Murgab to Sary-Tash

We spend a few days in Murgab trying to decide on a plan for getting to China. There have been a lot of ethnic tensions in Kyrgyzstan over the past month, centered around Osh and Jalalabad, which are the areas that we would be entering the country by. The news we have been hearing is limited, but there have been a lot of ethnic Uzbeks killed and many have fled to Uzbekistan. We have met a few travellers coming from the area and many who had planned to head that way. The situation is unclear and there are a lot of rumours that the borders are closed. We decide to cycle to the border and then, if things are ok, we will ride on to Sary-Tash. From there we will go straight to China. This is a serious disappointment since Kyrgyzstan was one of the original countries that we planned the trip around, and we had been looking forward to spending up to two months trekking there. Although most of the country seems stable, and travel is possible, we decide to save it for another time when we can explore thoroughly.







We set off towards Karakul and the Kyrgyze border, but are turned back by strong headwinds and bad weather - we are not in a hurry and have had quite enough of that sort of thing!! We meet two Russian cyclists out for a day trip and they tell us that two other Swiss cyclists (Benni and Lina) that we met in Dushanbe are staying in town. We join them for the night and set off together the next day, along with Roman (is every cyclist in central Asia Swiss?!) who we had met several times en-route.

Between Murgab and the town of Karakul is the Akbaytal Pass. At 4655m, it is the highest point of our journey. But we have been above 3500m almost continuously for the past month, and above 4000m many times, so we are not expecting too much suffering! Benni and Lena have set the ambitious goal of reaching Karakul in two days, but we are 'planning' to just see what happens.

The final few kilometers up to the pass are punishingly steep! The Swiss put the Scots to shame, but both of us are reduced to walking as our lungs burst from our chests and our heads spin. We issue instructions not to wait for us, and we plod ever upwards for an hour or two.

We reach the summit late in the afternoon and the temperature plummets when we stop. We quickly put on all of our extra layers and start the descent after a brief stop to congratulate ourselves!

We find the Swiss setting up camp at a fantastic spot in the valley, and join them. Hilliberg tents are definitely in vogue amongst cycle-tourists!!

We wake to a fresh dusting of snow and a hard frost. We are now cycling along the border with China, and a rather new looking Chinese-built barbed wire fence runs beside the road, marking no-mans-land. The fence has a number of Yak-sized gaps in it, however, and a few kilometers after taking photos we are amused to see a herder across the fence making gestures at us which obviously translate as “Good day, you haven't seen my yaks anywhere have you?”. We point him in the right direction and press on.

We had grand plans to climb the 5000m peak at the edge of lake Kara Kul to get a good view, but low cloud, fresh snow and our recent experience at 4600m make us think again, and we arrived in town in the early afternoon.

Karakul is a small town with a beautiful setting which seems to have an equal yak to people ratio. We spend two nights with some of the people we have met throughout our time in Tajikistan and reflect on our time in this fabulous country.

Roman and Esther (his cycling companion who had done the last leg by jeep) head back to Dushanbe. The next morning we set off with Bennie and Lena towards the border, deciding that there is strength in numbers.

Another small pass brings us close to the border. We meet two German cyclists coming the other way. We swap news and are relieved to hear that both borders are open (we were concerned about crossing into Kyrgyzstan, and being trapped by a firmly shut Chinese border). We are joined at the same time by two German cyclists who are heading the same way as us, and for a moment, that little pass in the north-east corner of Tajikistan seemed very busy.

We camp together, and throw a dinner-party in our tent to escape from the icy wind that is picking up - glad we got the one with the bigger porch!

Tajikistan has certainly been one of the highlights of our trip. From the moment that we arrived, the combination of mountains, people and tea, made us fall in love with the place. We love the wild feel of the Pamirs and prefer cycling on tracks to asphalt most of the time. At times however, the roads deteriorate to a point that tries the patience of the most avid off-roader! These corrugated sandy sections can last for hours and almost rattle the teeth from your jaw. At least it does slow down the few cars that do use the road though.

We leave Tajikistan without any problems, despite all the hand written extensions and messages in our passports. We ascend up to the pass that separates the two countries, and take the opportunity to hike up a small hill in no-mans-land to get a view back to the Pamirs and of the fabulous red valley leading to Kyrgyzstan.

A long smooth descent takes us to the Kyrgyz border post (which is reasonably pain free), especially since Lena speaks a bit of Russian.

Kyrgyzstan immediately seems like another fantastic country. Everywhere we look seems like a postcard image, with yurts and herds of horses and eagles soaring in the sky. We are all really upset that we have decided not to stick around, and Helen and I start to discuss the options of staying. The sudden change from the barren beauty of the arid Pamir plateau to this wetter more fertile part of Kyrgyzstan is very pronounced.

We arrive into Sary-Tash and spend a night plotting our return trip! But we are too excited about China to change the plan now.