Friday to Tuesday, the 25th – 29th of May
On Friday we crossed the border from Uzbekistan to Tajikistan. No problems here, Tajik border guards were very friendly, and no scams were being pulled (we read online this might be a real problem when crossing Tajik borders).
Driving into Tajikistan, the change in landscapes compared to Uzbekistan was dramatic: gone were the flat arid plains of Uzbekistan. Instead we were greeted by steep mountains, often rocky, with lush vegetation in small oases.
After stopping in Panjikent to stock up on fresh supplies, we headed into the Fann Mountains proper. Although not as high as the Pamirs, these mountains are still awe-inspiring: you often feel like you drive next to a kilometer high wall when driving through the valleys. While driving, we spotted two Tajiks pushing a broken down car over the mountains. These guys were nuts! So we suggested we tow them, which they happily accepted. After 20km we dropped them off in the nearest village.
Towards the evening, we headed towards Iskanderkul, a glacier lake at 2200m altitude. The views were amazing. The Overlander app helped us find a perfect camping spot.
After sleeping late on Saturday, we drove to a nearby valley for a hike in the mountains. On our way back, we stopped in the local village of Sarytag for tea. There we met a group of expats, some of which had been staying in Tajikistan for years. Steven, an American, was especially helpful in giving us insights into Tajikistan cuisine, customs and highlights.
Before setting up camp on the other side of the lake, we headed towards another viewpoint:
Sunday started with a hike towards the nearby ‘Niagara waterfall’ of Tajikistan. Not quite as impressive as the real thing, but the rickety platform made sure we were properly terrified by the brute force of the water below us:
The drive to Dushanbe was very nice, passing through the same lush green mountains. We also passed the appropriately named ‘Tunnel of Death’: a 5km long, unlighted, unventilated hellhole. We read online it wasn’t supposed to be asphalted either, but luckily this had recently been corrected. The ride through the tunnel was quite scary for us in a car. Can’t imagine what it must be like for the bikers that do it though. (There are plenty of biking tourists in Tajikistan, all drawn to the mountains, the Pamirs in particular.)
Once we arrived in our hostel in Dushanbe, we of course ran into our German buddies again. No escaping these guys :). Must be like the 10th time. Afterwards we did some grocery shopping in the local Auchan supermarket, where the varied, European-like range of products was a welcome change from the usual minimarkets always offering the same 10 items.
Monday was spent resting, writing the blog and planning for the Pamirs. Nothing much to report. In the evening we went to a nice Indian restaurant with a lot of friends we met on the Caspian ferry. We keep running into these people!
Tuesday was prepday for the Pamirs: we did some grocery shopping, got some money and fuel . In the evening we made pizzas together with our friends. The flat bread here serves as a perfect pizza bottom! We also decided to tackle the Pamirs as a group: us, Mattias (Belgian) on a motorbike, and our 2 Germans, Penelope (French) and 2 Italians in a Landcruiser. We’d see how far we got together, helping each other out along the way.
(The crew and the convoy.)
Wednesday to Friday, the 30th of May – 1st of June
We started out from Dushanbe in a good mood. We were finally going to see the Pamir Mountains! Our German buddies had heard about an alternative route which was supposed to be very scenic. We arranged a meeting point and time, and each headed off at our own pace. After about 150km we discovered we’d forgotten some clothes back in Dushanbe though. Bummer. We called the hostel in Dushanbe, and they would send them on with another group also travelling the Pamirs. We didn’t have much hope for our stuff, though.
Luckily, the scenery more than made up for this loss. So many baby donkeys as well! After a long noon picnic, we drove on and found an awesome camping spot along the road:
We spent the evening cooking and playing games. The Italians seemed horrified by what the Belgians made as pasta sauce. They didn’t bring a stove though, so we were calling the shots 🙂
The next day we drove towards Muminabad, which was home to a large water reservoir, circled by mountains. However, when we got there, the water didn’t seem that appealing to swim in (dead fish, people washing their carpets…). Only Jonas was brave enough to dive in:
From Muminabad we drove on to Qalai Khum, the real start of the Pamirs. On our way there, we drove for hours on end next to the Afghan border, on very good Chinese roads (they’re everywhere). The views were amazing.
We had to hurry though, because we arranged to meet at 3 o’clock in Qalai Khum. We and Mattias got there around 4, after which we started waiting for our Landcruiser friends. After a couple of hours, we decided to set up camp, unsure of where they were. In the end they arrived at 8h30. They had decided to stop along the way for sightseeing, showers under waterfalls, Afghan-watching… All very understandable, but then don’t agree to meet up at a certain time and then let us wait. Us Belgians were a bit annoyed by that.
Sleeping proved to be difficult as well, with the Afghan mosque on the other side of the river offering a call to prayer well into the night. Still, there are worse ways to stay awake 🙂
On Friday we started out towards Korogh or the Bartang Valley, we weren’t sure yet. We would wait to see the road conditions (supposed to be really bad) and then decide.
And we weren’t disappointed: the next 240 kms took us about 10 hours, stops included. Some of the worst roads so far. Even the Afghan gravel road on the other side of the river seemed better! Suzy was amazing though: we constantly thought we would kill the car with all the bumps, gravel and rocks in the road, but she took it all in her stride. The old gal still has a lot of juice! Also, the amazing scenery helped soothe the pain:
While we were having tea on the side of the road in late afternoon, Mattias’ motorbike limped into sight: mechanical issues. He was helped out by a friendly Polish mechanic (travelers looking out for each other), but needed further help.
So it was decided: we would head towards Korogh, the capital of the region. (30 000 inhabitants in a capital for a region twice the size of Belgium. Says a lot about population density here!) We finally arrived in town around 21h30, having an Indian takeaway dinner at 22h30. (Delhi Darbar is a big chain of Indian restaurants in this part of the world. Comes highly recommended!)
(Korogh is also home to a very nice MAC Doland’s and a Korogh Fried Chicken!)
Saturday to Monday, the 2nd – 4th of June
We had heard that an Afghan market took place in Korogh every Saturday. So of course we checked it out:
Even though the Afghans were photogenic, and we found a couple of interesting souvenirs, we were also a bit disillusioned by the experience. As we have remarked so many times before, local markets and bazaars are also overrun by cheap Chinese crap. Whether it be Iran, Uzbekistan or Tajikistan, it has been really hard to find some original, authentic souvenirs. And apparently even a country as ravaged as Afghanistan has entered the era of mass consumption. Such a shame.
In the afternoon, we headed back for a 100 kms, towards the Bartang Valley. We had heard so many good things about it, we didn’t want to miss it. While waiting for our Landcruiser buddies, we were again invited for tea. Farhud was a carpenter, who had lived for 12 years in Russia, before coming back to Tajikistan to start a family. A story we would hear over and over again in the next couple of weeks in Tajikistan. The economy is so poor here, it is estimated that about a million Tajik live and work abroad (mostly Russia). Out of a population of 4 million, this is a huge chunk, and equals one of the single most important means of income for Tajik households.
Farhud was so genuinely welcoming, speaking very good English, we felt right at home. He told us many Pamiri are learning English because they were told to do so by the Aga Khan. This guy is the Imam of Ismaili Islam, a little known sect within Shiite Islam. Also has some good ideas, it would seem: we would meet many Pamiri speaking fluent English, hoping to help out tourists.
We found an amazing camp spot through the Overlander app again (recommended!). After cooking dinner, we said goodbye to our Landcruiser buddies: they had a tighter deadline than us, and would leave very early in the morning. (Although we would still run in to them every once in while, of course 🙂 ) So that left just us and Mattias. We also met a couple of English guys that told us about a great hike for the next day!
(Tom building himself a fortress wall to keep out the river noise at night.)
So on Sunday (after being woken up by goats) we headed further into Bartang Valley, towards a little side valley. The road there was quite rough, lots of rocks and gravel, very uneven. Still, when we got to the village and started hiking (up to 3300m), it was worth it:
(The highest peak in the background is over 6 000m high!)
(Drying animal dung to use as fuel in winter.)
When we started driving back towards the main valley, Suzy made some strange noises though. Very loud ‘clangs’ coming from beneath our seats.
After a very stressful hour of driving downhill, we arrived back in the main valley. We had been invited to tea there earlier by Shamsya, while in the village shop. So we found her again and settled down for tea. Again a very genuine and heartfelt welcome. These people are some of the kindest and warm we’ve met so far during our trip. We made bread together with her mother, and talked about all kinds of Tajik stuff: marriage, her work as a nurse, food…
Her father also arranged a mechanic for us. You have to imagine: this is an isolated village of maybe forty houses, so we didn’t expect much. But not only does this guy find out what the problem is (the stabilizer, it would turn out), he also happens to have multiple second-hand spare parts on hand to help us out. And of course he wouldn’t accept any payment. Too nice!
On Monday we headed back to Korogh, but not before Tom had an ice cold shower next to the side of the road, in frigid glacier water. Invigorating!
Back in Korogh we met our German Volkswagen buddies again (last seen in Samarkand), and went for an Indian lunch. After doing some shopping and getting Suzy properly fixed up, we started on our trek through the Wakhan Valley.
First, we agreed to go to the Garm Chashma hotsprings, south of Korogh. When we got there, things didn’t seem very appealing, though. A bit run down, we were also chased away several times while trying to set up our tent. This would turn out to be the only bad experience we had in Tajikistan. Eventually we found a camping spot and settled down for the night.
Tuesday to Thursday, the 5th – 7th of June
During breakfast we used some of the local mineral water. We’d already seen this was high in iron content, as evidenced by the red rust color near the spring. When we boiled the water for tea though, it turned completely black! Never seen such a thing. It tasted like blood as well 🙂
Afterwards, we hiked up the mountain to Dasht village, for some nice valley views. Of course we were invited for tea again… After trying to find a ruby mine in Kuhi Lal (we couldn’t visit it 🙁 ), we headed towards Ishkashim, where we had a well deserved afternoon of resting and reading. We paid two dollars to set up our tent on the property of a guesthouse, but the owner didn’t seem so pleased once we realized we had our own stuff for cooking, and wouldn’t be eating in his restaurant…
On Friday, we headed to Khaakha fortress. While the fortress itself wasn’t really impressive (dates back to the 3rd century BC), we were welcomed by hordes of school children. We can’t say enough how welcoming and genuinely happy everyone seemed to see us.
After another hike in the mountains, we headed towards Yamchun to set up camp. After some tea and delicious bread provided by the locals, we headed up the mountain flank to visit the Yamchun fortress:
Camping at 3000m came with spectacular views as well:
Early next morning, we headed further up the mountain towards the Bibi Fatimah hotsprings. Named after the daughter of Muhammad, these hotsprings didn’t fail to deliver: soaking in the 40°C water felt so relaxing after camping for more than a week. According to the locals, the hotsprings also have a beneficial effect on female fertility. All the people we talked to, had at least 8 children, so there might be some truth to it…
We also hiked to the Abrashim Qala fortress. The hike itself was nice enough, but as we didn’t have real maps of the area (only an offline GPS app), we ended up on the wrong side of the river when we got up to the fortress… Whoopsie!
We got near the end of the Wakhan Valley now, before we would head up towards the higher Pamir Plateau. In the last village of the valley, Langar, we stocked up on food that was way too expensive, before we set up camp for the night. To avoid altitude sickness, we tried to camp a little higher every night (<400m), which worked out great in the end; nobody ever felt sick.
Friday to Monday, the 8th – 11th of June
The road through the Wakhan Valley had been nice so far, asphalted for the most part, with some gravelly or sandy bits every once in a while. When we drove towards the plateau, this road turned into pure dirt. So while we drove up from 3200m to 4300m, we were tossed and shaken about. Suzy still handled it all like a trooper. Landscapes changed from rocky-with-green-oases to lunar desolation. Apart from the lonely shepherd with some goats or cows, nobody lives in this area:
When we finally got to the Pamir Highway proper, Tom was relieved: some proper asphalt!
We headed to Bulunkul lake first, which is supposed to be the coldest part of Tajikistan (-63°C recorded). Lucky for us, it was quite a bit warmer when we got there:
The nearby town of Bulunkul is one of the most desolate places we’ve visited so far. Looks more like an Alaskan town above the polar circle than anything else:
Straight away, we also noticed a change in people’s appearance: in the Wakhan Valley, they looked more Persian-Caucasian, while here they had a distinct Mongol-Asian look. (People in the Wakhan Valley told us they are pure-blooded Persians. The original Persian people were an Aryan race from the steppes. We still saw some very striking blue, grey and green eyes in the Wakhan Valley, so there might be some truth to it!) First time we’ve ever come across such a stark contrast while driving overland. The high mountain pass apparently has kept these peoples separate for all this time?
We had dinner in a fish restaurant along the road towards Murghab. The owner caught his fish in the swamp behind his house (at 4000m!). The fried fish tasted like heaven 🙂 Afterwards, we also spent the night in his homestay:
This area is so remote, the stars really come out at night, so we could stare in awe at the Milky Way.
The following day we tried to find a caravanserai in the nearby village of Bash Gumbez. No luck, but we did have some fun crossing rivers and annoying yaks along the way:
Further along the road, we made a detour to spot some Neolithic cave paintings. These were rather disappointing (three animals in a row). But the views in the valley made up for it:
After visiting a rather dull meteor crater (but again really nice valley views), we drove on towards Murghab, capital of the district, with a population of 6000. It actually felt a bit like civilization again. We stayed in a hotel for the first time in two weeks and got a hot shower. Dinner was a lovely plov/pilav with yak meat. Delicious!
(Fuel station in Murghab.)
Sunday started with a hike in Pshart Valley, near Murghab. We drove to a height of 4000m, then ascended on foot to a nearby hilltop of 4400m. Because of the altitude, we really noticed a shortness of breath while trying to get to the top. First time we experienced this, really weird. Your body lacks oxygen, so you’re constantly panting.
(We also found a yak horn along the way.)
In the afternoon, we drove on towards Karakul Lake/village. But not before passing over the Ak-Baital mountain pass. This pass is the roof of our trip, at 4655m altitude. Suzy got over it like it was nothing. While Mattias and Wafa hiked up even higher, Tom had himself a nice lukewarm beer and enjoyed the view from below. Wafa made it all the way to the top of the Mont Blanc, over 4800m high!
When we got to Karakul, we found yet another end-of-the-world town, sitting next to an ancient meteor crater filled up with glacial waters, with the most beautiful blue color.
We’d met some really nice Germans in a campervan in Murghab, and found them again on the beach of the lake. They had an awesome set up: bikes, kayak, paragliding parachute… they had it all. It felt a bit weird standing there though; some Tajik kids were standing nearby watching us with big eyes, with all this obvious wealth on display. (People in these kind of villages are dirt poor. Children often look scruffy and dirty.)
Afterwards, we cooked ourselves a lovely noodle dinner before we slept in a scrappy homestay with a yak poop fueled fire to warm us. We were absolutely content with what Tajikistan had offered us.
This country has really been one of the highlights of our trip. We didn’t know what to expect when we first arrived here, but the beauty we found here, both in the scenery and the people, has left us dumbfounded. If you ever have the opportunity, be sure to come here. You will not be disappointed!
Actually, no, wait! Don’t come here! Don’t spoil it with your dirty touristy feet! Leave these people alone! It’s ours!