Posts Tagged ‘Khorog turnoff’


It is not going to rain. I think we are near the top. It should be an easy day. We can go for an early morning swim in the lake, and then amble on into the town. Even with the bad road surface, we should be able to manage 70-80km. Famous last words. But it was an amazing day.

The road to the Pamirs

The road to the Pamirs

I had an exciting night holding my tent into position against the strong winds. A slow morning of breakfasting and then fixing a flat tyre protected from the rain by a tree meant that today was never going to be a kilometre rich day. But we didn’t want it to be one. With such a beautiful valley unfolding before us, what better way to enjoy it than to meander slowly.

The road to Khorog

The road to Khorog

We were invited in for tea by some kids. A game of zombies was a big hit.

The kids that invited us in for chai

The kids that invited us in for chai

Zombies

Zombies

After having cycled a whole 16km, we stopped for lunch and a swim at a lake. The thunder roared as we splashed around in the lake, and it pissed down as we curled up on a bed inside the restaurant, and decided to sleep a bit.

Thunderstorm sleep

Thunderstorm sleep

Tonight we find ourselves in an unfinished shop in a little village. Outside the rain is pattering on the roof, and we lie warm in our sleeping bags, fed with some bread and yoghurt. Life is good.


Today. A toilet audience. A wheel jammed in the gutter. A presidential 12000km from Eindhoven celebration. A belly of berries. A wind in all directions. Scree-slope roads. Climbs and drops. The mountains are getting bigger. I liked today.

Berries

Berries

He was sitting on the ridge – the little shepherd boy. From his perch he could see everything. Every possible toilet spot. And I needed to go. We often get audiences. Often kids. They just stand there and watch.

Our camping spot

Our camping spot

We only needed to go 4km today for me to reach 12000km from Eindhoven. At the 11999km mark I was greeted twice by a billboard of the Tajikistan president – one standing in a field of tulips, and one 500m further on holding some equipment while inspecting some engineering project. I was disappointed that he waited until 12001km before congratulating me with another billboard. Still, it had all the bells and whistles – and flags.

12001km

12001km

The president

The president

Reece got stuck in the gutter while getting back from the presidential address.

Reece in the gutter

Reece in the gutter

Today was a day of climbing (and even more often, descending) in the scree. It made for some slow going, but gave me a sense of achievement for getting through it.

A hot climb

A hot climb

Lovely view

Lovely view

Sunset

Sunset

And today was a day of mountains of berries – we bought some from some little girls at our lunch stop.

Eating berries

Eating berries