at midnight, and took altitude sickness tablets at 5am. The day was a headache blur in the dormitory bedroom surrounded by posters of far-away waterfalls and bowls of fruit. To get away, I cycled 13km through the snow to the last hut of humanity for 100km.

My humble abode for the night

My humble abode for the night

Reece had improved before me, and left to make it to the bottom of the next pass on the way to Murghab. I stayed in indecision, seeing the horizontal sleet and snow outside. There was ‘maybe’ the hut I had heard of down the road to stay. After that, there would be nothing. I wanted to move on. I knew I was still recovering from altitude sickness. I didn’t want to camp outside tonight. I left in a break from the snow, and was blown along by my friend the tailwind to the most lovely little hut on the high Pamir plain.

View from my abode

View from my abode

The little kids in the hut were lovely. They cycled around on my bike, and even filtered water for me.

The kids

The kids

The new cyclist

The new cyclist

And then rolled in the cycle tourists. A group of 3 – from South Korea, Ireland and America. Some more cycling partners for the next days. Let’s see.

Day 154. 88km. Jelondi – Alichur

Posted: October 4, 2015 in Cycling, Tajikistan
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The Pamir plateau is spectacularly beautiful. Two passes around 4200m and some awful road later, we passed the crest and saw the most amazing vista of rolling sandy plains with a beautiful deep blue lake, surrounded by high, towering peaks. Reece’s head was thumping, The altitude sickness may force him down tomorrow.

The Pamir plateau

The Pamir plateau

Reece had a splitting headache, and the road was unforgiving. A sandy, rocky ascent to 4271m, then after a sandy rocky descent, another bumpy ascent to 4200m. Very exhausting, but surrounded by the most beautiful landscape.

Province border

Province border

A steep climb

A steep climb

The Pamir plateau

The Pamir plateau

Reece on the Pamir plateau

Reece on the Pamir plateau

In Alichur Reece and I went to the doctor. He has some emergency tablets, and plans to descend tomorrow.

Day 153. 61km. Ver – Jelondi

Posted: October 3, 2015 in Cycling, Tajikistan
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My ex called them ‘brain f*cks’. Worrying about something incessantly – something you wish you hadn’t done but now can’t change. I worried for ages about the unfiltered water I drank from the kind Pamir people last night. Slowly my mind cleared as I climbed the valley today, and once again revelled in its beauty.

Around 3500m.

Around 3500m.

I marvel the touring cyclists around me. With exploded tyres, they stitch them together and take off down the most corrugated roads of the planet without a worry. They are all a carefree, take-it-as-it-comes bunch. I take two spare tyres and numerous inner tubes and still worry.
When filtering water last night, a local woman warned me of camping where we were due to wolves. ‘Ah. We have been camping with wolves all the way,’ said Reece. He is right.
The woman told me that I should have some ‘good’ water from her house. Clean water. Drinking water. Before I knew it, all my bottles were filled with clean looking water from the little stream running past their house. Just the sort of stream that I would normally have filtered. They have a cow. Roaming upstream from the water. How much do the people know about hepatitis? I drank the water, and my mind went in a spin until this afternoon. Having overcome the fear of actually doing this world cycle trip, I still have returns of these mind f*cks. There have been some worriers in my family. I don’t want to be one..

I find myself tonight in an old, dilapidated hot spring ‘hotel’ from the communist times. The actual hot water from the springs is too hot to enter, and is in a mouldy pool that has seen better times. The outside toilet block is a first for me. Three squat toilets next to each other with no dividing walls. I’ve heard more of that is coming in China. Yay! ☺

On mind f*ck days, I am happy to have a roof over my head. Tomorrow I’m going over the first serious high pass – over 4200m. I’m interested to see how that goes.

The underbelly

The underbelly

The valley

The valley

Rain is coming

Rain is coming

Day 152. 80km. Khorog – Ver

Posted: October 2, 2015 in Cycling, Tajikistan
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One fine morning Happy Dolphin and Barf left Khorog to buy some cheap Chinese tyres and cycle to the roof of the world. Happy Dolphin felt pleased with his new name – the same as his cheap Chinese tyres. Barf had earned the name at 1am at the military base 4 days earlier. After a day of stitching tyres, Pamir stew lunches, and shoulder transport of bicycles over swinging bridges, Happy Dolphin and Barf set up tent in a wolf infested forest under a rock slide.

Barf

Barf

Reece’s stitched up tyre lasted about 40km. When changing to one of his Happy Dolphin cheap Chinese tyres, he spotted a rip and instead put on his other Happy Dolphin. His second Happy Dolphin is still of service.

While sitting in front of a little shop, gulping down a cola, we were invited to tea by the local village German teacher. Tea turned into lunch and a lovely talk with her daughter who dreams of travelling the world.

Dreaming of far-away places

Dreaming of far-away places

The cycle along the valley was stunning. The mountains got bigger and bigger, and the walls of rock higher and higher. The sun was shining, and the wind was gently blow us forward.

Road through the Pamirs

Road through the Pamirs

Towards the Pamir plateau

Towards the Pamir plateau

Our camping spot is across a swinging bridge. The bikes were transported across the bridge on our shoulders, and the bags one by one. A lovely spot.

Bridge to the campsite

Bridge to the campsite

Day 151. 72km. Rushan – Khorog

Posted: October 1, 2015 in Cycling, Tajikistan
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The cyclists meet again at the famous touring cyclist hostel – the Pamir Lodge in Khorog. Everyone knows everyone either directly or through another cyclist or motorbiker. And everyone is doing bike maintenance. Khorog and the art of bicycle maintenance. Where have I heard that before?

The road ahead

The road ahead

One motorbiker was putting vegetable oil into his hydraulic gears. Reece, who I met again after our brief separation, was stitching up his tyre that had exploded (when a kid forced him into a massive pothole in the attempt to get a high-five). Maxime, who I met in Uzbekistan and again in Dushanbe was fixing a broken spoke. I swapped some tyres around on my bike, and put on some new brake pads. Also, we went for dinner – twice.

The road surface was quite good and flatter than it has been, and I was feeling better. I was able to speed through the 72km to Khorog by lunch time. Being flat, the regular 20m spurts of gravel, rocky, potholed road, requiring 5-10km/h speeds were less annoying. The surface was much better than a few days ago, where there was only gravel, rocky and potholed road. The valley remained beautiful, but wider than before.

Flowers in the valley

Flowers in the valley

The road to Khorog

The road to Khorog

I will probably spend a day of rest and recreation in Khorog tomorrow, and then on and up to the really high mountains of the Pamir.

Day 150. 49km. Deh – Rushan

Posted: September 30, 2015 in Cycling, Tajikistan
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Cycling through a haze in my brain, I plodded along the valley towards Khorog. I was not really present, just feeling weak after emptying my stomach at 1am last night. The kids tried to pull me back into the now – ‘Hello hello!’. ‘What is your name?’. ‘Otkyda?’ I retired for the afternoon in Rushan and slept for 4 hours between 1600 and 2000.

The road to Khorog

The road to Khorog

Our military hosts came this morning bearing more gifts – milk. Just what I felt like having. Reece needed to move on quickly today, and I wasn’t going to be able to do that, so we parted ways. As it turned out, we met repeatedly throughout the day. I was (very) slow, but steady. Reece was fast with lots of technical problems with his bike. Tomorrow on to Khorog.

Day 149. 57km. Dashtak – Deh

Posted: September 29, 2015 in Cycling, Tajikistan
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‘Are you OK?’ asked Reece.
‘No.’
‘Are you outside of the tent?’
‘Yes.’
Behind me was the dark mountainside in Tajikistan, opposite the looming black wall in Afghanistan, and above me the clear starry night. In front of me, one metre in front of the tent, I heaved out the vomit, wave after wave.

My little helpers

My little helpers

Our camping spot this morning was a short walk from a mine field. I discovered this on my sunrise walk, and promptly backtracked the way I had come. This is a serious border – between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Minefields, constant police checks, military patrolling up and down the roads, and sitting under trees, rifle in hand.

Mine field

Mine field

An early morning rise resulted in a late start after I replaced my tyre which had worn out, and Reece readjusted his gears. By departure it was already hot, and I felt it the whole day, getting weaker and weaker as time went by. I still felt quite good in the morning, and both Reece and I repeatedly cried out for joy as each new view unfolded. This is an amazing valley!

Afghanistan

Afghanistan

The road to Khorog

The road to Khorog

My little helpers

My little helpers

Day 148. 81km. Qalai Khumb – Dashtak

Posted: September 28, 2015 in Cycling, Tajikistan
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The valley is one of walls. Walls of rock. We ply the road perched on the valley edge, watch the water gush past below, and the people walk along the impossible road etched into the side of the cliff-face opposite in Afghanistan.

The road to Khorog

The road to Khorog

The road is beautiful, undulating along this amazing valley. Compared to the last few days, the road surface is good (but still pretty dreadful), and so we could spend some mental energy gazing at the mountains of rock around us.

The road to Khorog

The road to Khorog

The road to Khorog

The road to Khorog

The road to Khorog

The road to Khorog

We have an amazing camp spot on a rocky peak overlooking Afghanistan. My first beat-bush to a camping spot. A lot of fun!

Day 147. 46km. Safedoron – Qalai Khumb

Posted: September 27, 2015 in Cycling, Tajikistan
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The road was steep. And rocky. The sun was shining, and the air was clear. And, man, it was beautiful. We bumped down along a stunning valley with sheer vertical walls. Little white ribbons of water slipping down the grass faces from the snow patches above. We made it all the way down to the vertical wall of rock – the Afghanistan border.

On the way down

On the way down

I have always been afraid of technical things. Getting your hands dirty. Fixing things that break. I see this bike trip as kind of like being in a relationship. Sometimes one is confronted with one’s fears. (Being single, you can just avoid the fears.) My fear is fixing the bike. Working out how devices I am carrying work. Adjusting everything properly. What if I do it wrongly and everything goes pear-shaped?
I am now proud to say that I have readjusted my panniers, tightened all the screws, and swapped my front and back tyre. I have also been frustrated and embarrassed at the eons I take to filter water. Something is wrong, and I need to work out what it is.

Tightening the screws

Tightening the screws

Today every screw was tested on the bike for tightness. It was a ragged old road. Rocks. Sand. Mud. Big holes. And, it was really fun, jiggling down the mountain in the warm sun. Every turn brought a new cry of joy. What an amazing view.

Pamir Highway 2015

Pamir Highway 2015

Ribbon of water

Ribbon of water

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