Location: Tajikistan
| Lat/Lng: |
38.39537, 74.01176 |
| Kilometers: |
75.8 |
| Time in the Saddle: |
06:05:25 |
There was a small river running down the center of the massive valley where we camped. Further down the valley the road intersected this river, at a low lying bridge. In the far distance, we could see four figures heading in our direction, walking along the road. It was still fairly early in the morning and we weren't quite sure why they were out walking or where they came from, since there was no village in sight.
Realizing that the four figures were all male, Keith walked out to meet them, while Meredith started to pack up our camp. Our Russian is getting better and better by the day and Keith was able to have a basic conversation with the four soldiers. After asking if we had any cigarettes, they left and we quickly broke down camp and headed toward the small bridge.
We were soon stopped with a flat tire, which turned out to be a great place to fill water for the day, since the stream was quick moving and clear. As we patched the tire, we could see a tandem touring bike approaching in the distance. Two British cyclists with a Bob trailer packed to the gills had come from Dushanbe and were headed to Tibet. The couple told us of a great camping spot on the far side of the largest pass on the Pamir Highway, which we would be heading over today. The cycling was great, as we made our way up the pass which is one of the steepest roads we have ridden thus far.
Near the top of the pass, we met a very excited German and Chinese couple on a Jeep tour. Although the road was not so bad, they couldn't believe we were on bicycles, which seemed strange since cycle touring is somewhat popular among Germans. For certain, we feel like cycling here in the eastern Pamirs differs from Tibet in that the pass as certainly shorter, however much steeper and on typically worse road conditions. At the top of the top of the pass we took advantage of the tailwind and sailed our way in seemingly pure silence toward the main town of eastern Tajikistan, Murghab.
We were fortunate to have found the camping spot mentioned by the British couple. The site consisted of a makeshift shepherds' shelter with 3 foot high stone wall about 30 meters from the road. We rolled our bikes right in the structure and started work setting up the tent out of view. We have been extra conscientious about finding camping spots after hearing continuous reports about the Swiss cyclist who was robbed.
Previous Entry
