Part 4 The Pamir Highway - Murgab to the Krgyz Border
Murgab
Murgab
The first thing that happened to us in Murgab was that we were rounded up by the security police, had our papers checked and were made to pay a $2 eco tax. Then we found our way to the very comfortable "Anara Guesthouse" where we were reunited with three other cyclists who had previously passed us on the road . Rod, a kiwi, was on his way to New Zealand via India, and Sebastien and Romain, two French guys were en route for Tibet. They were all very fit 100km per day men.
After Murgab, the next place of any size would be Sary-Tash in Kyrgyzstan. We thought it would take us about six days to get there, so our main concern in Murgab was stocking up with sufficient supplies. This time we bought lots of Snickers bars.
Family Gambarov who run the Anara Guesthouse
Buying supplies in Murgab bazaar
Kyrgz Elder
This is super-fit Rod Oliver, who is en-route to New Zealand. His blog is at roddo.net
Murgab to Karakul
For first day's run out of Murgab the road was pretty flat, running up a wide mountain valley. There where dry rocky mountains on either side with interesting pastel hues of red and purple. But it was very hot and very dry, with the sun beating down from a cloudless sky. Rowena who hates deserts, was really quite psyched out. All the streams we crossed had long since dried up and by mid-afternoon we were starting to worry that wouldn't be able to find any running water for a camp. Then a few kilometres further on we came across a beautiful clear, cold stream flowing down from one of the mountains. From then on it was known as "The Godsend" camp.
Heading towards the mountains north of Murgab
The Godsend campsite.
After the Godsend campsite we had another hot dry day in the mountains. Traffic was very light on this road. We saw no more than half a dozen cars and the odd truck all day. In the late afternoon, we arrived at the foot of the Ak Baital pass, at 4655m the highest pass on the highway. There was nowhere much to camp, so when a young man called Jannibal invited to stay the night in his hut we took him up on it. There was no running water, no electricity, no toilet and the nearest fuel for the stove was some dry bushes that grew a few kilometres away. It was difficult to understand how he and his mother survived there.
Jannibal
Jannibal's hut - his was the one in the middle.
In the morning Rowena was very weak and breathless from the effects of altitude and we had to resort to the "Pamir Relay" to climb the pass. I pedalled my bike a few hundred metres up the steep track, then walked back down, picked up Rowena's bike and pushed it up to a few hundred metres beyond where I had left mine, before walking back down and repeating the whole process over and over again. Meanwhile Rowena walked slowly up, stopping every few metres to catch her breath. It was painfully slow, but eventually it got us to the top of the pass.
Climbing the Ak Baital
Summit of the Ak Baital Pass 4,655m (15,300'). It was spectacularly cold, but actually that's salt on the ground not snow.
The very steep, very rough, very windy descent from the pass brought us out into a wide, empty valley and miles of washboard track. Periodically, sandstorms came tearing down the valley and engulfed us.
Descending from Ak Baital
The headwind was this strong!. Actually, it was much stronger, but there was a lull just as Rowena took the photo.
The next day, for the run to Karakul we had that rarest of condition: 20km of down hill, a strong tailwind and smooth tarmac. Formed by a meteorite impact 10 million years ago, the lake at Karakul is one of the most remote, beautiful and eerie spots on the Pamir Highway. By contrast, the little village that clings to the edge of the lake looks like it's been hit by a nuclear blast. It's saving grace is the very friendly, very comfortable Tildahan homestay.
The Lake at Karakul
A very flatering shot of Karakul village
Breakfast at Tildahan guesthouse
To the border
After a day's rest, we left Karakul in brilliant sunshine and headed on round the lake in the direction of the next pass. By the time we reached the foot of the pass we were battling into a galeforce headwind and it was starting to snow. It was impossible to stay on the bikes in the wind so we had a long hard push to the summit.
Pedalling round Lake Karakul
Bad weather near Karakul
The descent from the pass took us into a very remote, very empty valley that led to the Kyrgyz border. We had a couple of day couple of days in hand before or Kyrgyz visa started, so we were able to dawdle along this stretch.
A day later, we started the climb up to the Kyzyl Art Pass and the border. When we reached the Tajik border post the guards showed little interest in our papers. They were much more concerned about our lack of breakfast and invited us into their cabin for tea and some very welcome bowls of hot semolina.
Fifty yards futher on, the Kyrgyz guard failed to notice we were entering his country a day early. There was a final climb to the summit of the pass and we were in Kyrgyzstan.
Climbing towards the border
Tajik border post
Stepping into Kyrgyzstan at the summit of the Kyzyl Art Pass 4282m (14,042)
