The Pamir Highway - Tajikistan
This was actually just before the Tajikistan border at 3600 meters.
This was taken from the highest crossing we did: 4655 meters. We felt some mild effects of high altitude sickness and the bikes power was massively reduced over 4000 rpm.
This is the highest we camped at 4200 meters.
This is the end of the Pamir highway just outside Khorog.
July 3rd, 2006 at 9:26 am
[…] In Tajikistan during the summer you can see a lot of foreign people traveling by bicycles, which seems really weird to local people. When people see them, you can always hear something like “Oh my God, these foreigners have nothing else to do”. Tim and Rowen are also one of those “strange” bicycle riders. On June 28, 2006 they’ve posted a small article about their experience in Tajikistan. They tell us about how hard it was to struggle those tough and rough roads of Tajikistan, especially the roads in Pamir. There are no pictures of the roads but you can find them on the other blog, which is called “The Big Trip”. There are some very good pictures. I’ve traveled many times on this road (Osh-Khorog). It is a real torture (I’m not exaggerating). There is a very high altitude, especially when you go through the high passes. Lack of oxygen makes you sick, and you shouldn’t make quick moves, otherwise you can just fall fainted. These passes look more like a surface of the Mars. It is very difficult to travel by car and I still don’t understand how those bicycle and motorcycle riders can travel on this road, one should erect a monument for them on the highest pass. Dushanbe pleasantly surprised Matt. First, in his blog he says: “I was ready for hell in Tajikistan. The poorest Soviet republic, one that descended into bloody civil war almost the day after secession from Moscow, and one so hard to reach that globalization doesn’t bother (take that, Friedman), I had mentally written this travelogue before I arrived.” Then he goes, “pleasantly, Dushanbe surprised me. Not that I would recommend it for a holiday — indeed, there is next to nothing to do downtown, each day is about 99 degrees with no breeze, and there is virtually no infrastructure to cater to tourists. But therein lies the charm.” Here it is good to mention a Russian proverb, “It is better to see once than to hear hundred times”. He tells his readers some interesting things about Dushanbe and Tajikistan, which can be seen only by foreigners, and also goes back to the history of Tajikistan. There are no pictures unfortunately. […]
July 3rd, 2006 at 10:02 am
Hello, I’ve posted this link on http://tajikistan.neweurasia.net/ in my post “Tajikistan travel blogs” you can go. Check it out. Please, leave your comments.