Day 37 - Into the Wakhan Valley

A long finger of Afghanistan reaches north east up the Wakhan valley to the Chinese border creating a 10 mile wide buffer zone between Tajikistan (formerly part of the Russian Empire) and Pakistan (formerly part of the British Empire).

This relic of the great game draws lines on the map which do not reflect geographic or cultural reality. "We are all one people in these mountains" as one local said. He added "I have been to London. People there were so kind. People everywhere are the same".

The ride up the valley was beautiful. This is not the main road to the border so there is little traffic coming the other way. The absence of lorries means there are few pot holes so riding is easier. Easier as long as you stay out of the sand that is.

Tonight we stayed at a home stay sharing a large room and sleeping on the floor. The people here have nothing and sharing their life for an evening makes you realise how wealthy we are in the west. For all the poverty though, the children are clean and smartly dressed for school in black dress and pinafore for the girls and black suits for the boys.

Education is important here and it shows.

The Sri

Local Dress #6 - Kyrgiz Hat

Actually bought in Tajikistan. Nice...

Kit-Tastic Road Test: Packing

Schadenfreude.

After seeing Brad's panniers bite the dust, it came as a shock to find the Metal Mules starting to come apart. A number of fixings have come loose and one of the boxes has cracks in it.

A bit of jury rigging, some fettling, a crash diet on non-essential kit and repacking the heavy stuff into the tail bag should get Deefor to Kashgar for a review.

Welding in Central Asia - Epilogue

With two more failures yesterday Brad's panniers were off for a spot of welding. The local chap was building a five-a-side court at the school but took a break to do a great job.

Sadly the panniers themselves were also shaking to bits so Brad is going naked. A bit of kit rationalisation and an Ortlieb Baganda the panniers are history.

Day 36 - Rest Day Khorog

If they had horses, Khorog would be a one horse town. But they don't and on a Sunday it is a forlorn place with small groups of lads standing on street corners.

Our bikes are securely parked in the compound of the guest house and guarded by these fearsome brutes (soft as butter actually).

With want of anything else to do the bikes got a wash and tighten up. It is amazing the number of things that work loose when you subject a bike to the amount of vibration these have had in the last two days.

On the plus side there is a branch of the Delhi Durbar chain of Indian restaurants around the corner. Rogan josh, two popadom and a beer please.

Afghan Market

The market is an enclave on the Tajikistan side of the river. Local Afghans are allowed across to trade with people on the Tajik side but can go no further.

There was a brisk trade in tree trunks, powdered milk, clothes and satellite receivers.

The building was built with funding from UKAid, the Government aid budget. Well done the British tax payer!

Day 35 - 235km from K to K

A delayed start from Kalaikhum to allow a visit to the Afghan Market and then onto the toughest roads so far.

Winding up the valley trying to avoid the mountain on one side, the river on the other, stray rocks and trucks in the road took a lot of concentration. From time to time remembering to look up and appreciate the amazing towering mountains above you.

After four hours and only half way into the trip it was starting to feel hard. Just then the road turned east and the river opened out into a long thin lake with fields on either side. The road straightened and smoothed, speeds picked up and the jarring stopped. In no time we were in Khorog, the capital of the Pamirs.

235km of hard riding. We've made it!

Day 34 - A Rock and a Hard Place

The road climbed out of Kulyab and soon turned to dirt. A few kilometers of careful riding and we arrived at this spot on the river that forms the border in these parts.

The other side of the river is Afghanistan. The secret to navigation for the next week or so is to keep the river on the right. DO NOT CROSS IT.

Though not a long day it was very challenging. Short stretches of tarmac were broken up where landslides have crashed down. Elsewhere it was dirt, rock and packed sand. The road is one lorry wide and squeezes onto a thin ledge cut into the near vertical valley side. You are quite literally between a rock and a hard place.

There is not a lot of traffic but what there is is a succession of large Chinese trucks carrying materials and supplies to the construction crews. The rule of the road is - get out of the way.

The lack of recent rain meant that the feared river crossings were easier than they might have been. Still, riding through the shingle of a river bed while surrounded by 200 sheep and goats is pretty tricky even without the water.

By next year both the rivers will be spanned by the huge blue steel bridges that are almost finished.

This evening we are at a small home stay in Kalaikhum. The town is built on the confluence of two rivers that crash through at tremendous rate. Dinner (lamb soup, chicken, rice, vodka) was served on a balcony perched above the torrent. Looking across at the similar cafe on the other bank we laughed at how rickety the structure was. Then we saw that ours was the same. Gulp.

Away from the light pollution of a large town we had our first good star scape. We climbed the hill behind the home stay and sat back spotting satellites, shooting stars, planets and constellations.

And then to bed "Underneath the Stars" with Kate Rusby on the iPod. Perfect.

Local Dress #5 - Afghan Hat

Alan and Pete bought this right off the head of an Afghan at the market. So it is genuine.

Resumption of service

We are in China! Normal service will be resumed shortly.