Goodbye Tajikistan: Hello nowhere

June 20, 2014

I'd pitched in the shelter of an archaeological excavation site to get out of the wind. I therefore woke up early and left quickly as I think I ruined it. I passed the lake and town of Karakol and headed towards the final pass out of Tajikistan. On the way up I met a lovely young Korean couple cycling in the opposite direction, by which point I had a horrific headwind to contend with. Jo and Kim were very nice, just like all Koreans. Jo had a pencil moustache which I think is what happens when any Korean man doesn't shave for 14 months. That was how long it had been since they had started their journey. They were going from Australia to England, my journey in reverse, and here we were meeting in the middle on a windy mountain pass 4000 metres up in Tajikistan. We exchanged stories quickly in the cold wind. Kim was lovely. Jo just had it all didn't he? A tailwind, a downhill, a cute girl, and a pencil moustache. And I was alone with my headwind.

Jo and Kim. When I asked why he had different coloured panniers Jo just told me that he lost one

There was a section of downhill before the real climb to the 4300 metre summit and the border. The weather just got worse and worse and before long I was struggling into a full-on blizzard. The Koreans had told me that they'd spent two nights camped up at the border because of the snow, and now I understood why. There was nowhere for me to shelter though, and I guessed the weather wasn't likely to improve anyway, so I kept going. To make matters worse the road was awful, a horrible washboard surface. I cycled at the edge where the road was a bit smoother, risking being blown over steep precipices in the process.

The weather, the gradient, the road surface, and the altitude combined to make it honestly one of the toughest climbs of my life. It seemed to go on and on, endlessly climbing up and up. But finally the blizzard cleared and I saw the Tajik border post ahead of me, a few non-descript buildings with clouds floating past. My name was added to a couple more big books of names and I was free to continue towards Kyrgyzstan, although they hadn't been silly enough to put their border post in the clouds and so I had a 20 kilometre descent through no-mans land (which I think was technically in Kyrgyzstan) to get there.

Looking back towards Tajikistan - a glimpse of nicer weather, and a final Marco Polo sheep

And turning the other way to look towards a very welcoming Kyrgyzstan

The descent was no more enjoyable than the ascent had been, as the road was in a terrible state. It was basically just mud, and I had to keep my brakes on full most of the way to avoid losing control. My hands were numb from the cold, even before the blizzard started again. When it did I had to stop cycling, because it was very fine hail that was coming at me horizontally. It stung my eyes something awful, it was like having pins stuck in my eyes, I couldn't look up. And then my mudguard broke again. I'd only just got around to fixing it back on the evening before after it broke off the last time. Now with the top fixing-point broken I had to take out the lower screws by hand, something that would have been a lot easier were they not caked in mud and if my hands weren't frozen in a blizzard. Needless to say my future plans for the mudguard involved a dumpster.

Bike you're doing great, just hold it together

Where's a tall Hungarian when you need one?

I realised that I wasn't going to make it to the Kyrgyzstan border post before dark and so I set up my tent for another night in nowhere. At least Tajikistan was over. To the relief of everyone involved I'd made it out in time. As for Kyrgyzstan, well, greater adventures still lay ahead...

Another night in nowhere. Not another soul came along the road the whole time

20/06/14 - 81km (70km in Tajikistan)

Today's ride: 70 km (43 miles)
Total: 21,151 km (13,135 miles)

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