Pamir Highway Day 3

 

Stats

Today's Route 

Route So Far 

Travelogue 

After a night of little sleep but more than a little woofing and howling, I got up at first light. That's 4:30 to you.

I hiked down to the river and got some more water for drinking. The river water was clearer than yesterday but still not safe to drink in its natural state (especially with all those farm animals around) so it all got pushed through my water filter and into my cycling bottles. To kill any viruses that be lurking, I zapped both bottles with UV from my Steripen Ultralight. It's a great system. I'm writing this more than 24 hours later and having drunk litres of water from the river, I've felt no ill effects.

K1 was up a bit later and we chatted about the plan and options we might need to consider depending on how things panned out. Key was getting to the nearest village, Aligalabon, 8 km away. We might be able to find transport for us and our bikes there.

We set off at about 6 a.m. It took three and a half hours to travel the 8 km. I cycled and waited at corners for K1 who pushed his bike uphill in stages, resting whenever he needed to. I thought he seemed improved until he told me he'd vomited again. 

Eventually we started to descend and K1 was able to cycle. We entered the small village. It looked like a place where people don't have a great deal.

I was first to arrive as K1 was very sensibly being extra careful descending the rough road. As usual I was greeted by small children talking to me enthusiastically. One encouraged me (in Tajik) to move under a shady tree with him and his little friends rather than wait for K1 in the already hot sun. How kind is that?

There was little other sign of life at this end of the village.

K1 arrived and we cycled further into the village, hoping that something would present itself to us.

And it did. I saw a man standing outside what turned out to be the village store (you wouldn't have known). I prepared a question using Google Translate and approached him.

Another man got involved and there was a discussion between the men. We didn't know exactly what was happening at this stage but it seemed positive. People were trying to help us, that was clear.

We'd leant our bikes against the wall of a building. I went over and joined K1 to await the outcome of my attempt to find us transport.

A young man we'd not previously noticed came over to us some time later and also using Google Translate, told us a "taxi" had been ordered that would be big enough for the bikes and that it would arrive in one hour. We assumed he meant a truck rather than a car and were relieved to hear this. 

We waited and waited. It was already incredibly hot so we tried to stay in the shade. We were bugged and bitten by aggressive flies.

I went over to the man I'd first spoken to and used Google Translate to ask if there was a store in the village. He pointed at the open doorway into a dark and dingy room just behind him! 

The shop had a selection of drinks, cool enough thanks to the absence of windows, and a freezer full of ice creams! I bought drinks. K1 decided to try an ice cream. Apparently his stomach was happy with the choice as he bought another three while we waited for the taxi and ate them all. I didn't see these ice creams again, happily!

As always we found ourselves the centre of attention from loads of kids of various ages.

The kids on the donkeys made it very clear that they wanted a go on our bikes. We declined. But they were really, really persistent (in a cheeky way) and took a long time to tire of what was evidently a great game to them. "Go on mate, give us a go on your bike! Go on!".

There was a girl of about 13 who lived in one of the houses we were standing by, shaded by a tree. She kept coming by, grinning and saying something I couldn't understand. She also had a cheeky way about her! 

Eventually she went back into her garden which contained the tree that was giving us the shade we needed. She disappeared but shortly after, reappeared with a younger girl I assume was her sister. She spoke to me and I realised she was trying to say something in English though I couldn't understand the whole sentence. Eventually the girls' mum joined them. She was smiling too but had a very humble way about her. She tried the mystery sentence and I finally understood she was asking if I could spare some Somoni. I looked in my bag, found a 50 Somoni note (£4.10) and handed it to her through the fence. They all responded with what was clearly gratitude.

I turned away and went back to waiting for our taxi. But then I heard a voice from over the fence, trying to attract my attention. I turned around and the younger daughter handed me something wrapped in a black plastic bag. It was clearly a gift of something so I smiled and thanked her. She left and I turned around again.

I looked in the bag. It was a small piece of bread, torn off from a flat round loaf. I assume they'd given me what little they had to thank me. It was incredibly moving.

We continued to wait for the taxi long after the expected hour had elapsed, wondering briefly if maybe there'd been a misunderstanding but then telling ourselves that no, the taxi would come. We continued to have faith in these lovely people who were trying to help us and eventually our patience was rewarded.

The taxi arrived. And it was a normal estate car with a wooden roof rack. 

I took one pedal off The Mule so the bike could go on the roof without the pedal scratching it. The driver helped me lift the bike onto the roof and lashed it to the roof rack with cord. 

Meanwhile K1 removed his bike's handlebars and Donkey was loaded into the car with our bags.

K1 got into the back of the car alongside his bike. I got into the front with the driver.

We set off at speed along the road we'd cycled in on. It was quite alarming at first! But the driver was excellent and knew the road like the back of his hand.

His battered car had a few foibles. He stopped a couple of times to lift the bonnet. It was hard to start and he'd often bump start it by rolling downhill and then lifting the clutch. Once it was going though, it did the job.

Whizzing round bends in the style of a rally driver, there were times I thought I'd never see The Mule again but I needn't have worried. 

As we approached the end of the road around the reservoir we came to a water pipe we'd seen on the way up. The driver recommended we wash our faces to cool down. It was s great tip!

We eventually rejoined the tarmac road. The drive only took a few hours but it was very hot. On two occasions the driver had to stop and deal with police. He clearly explained that carrying a bike on his roof rack was not allowed. I assume he paid to be allowed to continue.

I booked a four star hotel in Dushanbe while we were driving. We deserved some creature comforts.

After resting a while we got organised. I listed things we needed to get done. K1, seeming better thanks to air-conditioning, booked flights home. Availability and price meant we couldn't get home until Sunday, six days away. That's perhaps as well because we're going to need to find or devise a way of boxing up our bikes and getting them and us to the airport, which could take time.

So that's it. Pamir Highway blogging probably ends here.