Day 63. Dushanbe - Qalai Khumb
Today marks the beginning of the Pamir highway or the M42. This road has been a central focus for me from the beginning. It was a major link in the Silk Road and is one of only a few roads traversing the Pamir Mountains. We expect to take 4-6 days depending on the conditions we find and how we are feeling.
We were in the road by 7 after I had got some more cash and fueled up. It was only 29 degrees so the air moving through our clothes felt cool.
We passed through a few towns and also a very nice lake.
The scenery was barren but beautiful. There were also areas of crops and grains growing in the valleys.
There are two tunnels on this route the first one 4.5km long, when we approached it I pulled over and changed my specs, the tunnel was well lit and a smooth surface, so when we got to the 2nd one I decided to leave my sunnies on and just peer over them if needed. All was well until a wall suddenly appeared in front of me, a great big truck belching out black diesel smoke, no tail lights and travelling about 20kph. I grabbed the brakes and we stopped just in time but a brown pants moment for sure.
It is Friday and market day so the towns are particularly busy.
One town we came to had a big traffic tailback. I weaved my way to the front which was a 3 way junction. There I saw the worlds most stupid policeman. He had blocked off one lane with a barrier and of course this created absolute chaos. His solution was to wander through all the gridlocked cars waving his baton and shouting at people.
I just shook my head and motored through.
Soon after this we caught our first glimpse of the Panj river and Afghanistan. The road was just wonderful and we had a brilliant afternoon riding through a steep sided gorge. Very beautiful but still very hot.
We passed a sign to Afghanistan and I would have driven to the gate but is was just too hot. The next sign reminded us not to stray too far from the road or we might get blown up by a landmine.
Unfortunately for the last 30km the beautiful road turned into a rough as guts potholed mess.
We found a basic but nice guesthouse to stay in full of other overlanders, some travelling by motorcycle, some on pushbikes, but most travelling by hired taxi landcruisers. ( the ones we hate)
We were in the road by 7 after I had got some more cash and fueled up. It was only 29 degrees so the air moving through our clothes felt cool.
We passed through a few towns and also a very nice lake.
The scenery was barren but beautiful. There were also areas of crops and grains growing in the valleys.
There is a memorial here to the cyclists who were killed here last year.
There are two tunnels on this route the first one 4.5km long, when we approached it I pulled over and changed my specs, the tunnel was well lit and a smooth surface, so when we got to the 2nd one I decided to leave my sunnies on and just peer over them if needed. All was well until a wall suddenly appeared in front of me, a great big truck belching out black diesel smoke, no tail lights and travelling about 20kph. I grabbed the brakes and we stopped just in time but a brown pants moment for sure.
It is Friday and market day so the towns are particularly busy.
One town we came to had a big traffic tailback. I weaved my way to the front which was a 3 way junction. There I saw the worlds most stupid policeman. He had blocked off one lane with a barrier and of course this created absolute chaos. His solution was to wander through all the gridlocked cars waving his baton and shouting at people.
I just shook my head and motored through.
A chance to get wet and cool off
Soon after this we caught our first glimpse of the Panj river and Afghanistan. The road was just wonderful and we had a brilliant afternoon riding through a steep sided gorge. Very beautiful but still very hot.
Afghanistan across the river
Time to get wet again - so hot!
This was perched on top of a big rock. Clearly of religious significance as there were a number of people visiting it. You could walk up to it by a very narrow track.
Unfortunately for the last 30km the beautiful road turned into a rough as guts potholed mess.
We found a basic but nice guesthouse to stay in full of other overlanders, some travelling by motorcycle, some on pushbikes, but most travelling by hired taxi landcruisers. ( the ones we hate)
Comments
Post a Comment