My dearest friends,
I am happy I can provide again a new episode of my bike journey before I fly back home coming Monday. I will split the time since the last update in half to not cram everything into one post, as it is a lot of work to write all this on a mobile phone. Having said that, I hope you enjoy the stories as much as I did, let’s jump right in.
After my restful days and medication in Ishkoshim things got better and we were able to give it a try to leave the place after 4 days. Everybody was happy and excited when I announced in the team I would like to try to cycle the next day. It was a ride through the valley which was gradually going up, we expected some gentle tailwind and so I had good conditions for a first ride.
The first kilometers felt really odd to me, my legs felt like jelly and I was worried if I had enough stamina in case I had to pedal even a bit harder. Following the road and getting into flow state the feeling slowly went away. The landscape also offered enough beauty to get distracted as we were surrounded by peaks reaching over 7000 meters high into the sky, offering us their beautiful snow caped peaks. From the moment we left Ishkoshim we gradually left behind the comfort of one of the last bigger towns.
After a while we found a great spot to have lunch, refill our stomach with some excuisite Indian food served by Yogendra who by now became the grand chef of our expedition.
The location besides a wonderful river coming down the mountain offered a great opportunity to have an ice cold bath and a great soundcarpet to fall into a replenishing siesta.
After riding on into the Whakan I could observe many new ways of decorations that I remembered from the documentaries I saw, little altars with horns and skulls of sheep, sometimes whole areas that were fenced by a wall, I side many horns ore sometimes nothing at all within. Unfortunately I couldn’t get any I verified information about that from the locals.
The valley greeted us with many patches of sand and winds that would blow it into our faces, sometimes we needed to push our bikes through as the tires were not wide enough and sank into the loose ground.
After we found a decent place right behind a village we passed we had a great chat and encounter with some locals, all very open and welcoming gentleman who brought some food and tried to help us finding water to cook and drink, which was not easy at that place.
This gentleman found out Claudio and me spoke German and he impressed us with a decent vocabulary and excellent formulations that he dug out of his memory. He told us he had a very strict teacher, an Uzbek that spoke the language and thought it some 50 years ago. He said he never had the chance to use it, and so it would be a little rusty. I was deeply impressed as he was the second person we met along the whole trip who spoke more than three words (Mercedes, Berlin, Bayern).
After we had started to set everything up and we’re about to throw the potatoes into a pot we were greeted by a commander of the nearby military post that prohibited us from camping here. We had a long discussion and misunderstandings (some farmers tried to make use of the situation and tried to charge high fees for an overnight stay in some really shabby room that they wanted to give us) but we made it very clear that we were not giving in without some help of the officer. It was already night and he jumped into his trainers and escorted us running into the next town and showed us the way to a homestay.
I took the lead and luckily got us a great place to stay in some local’s house and garden for the night, where we could finally find rest. It was the first time we had some difficulties finding a good place to stay.
This is a great moment to point out again the hospitality of the people, we approached some people in the dark, we couldn’t speak to each other, they called someone who spoke some English, with a crappy connection we spoke to some relative on the phone and they were most interested to help us. Out of nowhere they took us into their home, got us food and a place to stay. This is so impressive and worth mentioning again and again.
After a restless night for me, the dog of the owner didn’t like our presence and barked at us half of the night, we continued our quest.
In the morning we had a short check-in, Claudio expressed the wish to visit a local hot spring up the mountain and have some solo time, the rest wanted to continue slowly and spending time at a very old stupa and remains of a Buddhist temple. We split the team and reunited in the late afternoon.
It was so inspiring to see how the locals were managing the land and fields, using simple techniques and the help of their animals.
After some time in the saddle we reached the town in which we could find the remains of the stupa. I was very happy when I was guided to the place by two local boys and asked my team if I could have some time in prayer.
This place definitely held some power, I fell straight into a deep sacred space and could follow my inner guidance. I was filled with a huge gratitude towards many people in my life, also to some that haven’t made my life easy. I constantly had the two boys next to me and it was a great connection I felt towards them. I was sitting in silence for about 40 minutes and they were observing me the whole time, even when I had some tears rolling – very special space.
Filled with a lot of gratitude I left the place and returned to the others, we then continued cycling.
It became an ever more barren landscape and we were happy to find a waterfall where we could stop for our lunch break. The sun was burning down and due to the lack of shade we had to become really creative to stay protected from the light and heat (don’t forget, we are over 3000 meters and uv light is super strong).
Despite the challenges it was an impressive location and we were happy about the scenic spot.
Unfortunately we had some misunderstandings in the team and some decided to skip our siesta while searching for a shady spot which really upset me as I was still not recovered from my diarrhea and the lack of sleep. I was so upset that I didn’t take the offer to still take a small break, my adrenaline was already through the roof and instead decided to cycle ahead – not waiting and giving a s***t about the others. It was the only moment during the journey in which I lost my chill, but I was happy I could use the anger in a productive way – the streets were so bumpy and exhausting, I arrived 1,5 hours ahead of the last one and basically raced for 2 and a half hours nonstop to the town we wanted to reach. Jose and me used the gained time to find a good homestay before we would cycle up the steep pass the next day.
We found a beautiful place with some great hosts who served us a simple but delicious dinner with many locally grown vegetables. Most beautiful was the kitchen and rest place, a very typical Pamir house that we could experience. They use a rocket stove and dried cow manure to heat and cook, a very efficient energy consumption.
Again we had to stock up, this time for 4 days without the possibility to refill, which had us carry even more weight up the hill.
It was Bharat’s birthday and we had a little celebration in the morning, he gifted us some delicious dates he brought all the way from Delhi. The rest of the early hours we spent to get supplies, we had to improvise with our wishes and needs and what was available in this region.
With a great mood we entered into the very steep and loose gravel road that started our ascent towards the pass up towards the pass of Khargosh, which was waiting for us at an altitude of 4300 meters.
What shall I say, I didn’t take too many pictures, I needed to control my breath and focused on the cycling and road to not slip, we could feel the air was not as rich in oxygen as we were used to, especially when you had to press hard into the pedals and had a lot of kgs on your bike.
For lunch we arrived at this wonderful saddle with a hunter and some guardians of the area. We set up one of the tents as a protection from the wind and sun. We all needed some time to recalibrate our tactics to manage our energies, it is very different if you don’t have so much oxygen available, I very quickly got dizzy or had to regulate my breath to not lose it.
After the break we went on and were just around the corner when we found this stream of water blocking the way. The waters were as deep as our knees and very strong. While the others were thinking how to cross with the help of some locals, I took a more practical approach, got my shoes off, unpacked my bike and transported everything across the rushing stream.
Everything was manageable but I underestimated the temperature and had frozen feet in minutes. Team Europe took the same approach while the others used the help of the present drivers. In the end we were all on the other side and cycled on.
Then sun set already behind the mountains and lid the opposite summits in a graceful way. It was a great mix of massive structures and wonderful colours that accompanied us to our next location for the night.
We found a shelter situated between very opposing streams, one brown from all the sediments it washes off the sides it touches, the other as clear as it could get, shining in turquoise like a liquid diamond.
The shelter was perfect for us, we all could fit in and it protected us from the cold and wind that built up. It was a very tidy space, the oven was prepared for someone in need for warmth and we were happy to have solid walls around us. After we shared some food and other good night stories I fell into a shallow sleep, but happy about the great company I had. I really enjoyed these times with this amazing group of men who were making this time very special.
Waking up with the first rays of the sun I decided to take a bath in the saukalt (German expression for very very cold) riverstream and receive the mountain booster. By now we had all stepped up in the game and used nearly every chance to refresh ourselves in the energizing sources of the mountain waters.
Moving on we continued cycling, the weather changed from harsh sun to cloudy and rain in the far distance.
There were no trees anymore and we were truly in a mountain desert. We were mostly silent and impressed by the barren landscape, both sides of the river that still marks the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan, second being only a few meters away. That morning a military jeep stopped after he observed me taking pictures, the officer stepped out and took my camera and removed all the previous taken pictures that were pointing over to Afghanistan, I had to be smart so he wouldn’t just delete the whole set. Luckily he didn’t find them and with a grain of salt I was happy I only lost a few and could cycle on with no further trouble.
We had to stop for lunch earlier as expected as some teammates didn’t feel well, Claudio had to struggle with increasing headache and Bharat was struggling with his bike and the terrain. By that we lost Ankit who cycled ahead of the group and didn’t look back early enough. After the break we cycled on and were happy we were soon reunited.
The place we found was marked as a homestay and campground, but the reality was a bit different. It was an abandoned military post and we wanted to sleep in one of the containers. After I used my universal key to see what was in the building I quickly decided to get out as soon as possible, it was a very nicely equiped point for the soldiers and I really didn’t want to get I trouble for being in that place. As I felt uncomfortable to stay in a military base, even though it was clearly not used I decided to give it a go and explore the surrounding for a possibly better spot. I followed a sign I spotted into a side valley some houndred meters and to be honest, I couldn’t believe what I saw.
A really nice stone house with solar panels around it, I had to examine what I found. After calling for some owner I found a nearby place that was inhabited by a local who was keeping this place in shape. I bumped into him when I opened the door to his house as he didn’t reply to my calls. I asked him if we could sleep somewhere around and with my top of the line Russian language skills he showed me the mountain cabin.
I didn’t know how to react, it was more of a swiss chalet than a mountain cabin. We entered and it was the most beautiful Appartment I saw in Tajikistan. After I saw all the interior, a nice living room with a chamine, a wonderful kitchen plus dining table, Sauna and wonderful bedrooms I knew this would cost us a fortune. I asked for the price for the night and some negotiations (that I got pretty good in) we settled the deal at approximately 30 dollars for the whole team for that night.
Cycling back to the others I was not sure how I could tell them what I have found. With a huge grin on my face I tried to tell them, but they thought I was joking, but luckily I had some pictures and they were happy that I found this treasure.
Moving into our chalet we were super happy about this finding and we enjoyed the space. We cooked and had a lovely sauna before we ate. I showed them my sauna skills and treated everyone with a proper Aufguss – imagine team Europe and India sitting together in the space, we all had this funny white felt hats on that you can use to protect your hair from the heat. I unfortunately have no pictures of that event, it was priceless and we felt a bit like in a dream.
The dinner was great and we all fell into a deep sleep after we tidied up. The night was windy, rainy and cold. In the morning we could see that we were just below the line of snow, what was rain around the hut, was covering the peaks around us in a nice carpet of snow.
We would have loved to stay for another day which would have been the best thing to be done, but time was generally playing against us, we approach slowly the end of the time and some people needed to be back in the capital at some point to catch their flights. So we decided to cycle on and were curious how the adventure would continue and if we would make it up the pass that day.
With this I say thank you for reading this far, I would love to write the upcoming part in a second post once I am back home.
As I am reaching the end of this journey I would like to ask you a favor. I haven’t reached yet the full amount of the expected travel expenses and my sickness stretched my budget even more. If you felt inspired and enjoyed my diaries and like to support this quest financially, you can find more details here, any amount is highly appreciated.
Thank you so much to all who have helped me until now, it is and was a very rich experience that I would have not been able to realize without all the support I got.
Take care,
Eiko
dusty road stories 