B - reporting
Border Day! We woke early, to find ice on the inside of the windscreen, and the eastern flank of the mountains turned pink from the sunrise. After coffee and porridge, we headed for the border.
The Kyrgyz border post is not actually on the border, but about 25 km north. Leaving Kyrgyzstan was straightforward...for us. There were 3 people stranded in the border post: 2 Russian women hitchhiking, and Gary, an American man (also hitching) with serious visa problems. He had been stamped out of Tajikistan but not allowed into Kyrgyzstan (he thought he had a double entry visa, and discovered far too late there was a mistake on his visa). The Tajik border is too far to walk to (and up a mountain besides), and he now had no Tajik visa.
The Russians said they'd translate for him, with the Tajik officials, as he had to get back into the country before he could obtain a visa to leave!
So we agreed to take all 3 of them to Murgab, about 200 km into Tajikistan, the first town with any kind of traffic for hitchers. Assuming Gary was allowed in.
After a lot of fannying around we all got into our car, which only has 2 seats.
Mine and G's entry into Tajikistan was straightforward, after we understood that the man searching our car wanted souveniers from Canada. We shook the hand of a bomb disposal officer who chatted to us. And then we waited, under the blue blue sky in the thin air of this very chilly border post, while an unfeasible amount of people argued Gary's case.
We eventually took 2 Russians, 1 American, and a Tajik border official to Murgab. Not wanting to prejudice Gary's case, we gave the border official the passenger seat and I crammed into the back, on the sleeping platform, with the 3 others. All four of us reclined, our backs against the bed roll, in the manner of astronauts in a rocket. And the crappy condition of the road made it feel like we were re-entering the atmosphere. It was a looooong drive.
Murgab is a small, white town nestled in the high brown mountains under the intense blue sky. Nothing green, no grass or trees, but it had a stark beauty, all angles and silhouettes. The temperature plunged the instant the sun sank behind the western mountains, while we waited outside the cop shop to see if Gary would be free, or locked in there overnight. And then he was free! (I think money might have changed hands...)
G and I found a Homestay, shared a beer, and after a brief look up at the jewel-bright stars we crashed out.
Border Day! We woke early, to find ice on the inside of the windscreen, and the eastern flank of the mountains turned pink from the sunrise. After coffee and porridge, we headed for the border.
The Kyrgyz border post is not actually on the border, but about 25 km north. Leaving Kyrgyzstan was straightforward...for us. There were 3 people stranded in the border post: 2 Russian women hitchhiking, and Gary, an American man (also hitching) with serious visa problems. He had been stamped out of Tajikistan but not allowed into Kyrgyzstan (he thought he had a double entry visa, and discovered far too late there was a mistake on his visa). The Tajik border is too far to walk to (and up a mountain besides), and he now had no Tajik visa.
The Russians said they'd translate for him, with the Tajik officials, as he had to get back into the country before he could obtain a visa to leave!
So we agreed to take all 3 of them to Murgab, about 200 km into Tajikistan, the first town with any kind of traffic for hitchers. Assuming Gary was allowed in.
After a lot of fannying around we all got into our car, which only has 2 seats.
Mine and G's entry into Tajikistan was straightforward, after we understood that the man searching our car wanted souveniers from Canada. We shook the hand of a bomb disposal officer who chatted to us. And then we waited, under the blue blue sky in the thin air of this very chilly border post, while an unfeasible amount of people argued Gary's case.
We eventually took 2 Russians, 1 American, and a Tajik border official to Murgab. Not wanting to prejudice Gary's case, we gave the border official the passenger seat and I crammed into the back, on the sleeping platform, with the 3 others. All four of us reclined, our backs against the bed roll, in the manner of astronauts in a rocket. And the crappy condition of the road made it feel like we were re-entering the atmosphere. It was a looooong drive.
Murgab is a small, white town nestled in the high brown mountains under the intense blue sky. Nothing green, no grass or trees, but it had a stark beauty, all angles and silhouettes. The temperature plunged the instant the sun sank behind the western mountains, while we waited outside the cop shop to see if Gary would be free, or locked in there overnight. And then he was free! (I think money might have changed hands...)
G and I found a Homestay, shared a beer, and after a brief look up at the jewel-bright stars we crashed out.
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| Cold start to the day |
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| But what a view |
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| Heading towards the wall of mountains |
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| Airing down the tires to cope with the bad roads |
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| 1st Pass |
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| 2nd and Highest of the trip. |
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| At the top with our Russian hitch hikers |
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| Room for the night. |
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