Murghab is the central town for the region and really the only place for fresh fruit and vegetables. There was much restocking in the bazaar. Unlike other bazaars, the shops here either run out of a container or have converted the container into a shop. It is cheaper than building a proper shop.
Whilst wandering the paths of mud between containers I came across bananas and oats, something I was not expecting and a German couple, Henning and Maria. We had met briefly in Alichur. I sat and chatted with them for a while and found out we were heading in a similar direction but we would probably leave a day earlier.
Our guesthouse became the stayover place for cyclists coming through Murghab and by the day before we left Ollie and Seb had arrived, the German couple, a Swiss couple, Yos and Tania, a South Korean, Sesar and Lim a Singaporean cyclist. Our host hadn’t seen so many cyclists before! It was a fun evening with people talking about their plans, where they had been and difficulties on the road.
Al-Baktai pass
It was a quick breakfast and then we set off. The first part mainly flat meant I was once again limited by my gears. It was slow going. My frustration was growing! But at least the road was asphalt. As we turned the corner the headwind started as well.
Seb had spotted a shelter about 80km along the road, which we were aiming for. I felt this might be a bit much and it turned out to be. I along with Adam and Masha decided to camp after about 60km, under a bridge to give us shelter from the wind.
We finished the climb in the morning. It was the toughest climb I had done to date. The tough bit was the lack of oxygen whilst trying to move my bike, of almost 40kg, and I up the gravel track. The last couple of kilometres I had to push. 50m, catch my breath and another 50m. This went on for a good hour. But once at the top, the views went on for miles. Snow-capped mountains, although not much due to an early spring and melt, green fields rolled into the grey sides of the valley.
We spent a good 10 or 20 minutes before deciding we were hungry and setting off again for lunch. Some tourists we had met at the top had mentioned there were some yurts on the way down where we could stop. What nobody mentioned, was the gravel road we were told would only last 1 or 2 kilometres after the pass actually went on for almost 20km! What we thought would take maybe 15/20 minutes took over an hour. All the time we were hungry!
Yurt and a decision
We eventually made it to the yurts and they happily made us lunch. It was a lot of pasta and filling but I was struggling to eat, my body just wasn’t hungry. The owners had come from Karakol and would spend all summer at this location. They brought their yaks with them as well. We also got to try yak’s milk and yoghurt. It’s not dissimilar to cows.
Adam and Masha were headed to Karakol for a guesthouse for a day’s rest. I decided to join them after the lack of sleep from the night before. I had developed high-altitude periodic breathing and was struggling to get any good quality sleep. My body was shallow breathing and would panic at a build-up of Carbon Dioxide, wake me up and I would have to take several deep breaths to calm it down. This went on for hours.
After another few hours, we made it to the guesthouse and were rewarded with food, a bucket shower and a warm bed! The next morning we had a large breakfast and some more yak yogurt. I feel this gives me more power than any porridge! Maybe it is better than cows.
The Bartang Valley
I went into this ‘little’ foray knowing the road was very difficult and there were lots of river crossings. I had also been warned about the headwinds. So, I set off knowing it would be a 50km per day max. I was surprised when I managed 77km on the first day. Luck was on my side and I had a tailwind. The road was a rough track and I had lowered the pressure in my tyres so it was quite easy to cycle along. I also bumped into Lim from Murghab. He was cycling slower so it was a short chat, but maybe I should’ve stayed with him! It would’ve made for a nicer camp in the evening.
I only stopped cycling because I had to turn into another valley and there was a very strong headwind. But it turned out to be the perfect place to stop, I was low on water so biscuits for dinner! However, the view made up for it. I got to see the red glow of the setting sun hit the peaks directly across from me. It was a picture postcard view; I just hope my photography does it justice.
The next day I headed into the valley in search of water and eventually came across a stream. But the wind was battering and I hoped it would not last. Climbing in the sun and with the wind beating you back was proving to be exhausting and wanted to make me turn around. But I was sure that would be harder!
Today included the first of many river crossings and lucky I had waterproof socks for such an occasion, but wish I had sandals. It takes too long to take the shoes off, switch socks and put them back on. Must get a new pair of sandals.
On the chase
I arrived at the first village for a couple of days, Gudara, there wasn’t much in the way of fruit or vegetables but I could replenish the biscuit stock. I also found out a few other cyclists had been through recently so I could assume it was Ollie and Seb but not sure of the third, Lim was behind me.
The next day I caught up with one other cyclist, Sesar, whom I met in Murghab. We had a lot of river crossings and then decided on a stop in a town for breakfast. Sesar had no gas to cook so was asking villagers to cook for him and he would pay them. We carried on together until the next village when Sesar would take a break in a guesthouse. At the guesthouse, we bumped into both Ollie and Seb and I left with them.
The valley was beautiful but personally, it only came to life when the sun rose or set each day. During the day it was just high-sided cliffs of grey or orange rock with the occasional green bit of land turned over to crops.
We cycled together for a couple of days until Rushan where we took a 12-hour taxi back to Dushanbe bringing our Pamir Mountain adventure to an end. It was a lot of fun looking back, but very tough. I would definitely do it with a different bike next time and a lot less luggage!