Dushanbe to Khorog

It’s 5am and there’s not a sole in the place. Pitch black and I am waiting for some form of transport to get me to the Pamir’s. After an hour a 4WD shows up. “Khorog?” I ask “Da” (yes) - He opens the door to the front seat - Waiting 3 hours for the car to get full. Once we get going, the 24-hour ride would be a sensation for one sense - sight. The ride from Dushanbe to Khorog is probably the greatest ride I have ever taken. So good I wouldn’t give up my front seat, not even for a pregnant woman.

What have I become I thought? But then I put things into perspective. She had a kid with her so for 24 hours she is going to be turning around trying and look after him? It’s best that I stay in the front seat. Plus there are other cars going to Khorog, if it’s such a problem she can claim the front seat there. This is my one and only chance to travel along one of the world’s most stunning landscapes. Heck she’s probably stuffed pillows in her stomach to try and get the front seat. No, no love I wasn’t born yesterday.

And my reward for my complete insensitivity? Brilliance! I did move the seat forward… a bit. Oh look I’ve felt like crap throughout all Tajikistan after this Anything that went wrong I blamed it on this one moment. She had plenty of room…

The trip started with me sleeping for the first hour in my comfortable front seat but that might have been because we were going 20km/hr on the only piece of smooth road. Most of the trip there would be stopovers for minor repairs. This made the trip a lot more comfortable as it provided plenty of relieving time.

It started with farmland in the limited arable land. Only 7% of Tajikistan is arable with cotton its most important crop. I’ll get to that later on in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. That was followed by lush green hills and valleys. This green had a ‘wow’ factor! I have never seen a green like this before, so bright yet dark. I was spellbound and like most of the trip so spellbound I forgot to take photos.

Just past the checkpoint there is Nurek Dam with an areal view from the top of the mountain looking at its turquoise water. Again forgot to take a photo. I instigated the friendly nature of the passengers by offering my food. Not through guilt but from excitement and we all had lunch and dinner together.

The moment of the trip (taking the winter route) was easily the Shurabad Pass (2200m). At the top of the mountain I was lost for words. Below is a river, grey rocks and an icy blue, a mountain of the same magnitude the other side. Mud brick houses. On our side it’s a windy ride down an avalanched road with now rivers following through it.

As we get closer to the river below, on the other side is a sight of locals walking along a trail with their donkeys. A quick thought later and I realized “Oh shit that’s right this is Afghanistan!” Together with the mud brick houses it was as if it was a cut out from a South Park episode. Unlike the Tajik side the mountains basically rose straight away. When we got to the bottom the car needed even more maintenance and so at the green pastures of Tajikistan I was playing football with a Tajiki kid with the Afghan mountains as a backdrop.

And that would not be the last of Afghanistan. For the rest of the trip I would be cradling the Afghan border as the road and M41 snakes its way through the gorges between the two countries and along the river going as close as 100m. Most of the trip from there after is giant mountains on both sides towering over the 4WD. It was such a rough ride it didn’t matter. Just looking out the window eased that problem.

As day became night it was so dark that I might as well have put a black piece of paper in front of my face. The only time the darkness broke was when the car past Tajiki soldiers walking along the border. Tajikistan is a major transit country for Afghan narcotics heading for Russia and parts of Western Europe. Tajikistan seizes roughly 80% of all drugs captured in Central Asia and stands third in worldwide seizures (heroin and raw opium). Currently the US is constructing a $36 million bridge linking Tajikistan and Afghanistan I’m not sure where that is will research later. (This part of northern Afghanistan has no problems…)

We arrived in the early morning in Khorog the capital of Gorno-Badakhshan with the mountains shaded and a cold breeze. I thought to myself “Oh man what a ride but bad idea to come here.” I hate the cold. I said goodbye to my travel buddies who had another ride to another town and headed to my lodge - a mattress on the floor - Traditional style. So after all this would I do it again? (Take the front seat from Dushanbe to Khorog when a pregnant woman is on board?) You wouldn’t understand... If you’ve travelled along this piece of the world you’ll understand me when I say, “Yes… yes I would.”

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