Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan
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Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan
Hi People!
Last year I took 3.5 month trip through central Asia and Iran. This section on the Pamirs (a shortcut through the Bartang valley) was a highlight. It's also what convinced me that I needed to ditch the panniers and get over some big tires. So, an appropriate first contribution to the forum.
Leaving Kyrgyzstan, its a long straight road from Sary Tash to a curtain of mountains. The highway has a bunch of passes over 4,000 meters. We met a German cyclists who had just come down off the mountain, staring at some plants. It's so green, she said. It wasn't very green.
Cycling up the first pass to the Tajik border.
My bike. I sold it at the end of the trip to a young German who cycled it from Iran back to Bavaria. Cost my £550 a few years ago. I miss it, but I was pleased that my home-made panniers made it all the way back. Kept my Brooks though.
The high altitude plateau south of the Tajik/Kyrgy border is weird. There's nothing and nobody there, just huge broad spaces between the peaks. The air was freezing, but the sun was hot and strong. The altitude brought on sudden bouts of breathlessness, which oddly is worse when your resting. Heavy breathing feels normal when your pushing hard, but when your resting it feels like panic. The wind was howling from the south so we were shoved along this washboard road to Karakul.
A fall a few days before ruptured my only pair of trousers. This lady in the homestead fixed me up, but not before half of Kyrgyzstan saw my underpants. The Kyrgyz are horse and yak herders. Anthropologists argue that people from cultures who herd animals are generally more badass than people who grow crops: they have a very steal-able resource so it pays to be fearless and formidable. She, like everyone else here, was a Asiatic John Wayne.
Leaving Karakul, we sung east off of the official Pamir Highway on a detour towards the Bartang valley. No more pavement for a week or two. No more villages for a while either. A river crossing or two amplify the isolation.
That night we slept in yurt. Yurts are great.
Our indomitable host wasn't into photos. She did like yaks though, and had ten. The calves are chained up by the yurt and the mothers spend the day grazing on the summer pasture, a boggy grass. In the evening the calves get a few minutes at the teat before they are booted out and she takes over. Yaks aren't the only thing she was miking: we paid $40 for B&B.
Dinner was white tea (yak milk tea with bread), yak cheese, yak yogurt, yak butter, and yak undefined.
She had me sleep on the wall side; traditional I assumed. Turns out that's the mouse highway side. Mice have surprisingly cold paws - at first I thought it was raining on my hand. That's Meca on the tapestry. The stove is fueled with dry yak dung. After sundown, she powered up the laptop and stuck on some Krkgy soap operas for a while.
The next day was one stupidly beautiful view after another. That's me.
Cycling along a flat plain in the mountains is amazing. All views and no work.
That's my traveling companion.
The road got pretty rough as we hit the river valley; tough with small tires and a heavy bag. After a day or two, everything hurt.
Landslides and river washed the path away in a few places. The water had just dribbled off a glacier and was -9 degrees.
After a few days in hard, empty landscape, this village was a relief!
At this side of the valley, the people look less Asian and more Persian, have crops rather than life stock and are very into the Aga Kahn. Until 1991 these were Nationalised state farms, part of the USSR.
It was September and harvest time. Flocks of tiny birds were after the gain, so half the village spent the evening banging on sauce pans and firing stones to keep them away.
Between villages, relentless rock.
Camping in an orchard.
Non bread!
Every 20 km or so, there was a little green nugget of a village, but in between its just hard rock and a road that sweeps up and down the side of the valley. But for the swallows picking insects off the river, theres not much life.
Hanging with the locals.
A bow, but for firing stones rather than arrows. Works a treat.
Any back to the main road, just on the Afghan border. Back to traffic, shops, civilisation, and glorious lampshades.
Last year I took 3.5 month trip through central Asia and Iran. This section on the Pamirs (a shortcut through the Bartang valley) was a highlight. It's also what convinced me that I needed to ditch the panniers and get over some big tires. So, an appropriate first contribution to the forum.
Leaving Kyrgyzstan, its a long straight road from Sary Tash to a curtain of mountains. The highway has a bunch of passes over 4,000 meters. We met a German cyclists who had just come down off the mountain, staring at some plants. It's so green, she said. It wasn't very green.
Cycling up the first pass to the Tajik border.
My bike. I sold it at the end of the trip to a young German who cycled it from Iran back to Bavaria. Cost my £550 a few years ago. I miss it, but I was pleased that my home-made panniers made it all the way back. Kept my Brooks though.
The high altitude plateau south of the Tajik/Kyrgy border is weird. There's nothing and nobody there, just huge broad spaces between the peaks. The air was freezing, but the sun was hot and strong. The altitude brought on sudden bouts of breathlessness, which oddly is worse when your resting. Heavy breathing feels normal when your pushing hard, but when your resting it feels like panic. The wind was howling from the south so we were shoved along this washboard road to Karakul.
A fall a few days before ruptured my only pair of trousers. This lady in the homestead fixed me up, but not before half of Kyrgyzstan saw my underpants. The Kyrgyz are horse and yak herders. Anthropologists argue that people from cultures who herd animals are generally more badass than people who grow crops: they have a very steal-able resource so it pays to be fearless and formidable. She, like everyone else here, was a Asiatic John Wayne.
Leaving Karakul, we sung east off of the official Pamir Highway on a detour towards the Bartang valley. No more pavement for a week or two. No more villages for a while either. A river crossing or two amplify the isolation.
That night we slept in yurt. Yurts are great.
Our indomitable host wasn't into photos. She did like yaks though, and had ten. The calves are chained up by the yurt and the mothers spend the day grazing on the summer pasture, a boggy grass. In the evening the calves get a few minutes at the teat before they are booted out and she takes over. Yaks aren't the only thing she was miking: we paid $40 for B&B.
Dinner was white tea (yak milk tea with bread), yak cheese, yak yogurt, yak butter, and yak undefined.
She had me sleep on the wall side; traditional I assumed. Turns out that's the mouse highway side. Mice have surprisingly cold paws - at first I thought it was raining on my hand. That's Meca on the tapestry. The stove is fueled with dry yak dung. After sundown, she powered up the laptop and stuck on some Krkgy soap operas for a while.
The next day was one stupidly beautiful view after another. That's me.
Cycling along a flat plain in the mountains is amazing. All views and no work.
That's my traveling companion.
The road got pretty rough as we hit the river valley; tough with small tires and a heavy bag. After a day or two, everything hurt.
Landslides and river washed the path away in a few places. The water had just dribbled off a glacier and was -9 degrees.
After a few days in hard, empty landscape, this village was a relief!
At this side of the valley, the people look less Asian and more Persian, have crops rather than life stock and are very into the Aga Kahn. Until 1991 these were Nationalised state farms, part of the USSR.
It was September and harvest time. Flocks of tiny birds were after the gain, so half the village spent the evening banging on sauce pans and firing stones to keep them away.
Between villages, relentless rock.
Camping in an orchard.
Non bread!
Every 20 km or so, there was a little green nugget of a village, but in between its just hard rock and a road that sweeps up and down the side of the valley. But for the swallows picking insects off the river, theres not much life.
Hanging with the locals.
A bow, but for firing stones rather than arrows. Works a treat.
Any back to the main road, just on the Afghan border. Back to traffic, shops, civilisation, and glorious lampshades.
Re: Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan
Mike that sounds like an incredible journey . where did you go too and from over all ?
I met a lone cyclist from Malaysia last month who was riding from Malaysia round the world - i met him in Balkanabat in Turkmenistan heading for Turkmenbashi ,to catch the ferry to Baku and he said that Tajikistan was a particular highlight as he crossed from Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan. and Kazakhstan was just full of mental drivers according to him.
it set me thinking - Im there with work I find it very hard because I'm there with work.... people assume expat and you want to meet other expats - i really don't ....
How ever what i do notice is the people of the region (police and officials excluded) are really helpful and so hospitable...
I do think its somewhere i could have a great time on a bike.
did you experiance chal ? or the delicacy that is bbq'd lambs arse or the testicle.
I met a lone cyclist from Malaysia last month who was riding from Malaysia round the world - i met him in Balkanabat in Turkmenistan heading for Turkmenbashi ,to catch the ferry to Baku and he said that Tajikistan was a particular highlight as he crossed from Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan. and Kazakhstan was just full of mental drivers according to him.
it set me thinking - Im there with work I find it very hard because I'm there with work.... people assume expat and you want to meet other expats - i really don't ....
How ever what i do notice is the people of the region (police and officials excluded) are really helpful and so hospitable...
I do think its somewhere i could have a great time on a bike.
did you experiance chal ? or the delicacy that is bbq'd lambs arse or the testicle.
- summittoppler
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Re: Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan
What an amazing experience, maybe in my next life......
BAM: 2014, 2018 & ......
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2024 Bikepacking nights: 5
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Re: Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan
Looks like a great trip. Thanks for sharing
Re: Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan
Wow, what an amazing trip
Thanks for sharing
Thanks for sharing
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Re: Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan
Fantastic Mike!
Looks amazing.
Looks amazing.
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Re: Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan
Here is the route through the Pamir's:Trail-rat wrote:Mike that sounds like an incredible journey . where did you go too and from over all ?
And the route after:
Are you in Turkmenistan? Cool! Thats the weirdest of the lot. Less mountainous, unfortunately.Trail-rat wrote: it set me thinking - Im there with work I find it very hard because I'm there with work.... people assume expat and you want to meet other expats - i really don't ....
How ever what i do notice is the people of the region (police and officials excluded) are really helpful and so hospitable...
I do think its somewhere i could have a great time on a bike.
did you experiance chal ? or the delicacy that is bbq'd lambs arse or the testicle.
Teetosugars, benp1, Chew - no problem, was fun to write this up! Nothing like writing about an old trip to for inspiration to plan a new one! It'll be the Scottish highlands for a while for me though. Moved to Aberdeen on returning.
Re: Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan
Naw im also in aberdeen - culter side if your local.
I just work in oil and gas so fly around doing stuff in other places. Do a fair bit in azerbaycan and turkmenistan.
I do have a hankering for a long trip . The best part i reckon is that i bet your 3.5 months cost next to nothing other than your expensive yurt... I found food and drink to be cheap as anything- albe it very very variable in quality- and price was no indicator at all.
I just work in oil and gas so fly around doing stuff in other places. Do a fair bit in azerbaycan and turkmenistan.
I do have a hankering for a long trip . The best part i reckon is that i bet your 3.5 months cost next to nothing other than your expensive yurt... I found food and drink to be cheap as anything- albe it very very variable in quality- and price was no indicator at all.
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Re: Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan
Yup, after visas and flights, there's not much to spend money on until you hit the cities, which are best avoided a lot of the time. Iran in particular was brilliant. Definitely lots of bikepacking potential there, esp in the Zagros mountains. Longing to go back now that I have a beefier bike. Tajikistan was great, but the mountains are so high and the place is so empty, I'd be nervous going too far off track. Plus its a bit of bottle neck for Europe to Asia cyclists, so full of tourers there. Kyrgyzstan has more potential I'd say, plus visa on arrival. Short jaunt from Turkmenistan for you.
Aberdeen: no way! I'm in Old Aberdeen, by the Uni. Just made the jump from touring bike to mountainbike/bikepacking, so will be in touch for local routes here before long.
Aberdeen: no way! I'm in Old Aberdeen, by the Uni. Just made the jump from touring bike to mountainbike/bikepacking, so will be in touch for local routes here before long.
Re: Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan
Great post Mike. I'll be in touch at some point, have this area as 'up next'! Stunning scenery. Thanks. Was around September a good time to be there? Seems that many tourers go in early summer / June but that may just be the few cgob blogs that I'd looked up.
Did you see many roads or trails leading into the mountains? Google earth and peering out of plane windows over areas like that shows roads to small settlements and then just valleys with rivers. Climbing blogs do talk of plenty of paths that lead closer into the mountains but no idea how rideable they might be - and there's the appeal, or foolishness.
Did you see many roads or trails leading into the mountains? Google earth and peering out of plane windows over areas like that shows roads to small settlements and then just valleys with rivers. Climbing blogs do talk of plenty of paths that lead closer into the mountains but no idea how rideable they might be - and there's the appeal, or foolishness.
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Re: Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan
Do indeed Jameso - happy to advise. Early September was perfect, but earlier in the year would be fine too. I met a bunch of people going up in late sept early october. The further out of season, the more luck you need.jameso wrote: I'll be in touch at some point, have this area as 'up next'! Stunning scenery. Thanks. Was around September a good time to be there?
There are a good few paths up into the mountains, but the problem is they often don't connect. So you would have to ride out the same way you ride in. Still, lots of remarkable villages, Yurts etc to see. All the more exciting because they are not through roads and hence rarely visited. Check out whatever forums the off-road motor bike community use. I met a few people on bikes who had gone much deeper into the mountains.jameso wrote: Did you see many roads or trails leading into the mountains? Google earth and peering out of plane windows over areas like that shows roads to small settlements and then just valleys with rivers. Climbing blogs do talk of plenty of paths that lead closer into the mountains but no idea how rideable they might be - and there's the appeal, or foolishness.
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Re: Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan
Looks a great trip.
The Pamirs, have been on my hit list for a while now.
Really must get there!
The Pamirs, have been on my hit list for a while now.
Really must get there!
- Farawayvisions
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Re: Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan
Thanks Mike. Google earth does show a couple of possible link-able routes but that's all just escapism for now .. just to ride the main highway looks quite stunning.