Day 75 to Hot Springs Camp, Tajikistan, 85km, 6397 to date.  1050m up, 3550m end

Today we cycled over the last two high altitude passes of the full ride, one at 4,175m, (13,698ft.), then the 2nd at 4,280m (14,043ft).  We have continuously been over 10,000ft for more than a week now, today the riding was really hard, I feel like I am totally out of gas.  I am not alone, our lunch today was just before the 2nd pass, arriving at lunch, one of the riders collapsed from exhaustion trying to get off his bike.

Some pics:

Top of last climb over 14,000ft:

This is the Pamir Highway "logo":

Day 74 to Alichur, Tajikistan, 106km, 6312 to date.  925m up, 3875m end

Not much to say about today, other than another day riding at very high altitude.  We are seeing very few people,  commonly no sign of man for 30-40km,  then in the middle of nowhere, a person just waiting on the side of the road.

Myself and Irwin, yes it is starting to get hot..

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Some scenery pics:

Another top of climb, this time 4,128m or 3,544ft:

Day 72 to Murghab, Tajikistan, 87km, 6206 to date.  570m up, 3498m end

Got rather cool in camp overnight, down to about -3C, cold enough to partially freeze my water bottles.  My tent is very comfortable when it gets cold - proof it is a 4-season tent.

Today was a major accomplishment!  Successfully rode over Ak-Baytal pass, at 4,664m (15,303ft), this is the highest I have ever cycled and the highest point of our full ride.  Yes, the high altitude made for a really tough climb.  After the climb we had headwinds all the way to Murghab, at first I wondered why I was working so hard whilst riding a modest downhill - then I realized that we are still at 13,500ft.

Murghab is a very modest town, I believe leftover from the Soviet days.  The hotel we are in is one the most “modest” hotels I have ever stayed in, having said that it is clean with a good enough restaurant and the beer is cheap.    But the power is off during the night and often doing the day.

Some pics from the climb, if there was a sound track it would be all heavy wheezing: 

At the summit:

The descent:

Some neat rocks:

The town of Murghab:

Day 71 to high mountain camp, Tajikistan, 48km, 6119 to date.  460m up, 4192m end

A short easy day, although at high elevation which makes everything hard to do, mostly to position us for the climb tomorrow and to help with the altitude acclimatization.  Tonight will be our highest elevation camp of the full ride at 4,192m (13,754ft.).

The Pamir highway was built by the Russians back in the 1930’s.  Some of the ruined buildings we are seeing date back to that time.

Getting used to washing in mountain streams, today was one of the better streams, crystal clear, although rather refreshing.  Putting your head under water definitely reminds you that you are alive!

I was surprised that there appears to be some 15 people living in this small yurt camp and at least 10 of them are under 10 yrs old.  Everywhere there are people there are a large number of very young kids - seems to be a bit of a population explosion.  Talking with one of the older kids, this camp is their summer camp for grazing livestock (and running the Hotel/homestay), come the fall they move the whole works to Murghab.

some pics:

Yes, the sign over the door says "hotel" and yes it is, also with a common your in the Gur:

Our camp at the "hotel":

Day 70 to Karakul, Tajikistan, 79km, 6071 to date.  1352m up, 3933m end

A big climbing day, including two passes, Kyzyl-Art 4,280m (14,043ft) and a 2nd at 4,257m (13,967ft).  This is the highest elevation I have ever cycled, it sure showed - serious puffing and wheezing!

We crossed into Tajikistan between the two passes, country #6 of this tour.  The exit from Kyrgyzstan and the entry into Tajikistan took only a few minutes.

We are now on the Pamir Highway - if you are interested see  “The Great Game” by Kipling.

Rather spectacular mountain scenery around us. We are in the Pamir mountains, just north of the Hindu Kush mountains in northern Pakistan.  Generally speaking this is the western end of the Himalayan mountains.

Some pics:

Morning views from camp:

The Tajik border guard arriving for work:

Morning dusting of snow:

This is the "logo" for the Pamir highway:

Although we are just south of the Chinese border, I believe this barbed wire fence is marking the no-man’s land either side of the border:

Day 69 to Zaalay mountain camp, Kyrgyzstan, 23km, 5992 to date.  359m up, 3328m end

A short day just to take us close to the Tajikistan border crossing tomorrow morning and to give us another day to acclimatize to the altitude.

In Sary Tash, there is the normal call to prayer, in particular about 10:30 last night and about 04:30 this morning.  The call is done in a singing/chanting type voice - well, all the local dogs seem to like the voice because they all join in, or should I say “howl in”.  It was quite hilarious.

We are now starting the Pamir Highway, “the roof of the world”, tomorrow is our first major pass, Kyzyl-Art Pass at 4,280m (14,042 feet).

The Pamir elev profile, note y-axis does not start at zero:

We are very popular with the local kids:

I believe this is Mt. Lenin, 7,134m (23,407ft.), the highest point in the former Soviet Union:

 We camped in the yard of a “guest house”, really a bed and breakfast, but without the breakfast, without a washroom (outhouse outside) and with bare beds.   They did have a yurt/gur that was most comfortable for simply lazing around.  The owner came in and started the stove (it was quite cold), he used a very small bit of wood shavings to start, then the main fuel was cow dung - only the faintest slight hint of oder whilst burning.

Yes, this kid is working on reading english, reading the Lonely Planet guide:

Day 68 to Sary Tash, Kyrgyzstan, 81km, 5969 to date.  1935m up, 3150m end

A long hard climb, peaking at Taldyk Pass, elev 3,621m (11,880 ft.).  From the top of the climb we got our first views of the Pamir mountains and what I believe is Mt. Lenin, the highest peak in the former Soviet Union.

We are now in Sary Tash, at an elevation of 3,150m or 10,335ft.  Tomorrow we are doing a short day of some 23km both to help with the acclimatization and to set us up for the border crossing into Tajikistan.  Then onto the Pamir highway where we will continuously be over 4,000 meters.

Some pics:

Kids often seem to just appear at lunch:

The climb:

Some views:

Yaks:

Sary Tash is a very small town, essentially a one intersection town.  At this intersection, I needed a couple things, so this was the local store I chose, it was run by 3 kids not more than 10 or 11 years old, but very sharp

Day 67 to Gulcha, Kyrgyzstan, 108km, 5888 to date.  1853m up, 1827m end

An excellent day, a long hard climb on nice pavement.  We are quickly getting close to the Pamir mountain range.

Some pics from the day:

This is very much rural country, when an animal is being slaughtered for food, it is simply done at the horse slaughter place, i.e. beside the highway, all the locals know where this is and when it is.  We happened to be going past after a horse had just been gutted.  As guests we were honoured with receiving a gift of the kidneys.  This will be in tomorrows dinner.  I know I am repeating myself, but I am humbled by the generosity of the people.

I just liked this guy:

Having to navigate around herds of horse on the highway is almost common, similarly herds of cattle, sheep, kids, etc.

Scenery from the day: