Blogs from Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province, Tajikistan, Asia - page 2

TAJIKISTAN with the Tajik Outlaws...Part 4. I am constantly thanking folk in remote locales for showing me that another life is possible...no matter how remote...how tough...how testing of human endurance...life goes on...usually with a smile. If life is hard they get hardier...only the tough survive...the young may try city life...but in their world the heroes are those that endure...nature moulding their identities. And so it is in the High Pamirs of Tajikistan...where summer is four months a year...and winter eight. I am honoured to be among the people of the High Pamir...sharing their bread...sharing their homes...receiving their hospitality...appreciative for them sharing what little they have...and providing me with a bed. The Milky Way shimmers above me...altiplano deserts surround me...turquoise lakes enthral me...the hospitality of the people humbles me. ... read more

It is 220km from Bulunkul Lake to Murghab, but with the sealed highway it only took us 3.5 hrs with a couple of stops; one at the 'holy' pond of the white fish spring, a freshwater spring pond full of fish, a little hut next to it serves up the fish, but it was too early in the day for us to contemplate eating so we passed. It was strange to be on seal after so many days of rough unsealed road, even if some parts were not so good. The scenery was pretty cool - typical high altiplano, but we've been a bit spoilt lately so it didn't blow us away. Murghab sits at 3,618m, and with Khorog, is the only town in the Pamirs. It's known as one of the few points of civilisation, ... read more

A key driver for this trip is our desire to traverse the Pamir mountains. With public transport infrequent hired drivers with 4WDs are the usual mode of travel. We depart Dushanbe with the driver we've found tomorrow for a 10 day Pamir adventure that will take us to Osh in Kyrgyzstan, via the Pamir Highway, with one detour off the highway to travel through the Tajikistan side of the Wakhan Valley. So why are we so excited about this? The Pamir mountains are fabled to be one of the most highest and beautiful ranges in the world. Occupying Tajikistan, China and small parts of Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan they lie between the Hindu Kush, Tien Shan and the Himalayas. Known in Persian as 'Bam-i-Dunya' or ‘Roof of the World’, they apparently form one of the most ... read more

July 15 - Pamir Highway trip Day 4 - Rushan to Jizeu valley Last night I had another bad night of sleep. Every single night has been the same. I wake up a lot and have trouble falling to sleep again. I also sometimes have the sensation in these new types of mattresses that some tiny insect is crawling on me, under the covers. But I see nothing and feel nothing when I brush it away. And there are no bites. No idea. I also had some stomach pain and at 3:30am had to make a bathroom/outhouse trip. Constipation over, but more of a 180 reversal. What is happening? We said goodbye to the Belgians at breakfast and we headed out at 9 am. Our driver (the 2nd) dropped us off at 10:30am at the start ... read more

Osh is a construction site next to a giant mound of dirt stamped with UNESCO’s approval of heritage. Meeting his to do list expectations, the visitor arranged onward transport, a 4WD Pajero, to tour the Pamir Highway, a weeklong odyssey shared with a couple Aussie girls. Darniel, the driver, a Kyrgyz from Murgab, arrives at the hostel punctually, and proves most competent. Rolling hills of gold grass lead southward to taller and taller rock faces narrowing in on the road. A hundred kilometres brings the expedition to wide sloping Alay Valley cut by the Kyzyl River and fenced in by the snowy crags of Peak Lenin towering above the villages of Sary Tash and Sary Mogul. Under clear skies teams of young men build new homes of mud brick. Beyond, tucked in the foot hills, Taktakol ... read more