Samarkand-Dushanbe

we cycle into Tajikistan and suddenly we find ourselves among the mountains

climbing, straightaway

the tunnel of death, 5 km no light and ventilation

we get a lift from a van

with black heads because of coal hauling trucks

we arrive in the capital Dushanbe

Dushanbe-Qal’ai Khumb

tough routes with steep climbs and poor surfaces

fully loaded trucks arrive from China

we are literally shaking in our beds

empty trucks return to China

they almost rattle apart

Qal’ai Khumb-Khorog

a beautiful route along the Panj River

Afghanistan on the other side

we wave to the children

beautiful rolling tarmac interspersed with barren road surface

road works, Pamir Highway closed to motorised traffic during the day

dynamite blows up mountains

we are lucky, they are waiting with digging for us

we are helped over the blown up boulders

Chinese build the modern Silk Road

this will soon be a nice E-bike route

Khorog-Murghab

ascend slowly to avoid altitude sickness

maximum of 500 metres followed by a rest day

amazingly beautiful mountains

at the 4270-metre pass, it is around freezing point and snowing

we are luckily not bothered by the height

because it is so beautiful we forget how tough it is

Murghab-Sary-Tash

quiet on the road

no more truck traffic, which has turned right towards China

occasional shared taxi trying to set a speed record

small settlements

increasingly isolated and remote

primitive

no electricity, an old battery for the light bulb on the ceiling

no running water, taking buckets to the village’s water pump

above 4000 metres, nothing grows, manure is used as fuel

we cycle the Ak-Baital pass at 4655 metres

Lake Karakul is beautifully blue and surrounded by white mountain peaks

crossing the border with storm 

dead-beat and very proud as we arrive in Sary-Tash in Kyrgyzstan

Wednesday June 18 from Ak-Baital pass to Karakul lake

We need to face it, Pamir breakfast. Milk tea with stale bread, sugar and a very large lump of butter. They eat this three times a day. It is not even disappointing. We climb nicely for the first 20 kilometres until we reach the start of the Ak-Baital pass, 4655 metres high. Then the road becomes steep and the thin air forces us to stop often. But we cycle all the way to the top. We had been dreading this pass at this altitude for quite a while. This morning we were nervous and now we are on top. Tears come to our eyes for a moment. There is no sign or nothing at the pass, so we take a photo and move on. Into the descent. Only it doesn't go very fast because apart from the headwind, we also face an incredibly difficult surface. Washboard. We can't cycle faster than 6 km/h. After 17 kilometres of washboard, we are overtaken by an old Russian truck with a quad bike in the cargo box. Whether we want a lift to Karakul. ‘No, thanks’. We do ask how long the road will stay this bad. ‘Three kilometres’, the men say. And indeed, about three kilometres down the road changes to asphalt. At the site of a homestay. We can stop here. It's almost 4 o'clock but actually we want to continue to Lake Karakul to take a rest day there. It seems 40 kilometres downhill but in reality there are tough climbs in it and we have a strong headwind. It is hard for us. At one point we can see the blue lake surrounded by all white snow-covered peaks, a picture, but we still have 20 kilometres to cycle. The road descends slightly but the strong wind prevents us from going faster than 10 km/h. It is almost 8 o'clock when we reach the homestay. A single-storey house made of clay with small window openings. The window frames are gaping and the glass is cracked in many places. With pur, tape and plastic, this has been tackled. The sleeping area is a stone elevation on which pillows are placed. Privacy has a different definition here, the door to the sleeping area cannot be locked and sometimes we sleep together with part of the family. Here, people take off the thick jumper and sleep with clothes on under a heavy blanket. In the morning, hands and face are washed and they are ready for the day. By now it is dark and the temperature has dropped considerably. The stove is lit and we get tasty potatoes. Because of the altitude, there is no vegetation. It is stoked with dried yak or goat poop. Our guesthouse has 350 goats, they live off selling the meat and income from tourists for three months. In winter, it gets -35 degrees and the wind blows enormously. Then they sit inside around the stove. There is always a kettle of tea on the stove. Next to the stove are buckets of fresh water and a large empty bucket, which serves as a sewer and bin. 'Showering' cannot be done until tomorrow as the water is cold now. There is a battery in the hall with a wire attached. It powers the light bulb in our room. We put the thin sleeping bag on the hard bed, take our own pillows and lie under the thick sleeping bag. I remove the wire from the battery and we go to sleep. It was a special, beautiful, long and exhausting day.