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We did however see some Bactrian camels just across the river in Afghanistan.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4309/...29ca63dc_b.jpgTajik Pamir-154 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr At 1230 we arrived to the next turn in the road this is where we meet the cross road to connect back to the 41. This is 100 km from the pavement and passes over 4300m. There is a military camp here at Khargush and a check point to register your passport and GBAO permit. We discussed stopping to cook something, but it was very windy and so we pressed on. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4301/...948ff1e0_b.jpgTajik Pamir-155 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4313/...9e6749f4_b.jpgTajik Pamir-156 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4291/...88e41e37_b.jpgTajik Pamir-157 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4313/...0a668f34_b.jpgTajik Pamir-158 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4312/...622b512e_b.jpgTajikistan Murgab-21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4312/...dd9e4da2_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4314/...af80e436_b.jpgTajik Pamir-159 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The road rises, but between there rises are plains that are either gravel washboard or sand roads. This is getting to be a very tiring day.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4298/...b1e77635_b.jpgTajikistan Murgab-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4320/...19f276cd_b.jpgTajik Pamir-162 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4301/...ce3d31f9_b.jpgTajikistan Murgab-23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4296/...54e84d4b_b.jpgTajik Pamir-164 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4330/...a278dff4_b.jpgTajikistan Murgab-24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4322/...b5d10133_b.jpgTajikistan Murgab-25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4296/...e093f4dd_b.jpgTajik Pamir-165 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4306/...51e57b69_b.jpgTajik Pamir-166 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Reaching the summit there is no marker but we used the GPS to locate it at 4307 m. The downward road was again a lot of sand and washboard.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4303/...734d443a_b.jpgTajik Pamir-167 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4302/...1dc182d5_b.jpgTajik Pamir-169 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4303/...e30146f9_b.jpgTajik Pamir-170 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4301/...d4536992_b.jpgTajik Pamir-173 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We finally used our spare gas to top us up, but Trevor did not have any and the only village we have seen all day is 160 km from Murgab was at 4000m and he drove around and asked for Benzene. While we were waiting for him some local ladies came to talk to us. They asked where we had come from and when we said the Wakhan valley. They said that road is terrible! They then of course offered us tea. There are a lot of very cool looking yurts. Trevor did not have to look very hard for gas as the first guy he asked said i will take you to the gas guy. He siphoned out 4 litres from a big drum for 32 Somoni (3.60$US).
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4297/...3a0be5a1_b.jpgTajik Pamir-181 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4309/...a313ecd2_b.jpgTajik Pamir-179 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4324/...60edaa15_b.jpgTajik Pamir-178 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4292/...6078c9d7_b.jpgTajik Pamir-180 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4320/...c4b424b5_b.jpgTajik Pamir-182 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4302/...6f42f71a_b.jpgTajik Pamir-183 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Leaving the mountain again there was another plain about 30 km from the 41. It was very painful washboard and sandy road. Orvar managed to keep upright, but Sara had one spectacular crash in some very deep sand. This unfortunately did torque the lid of her right pannier. We managed to force it back and get the locks closed and the seal signed up, but it will need some professional help. The rest of the box is perfect and there is no problems with the welds or rivets. The last 15 km to the 41 mentally took forever with the washboard and sand.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4303/...d749a94c_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4323/...85788b52_b.jpg It was awesome to finally hit the paved road after 4 days and this particularly challenging one. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4294/...03c1d494_b.jpgTajik Pamir-174 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4292/...2047d306_b.jpg It is a paved road, but very bumpy with dips and heaves. We have 130 km to Murgab and we finally arrived there after 6. The views on the way are incredible and you are at 4000 m until the town, which is at 3600. Just after we hit the pavement we met this Korean guy who had ridden across Russia and to Tajikistan. We warned him that his bike was not for the Wakhan Valley road. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4299/...6753494c_b.jpgTajik Pamir-175 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4300/...357b1e78_b.jpgTajik Pamir-176 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4315/...fdb81a97_b.jpgTajik Pamir-177 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4306/...cfff7264_b.jpgTajikistan Murgab-29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4296/...87ba4a54_b.jpgTajikistan Murgab-30 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4326/...e3b167a5_b.jpgTajikistan Murgab-31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4297/...b0ecf280_b.jpgTajikistan Murgab-32 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4330/...a0f0bf8d_b.jpgTajikistan Murgab-34 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The last 80 km seemed to take forever. We stopped a lot for photos. Orvar was bitten in the face by a wasp and it really started to swell. He had to take a Benadryl it was getting so bad. 50 km from our destination we had to stop as Orvar getting drowsy and we were all starved. We broke into the emergency tuna and boiled up some noodles in Trevor's jet boil. Lunch after 5 ADV style.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4322/...2fc896fc_b.jpgTajik Pamir-184 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4305/...cecf28db_b.jpgTajik Pamir-185 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4308/...973592c8_b.jpgTajik Pamir-192 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4328/...0355ed73_b.jpgTajik Pamir-193 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4322/...7c576252_b.jpgTajik Pamir-194 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4319/...389e0d78_b.jpgTajik Pamir-195 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4303/...bd31c9a0_b.jpgTajik Pamir-186 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4325/...62235e74_b.jpgTajik Pamir-187 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4323/...12530a16_b.jpgTajik Pamir-188 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4314/...5759ed88_b.jpgTajik Pamir-189 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4322/...6cc90e40_b.jpgTajik Pamir-196 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4314/...2bd6140e_b.jpgTajik Pamir-198 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The last part we just booked it as the sun was very low. There is a military check point 5 km from the hotel. Murgab town is really in the middle of nowhere.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4321/...72f1f65c_b.jpgTajik Pamir-199 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4328/...899f752c_b.jpgTajikistan Murgab-35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4294/...692f1a05_b.jpgTajik Pamir-200 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4321/...792a46b2_b.jpgTajik Pamir-202 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4314/...ec359b44_b.jpgTajik Pamir-201 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4299/...4dae9a18_b.jpgTajik Pamir-203 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Murgab looks like something you would see in Star wars. There is of course no wifi and there is power only by generator from 7 am to 11. We pulled into the only hotel in town and got rooms for 30$ including breakfast. We are all bagged and suffering a bit from the altitude as last night were at 2500 m and today at 3600. There are shared cooed showers, which makes things interesting. They have a restaurant here and luckily a local guide translated for us. There is lots of beer but none is cold and so we settled on a bottle on Tajik “Cognac” for 4$. Its for shooting only and was terrible. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4313/...14646457_b.jpgTajikistan Murgab-36 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
July 16 Murgab, Tajikistan to Sary-Tash, Krygyzstan 227 km
Today we will go to just 25 km inside the Kyrgyzstan border. There is nothing at all except nature and the border posts between the towns of Murgab and Sary-Tash. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4330/...8ea06b0a_o.pngScreen Shot 2017-07-17 at 17.31.56 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4291/...98cd5dc4_o.pngScreen Shot 2017-07-17 at 17.12.16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Dan was up early to work on the bikes (clean the chains, tighten all the bits shaken loose this week, and inspect in general). This is when we find 4 inch nail #2 in Sara’s rear tire!!! Unreal no flats in 5 years and 2 in 2 weeks. We plugged it and hoped for the best. We will need to take the tire off and patch it/vulcanize when we get back to civilization.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4310/...c21f0d73_b.jpgTajik Pamir-204 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4317/...3599d6a0_b.jpgTajik Pamir-211 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4312/...3042cb02_b.jpgTajik Pamir-209 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
It is an hour later here with the time change and with all the things we needed to do we did not get rolling until 1030. The first stop was the gas station. Here you tell the guy how many liters you want and he has vessels of various volumes and very large funnels.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4299/...15dc68d1_b.jpgTajikistan Sary-Tash by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4297/...50fd0a40_b.jpgTajik Pamir-205 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4303/...aac6b2c5_b.jpgTajik Pamir-206 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4310/...d95c40fe_b.jpgTajik Pamir-208 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The high mountain plain road is initially surfaced with only a wash out or two.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4322/...2e4a35ee_b.jpgTajikistan Sary-Tash-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4306/...f5d835e0_b.jpgTajikistan Sary-Tash-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4306/...542c9c63_b.jpgTajik Pamir-207 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4322/...83f2673b_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4304/...7cbe1b7b_b.jpgTajikistan Sary-Tash-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4313/...fd58d591_b.jpgTajik Pamir-213 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4314/...4ecea308_b.jpgTajik Pamir-214 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The road continues to be paved and rise until just before the first pass at Ak Baital (70.9 km). Dan decided to do a little off off road riding and hill climbing to 4644 m. Lucky he did not get stuck in the sand.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4295/...8599fa6c_b.jpgTajikistan Sary-Tash-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4301/...2729a799_b.jpgTajik Pamir-217 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4315/...b1f2974e_b.jpgTajik Pamir-218 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4324/...5ea90f38_b.jpgTajik Pamir-221 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4325/...d12b93c8_b.jpgTajikistan Sary-Tash-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4298/...56a662c5_b.jpgTajik Pamir-219 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Here the road goes to dirt and rises to the pass at 4655 m.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4325/...e5b8f7ca_b.jpgTajik Pamir-223 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr On the down side of the summit the road gets pretty bad. The washboard is horrible and bone shattering. It was so bad Trevor’s mirror actually broke off while he was riding. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4307/...df310dbc_b.jpgTajik Pamir-224 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4328/...3f27311f_b.jpgTajik Pamir-225 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4295/...d0736521_b.jpgTajikistan Sary-Tash-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr In fact cars have left the road and created a side road which though muddy in spots is much smoother. There is some deeper gravel to contend with too. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4326/...c89c4fe0_b.jpgTajikistan Sary-Tash-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
A little slide show of the Pamir and Wakhan Valley.
Video link as I can not get the HU embed button to work. |
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