As usual during the last weeks the sun functions as our alarm clock in the morning. During the nights we still have to endure sub-zero temperatures, but the sun helps to warm up. Short after we got up we exchange our down jackets to shirts and when we open our tent we dive into that magic world made of grey and stones. In the mornings our legs feel as if they already had done a long day cycling, instead of it laying ahead. We feel how empty our batteries are after those exhausting weeks in the Pamir mountains. Our shoulders hurt all the time and cry for some days off.
After the breakfast we cycle the last stretch to Pamir Highway M41. After what felt like endless kilometres of different gravel we meet asphalt and just behind a fence that runs all the way to the horizon. Behind it lies the No mans land between Tajikistan and China – an impressive feeling how far we cycled. Proud we smile at each other and decide to use the day to add another peak to our list of achievements. How? Instead of turning left and roll the last 37 down to Karakul, to enjoy and relay in one of the local Homestays we turn right. After 25 km and only 580 m to climb there is Tajikistans highest mountain pass – the 4655 m high Ak-Baital-pass. We start in great mood on great tarmac and with quite significant tailwind. However after the first slope the asphalt ends and the road conditions get worse and worse. Washboard slows us down to below walking speed... The local drivers speed up to float on the waves at about 80km/h, impossible for us and we end up pushing our bicycles. Our mood atomizes somewhere in the dust shades behind those cars. Two cyclists come from the opposite direction, pushing their biccles just like us – too hard to cycle. It is not going to improve, the road is only getting steeper. Only 10 km to go, let’s go. 1 km and 20 min later our shoulders ask “why?”. 2 more kilmeters and 40min later a guesthouse seems more appealing than to satisfiy our egos. 300 m below the summit we decide to go back. We are dissapointed, sad but also looking forward to the first shower in ten days.
On our way back we recognize Valentins and Heidis red bus. They also go very slow – in a car and downhill! And they are just as happy about the road as us. Almost 2 weeks ago we had split in Khorog to follow different routes, so there is a lot to chat now. Only in the afternoon we start towards Karakul. Now of course its headwind and it pick up in the meantime. We drag ourselves and our bicycles back across the washboards towards the asphalt and end up almost pitching our tent almost in the same spot as the night before. The next morning another surprise is waiting for us. A car stops next to us, an elderly man with a bunch of kids asks, how we are, where we had cycled and how long it took us. We answer the sheer endless amount of questions. Only then he introduces himself as ranger of Tajik National Park and at the same time fills a bill for 10 nights stay in the national park. He asks for 400 Somoni, almost 40 €, a small fortune in Tajikistan. We cannot make out f the guy indeed represents someone official – so we agree to pay 100 Somoni. Also we only stayed in the National park for 2 days judging from our map. He agrees, which makes us think he is just going for bribes. SO we raise our offer to 0.0 Somoni – but he doesn’t agree. He phones a policeman, who was sitting in his car. Now we grow unsure, maybe he is a ranger for real? In the end we pay the 100 Somoni just to finally leave the windy road.
We hurry towards Homestay Aigirim, where we are supposed to meet with yesterdays cyclists. We stay for two full days. Without internet, electricity only for 2 h in the evening and the best shower along the way. We have to arrange for it at least two hours ahead, then yak shit is burned to heat a huge pot of water. The whole room feels like a sauna and we mix cold and hot water in a bucket and poor it over our bodies. Besides we are directly next to to Karakul lake which makes a great scenery when we travel on towards the Kyrgyz border.
Another washboard road and strong wind prevents us from leaving the country. We give in and look for a shelter for the night. The only places are bridges so we decide to hide underneath. It is freezing so we assume the storms we see all around us have to be snowstorms, luckily they all get stopped on the mountain peaks surrounding us. Luck? As soon as it got dark and we fell asleep a weird noise wakes us. Water burbles, the sound grows lowder and lowder, almost like a river. Right next to our tent...
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