Blogs from Tajikistan, Asia - page 10

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KHOROG. MONDAY 21.5.14 At last I can report a positive day! I slept until 7.30, then woke with concern that I had missed breakfast, which would have been a major disappointment as it was delicious, the best yet. Later, I decided to go downtown with one of the new riders from Kashgar, Robin, a pleasant overly clever woman of mid 30's. The Tuk Tuk style van to travel 5 Kms was 3 Som, about 60 cents total. I could get used to these expenses. The road borders the river separating Afghanistan, this northern view looks quite interesting. Saw plenty of walled villas, and couldn't help but wonder who lurks behind them! Arrived in town on market day, standard country market. Got an interesting photo of a policeman and his hat, who was happy to pose, as ... read more

Dushanbe – the capital of Tajikistan for those who haven’t devoted their recent leisure time to scrutinising maps of Central Asia – is a city that doesn’t let you in easily. It doesn’t readily open its arms to receive the stranger. There’s no tacit “Hey, come over here! This is where it’s at!”. It’s not that it’s at all unwelcoming to the visitor; it’s just too busy having its own life to stop and accommodate yours. Or such has been my impression after three days here. Not the longest period of time, I’d be the first to admit, particularly when I’ve struggled to wake much before midday, recovering from the challenges of the last few months and replenishing the batteries for the adventure that lies ahead. But even so. Maybe it’s the language – and alphabet ... read more

PAMIR x 2! THE RETURN! Riding on the Pamir Highway from Alichur, Tajikistan, to Sary Tash, Kyrgyzstan. To make it short for those of you who don’t want to read the whole thing... I ended up riding on the Pamir Highway again, this time with a nice tail wind (except the last day to the border) and as you can imagine, it was fantastic, with blue sky, snow capped-mountains, clear streams, turquoise lakes, peaceful camping at high altitude and serenity all over! Loved the Pamir! I had been riding with Sacha (young man from Geneva) through the Wakhan Corridor and the area around Bulunkul for 6 days when we reached Alichur. Sacha’s friends were waiting for us in a yurt outside town. When we got there, the 2 girls (Maria and Manon, both from Switzerland) informed ... read more

Before I enlighten you about my wedding propositions I wish to wind back a few weeks to my time in Uzbekistan, where I last updated you on my cycling adventure.Leaving Khiva behind I cycled east to the famous city of Bukhara. It was here that two British Army Officers Stoddart and Conolly were beheaded in the Emir's Ark during the 1800s. British and Russian Army Officers sent out to explore the routes traversing Central Asia including the Khyber pass etc affectionately called this spying "The Great Game". The author Peter Hopkirk writes a fascinating book about the subject, where Britain and Russia competed against one another for commercial trade and Central Asia effectively became the buffer zone between the 2 powers with Russia to the north and Britain as part of the East India Company to ... read more