July 14, 2016 to July 15, 2016
two days in Khorog: cyclists galore
Rachel feels a little better after lots of sleep. It is nice to be staying in a place with so many other cyclists. We meet cyclists from France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands. People work on their bikes, bikes get scrutinized by others and routes are discussed. Most of the cyclists seem to be traveling East to West, quite a few are trying to get back to Europe before winter hits.
We walk to town, visit a “supermarket” to buy more supplies for the next stretch and visit the bazaar. There is one large open building with many food stalls inside, the streets around it are filled with small shops and market stalls. On our way back to the hostel we discover that Khorog has a very nice park along the river. We drop in to the Visitors Center, Rachel buys 4 postcards with international stamps to send to our neighbors Sara and Lucca and friend Laura in Missoula. The Tourist Information lady is very helpful and enthusiastic in giving out information. Later, we discover that we didn’t pay for the PC and stamps, each of us thinking the other had paid. We go back the next day to pay off our debt.
The second restday is spent cleaning bikes and visiting with other travelers. The wifi at Pamir Lodge only works in the morning and evening, but we were able to catch up with our blog and Rachel is able to get on Facebook a little. Facebook is blocked in Tajikistan but by using “tunnel bear” a proxy server app, we are able to get around that.
Probably the best restaurant in Khorog is an Indian restaurant. Even though we were a bit tired of the Indian flavors after five months of it, we are ready for some more. Yesterday we went with Raphael, this evening we meet Bruno and Anita, a Swiss couple about our age who are on an “open ended” bike trip.
After talking to several cyclists we have decided to stick to the M41 the main Pamir Highway for our ride to Murghab and not attempt the Wakhan route. We need some reprieve from bumpy, rocky and sandy roads and the big climb from the Wakhan River back to the main highway on steep sandy roads does not sound like fun. So tomorrow we are off on asphalt, headed east. It will take us three days to gain about 2100 meters and cross the first pass onto the Pamir Plateau.
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