Advertisement
Published: October 25th 2013
Edit Blog Post
THE PAMIR HIGHWAY IN TAJIKISTAN Bienvenue au Tajikistan! (Francais en bas de la page)
The second-highest
altitude international highway in the world (4,655 m).
THE PHYSICAL CHALLENGE:
From Sary Tash, Kyrgyzstan, I climbed up to 4285m of altitude to reach the Tajik border. It was very tough. Of course I was on a dirt road, alone, and carrying heavy bags (more than 50kg) with 7 liters of water (too much since I realized I could drink the water from streams coming down from the surrounding snow-capped mountains). I had to stop every minute or so to catch my breath. I didn’t have any headache but it took me a long time to get to the summit. Many people had told me that once on the top, on the plateau, riding on Pamir Highway would be easy. Hahaha! Well, not quite! Once on the plateau I rode for another 8 days to get to Khorog (at the end of the Pamir Highway). The road pretty much stays as high as 4000m the entire way but it also goes up to 4655m and several other passes above 4200. So easy, my butt! ;-) On top of this, I rode the
Pamir Highway from east to West which was a pretty bad idea as I faced extremely strong head wind most of the way. Up on the plateau after Murghab, the wind drove me crazy. I was moving so slowly, riding maybe 50km in 7 hours… I met a French family and they offered to pull me with their 4 wheel-drive for 15km and I saved a lot of energy. One night I met 5 Swiss cyclists and they laughed at me because I was riding the wrong way whereas they had beautiful tail wind that made them fly! Every cyclist I met was riding from Khorog so I spent the first 5 days absolutely alone on the road.
THE LANDSCAPE:
Snow caps, clear streams, open-space, rocks, brown mountains, green patches along the rivers, blue lakes, picturesque little towns in the middle of nowhere, horses outside the villages, mud slides, great camping (anywhere along the road!). Pictures are worth a thousand words.
THE PEOPLE:
Friendly, patient, curious, reserved, smiling, resourceful people. Women cook; men build and take care of the animals. On the Pamir Highway I only went through 4 towns, mostly villages, in 8 days and
I didn’t see many people. Kyrgyz people in the Pamir have learned to make a living of tourism whereas the Tajik I met simply went on with their lives.
THE TRANQUILITY:
Total quietness! Most days I would see 3 cars and 2 cyclists. At the end of August I had 2 days where I didn’t run into a single person in 48 hours. You wouldn’t believe how fresh the air felt and how blue the sky was. It’s a place you really have to visit for yourself because pictures and words don’t render the real Pamir experience. Camping up on the plateau was surreal. I would open my tent in the morning and lie there admiring the peaks and the marmots running around. I camped near the top of several mountain passes and in the morning my tent was covered in frost; water from the streams was frozen, the air was crisp. And once again, the peace and silence… best feeling when on the road!
Un petit mot en Français pour la famille et les amis de l’hexagone. J’espère que vous allez tous bien et que vous ne fatiguez pas trop de lire mes récits en anglais.
Cette fois voici mes photos des montagnes du Pamir, au Tadjikistan. C’est un endroit incroyable à plus de 4000m d’altitude et des sommets à 4600. Evidemment c’est une région très peu peuplée, ou les gens n’ont pas grand-chose pour vivre. 3 mois dans l’année ils bénéficient du tourisme mais le reste du temps ils sont dans le froid et la plus grande tranquillité d’Asie. J’étais venu pour les paysages et je n’ai pas été déçu, mais c’est quand même le silence de ces grands espaces qui m’a fait la plus forte impression. J’ai campé presque tous les soirs et c’était un vrai régal. Malheureusement d’Est en Ouest, j’ai du faire face a un vent terrible qui m’a scié les jambes (et le moral) bien des journées. C’était un immense challenge sportif et puis j’ai passé beaucoup de temps tout seul, sans aucun réseau téléphonique. J’ai pu faire le plein d’eau dans des rivières qui descendaient du sommet des montagnes. En tout cas, ce n’était que du bonheur et beaucoup de paix après toutes ces années en Chine bruyante. N’hesitez pas a m’envoyer des messages sur le site ou sur mon adresse email. Bises !
Advertisement
Tot: 0.103s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 14; qc: 37; dbt: 0.0632s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Danielle
non-member comment
il ne manque que l'odeur !
j'adore ce pain