Rarefied

It's a small world.

No it's not.

It's big!

It's so bloody big.

And in this big world, if you go exploring in random places you've never heard of, you'll find the most exotic treasures you could ever imagine.

That happened to us today.

Again.

We awoke at our little Wakhan Valley campsite and Lisa was still feeling crap. Shit. It's been nearly a week of random fevers, diarrhoea, vomiting etc for her, and on it goes.

She's completely over it, of course (who wouldn't be), but remains cheery on the outside. Beni and I really feel for her.

So what to do? We decided to spend another day and night at our random campsite, up a small valley that branches off from the larger Wakhan Valley in southern Tajikistan, right alongside the Afghani border. In the early afternoon Beni and I headed uphill, because there was a sign that said "hot springs."

Hmmmm. Now that'd be nice. It's been really cold since we got here.

I spent the morning sitting by the river, doing very important things like, um, nothing, and pondering the meaning of life, etc.

It was an inspiring place to do it.

Eventually Beni and I headed up the valley, passing through stunning little settlements and alongside steep mountains.

Eventually we stumbled upon the village of Garm-Chashma

And guess what we found!

The most amazing hot springs you could imagine. And you can just wander in. There was an open spring area that had separate men and women times, and then other walled areas where you could lock the door from the inside and have a deep hot pool all for you.

As it was women's time in the main springs, we found our own spot in a private room.

It was magnificent.

The water was hot, but not too hot. About 40 degrees, in our little private hot spring

After staying inside as long as we could bear, we wandered up the hill, and found part of the source of the hot water.

Our pool was in here.

Hot water was bubbling out

Then we wandered further up through the village.

This 88 year old man waved us over, and suggested we chop wood for him, which we both did. He was very particular about how he wanted it done.

Then he gave us a big bag of apples.

Later we went back to check out the main spring during the men's time.

Pretty beautiful huh! We would never have expected our own little mini-Pamukkale in the back valleys of Tajikistan.

By the way this is Alfred, an English cyclist who appeared in the village with UK Michael and French Tristan on their bikes. They ended up camping with us. We had great conversations around the fire.

It was the most unbelievable sunset ever.

Not again. How boring.

Well, at last!

Lisa woke up feeling so much better. Her fever, diarrhoea and vomiting was gone, and she was ready for action. Weak, but ready for action. Yay!

Beni and I were so happy for her, she's really been to hell'n'back, she said it was the worst sickness she's ever been through, in her whole 25 years.

Wow.

So, in a decidedly cheery mood, we all left our little Paradise and headed back to the main Wakhan Valley road.

The road wound around the river again, continuing to hug the border with Afghanistan.

We came to a place called Ishkashim, and decided to stay in a guesthouse for a night, because there's an Afghan market near here tomorrow.

Yay! First night in a guest house for a week. I mean, I love camping of course, but it's been super cold, and I was so happy to have a hot shower.

I had a really long one.

My English friend Gary from Dushanbe came to our place for a visit, as he happened to be in town. He's heading the same way as me, on the road to Osh, in Kyrgyzstan. But he's moving much more quickly.

We all chilled for the whole afternoon, had a huge guesthouse dinner (which even had a vegetarian option), and sat up chatting and drinking with Wilma and Lisa from the Netherlands, and their guide, my roommate Ali, a Pamiri guy from this region. It was super fun.

It turns out we would come across them regularly over the next few days.

The view from the back of our guest house.

We met a crazy Japanese guy at the guesthouse who travels with his rubber duck. He was a tripper, and not only because of the amount of vodka he'd already consumed in the evening before he sat with us to have more. He's travelled to so many countries (over 100, he was proud to announce), but he always flies there, and stays for only a couple of weeks in each country.

Nice idea, but his air miles are ridiculous. He proudly showed us his Japanese Airlines VIP pass, which he got because he flies so much.

What do you say to someone like that?

Does he even know about global heating?

He really needs to think about the impacts on little duckies.

Notwithstanding all that, he was such a lovely man.

Afghan Market

Our lovely 74 year old guesthouse owner, Davrodboi, woke everyone up at 7.30am for breakfast.

The cheek.

The breakfast was good, but still, 7.30?

After brekky Ali told Wilma, Lisa and I some sobering things about what the Tajik government is doing to the local Pamiri population in this region. I was shocked to hear it.

Discrimination by the Tajik government against local Pamiris has been rife for decades. Remember that the Pamiris and Garnis were the main ethnic groups who took up arms against the government during the civil war in the 90s, with support from the mujhihadeen in Afghanistan.

Ali told us that he personally has been randomly arrested by the police in Dushanbe, the capital, and held for days on end, for no reason whatsoever (except for his ethnicity). Of course, he was beaten in jail. And not at cards either.

There's no doubt that Tajikistan is a police state, and there's also no doubt that the police are in a state. A state of carrying out manifestly rascist acts, engaging in blatant corruption and, of course, that global phenomenon, widespread police brutality.

Later in the morning we went over to an amazing market about 4km out of town, which is held in a Tajik-controlled part of the border region, but is actually situated on a small island in the middle of the river which separates the two countries.

The market happens every Saturday, when loads of Afghanis cross their own border and set up their wares on the ground in a large outdoor open area, and a couple of indoor buildings.

It was way bigger and more interesting than I'd imagined, and fascinating to finally meet and mix with the Afghanis we'd seen so many times across the border. They look and dress quite differently to Tajiks, and even to the local Tajik Pamiris, the unique ethnic group that populates most of this region.

They're bearded, for one. And their clothes are way more traditional and non-Western.

Many of the men were keen to say hello to us, and to practice their few words of English. Or just to be friendly.

Others looked quite religious, and, you could imagine, may have some links to the Taliban government, or were themselves Taliban.

But you can never tell.

By the look of some of the things for sale, and by the clothes of some of the sellers, it appeared that some very poor people were trying to eke out a living here.

We tried some of their local foods, a delicious pilov, a massive rice dish, and these manti, which are basically very thin steamed dumplings stuffed with cabbage and onions. They were nice.

Eventually we stocked up at the local store, and continued our journey up the Wakhan Valley, still hugging the Afghan border.

We stopped at the super interesting Qah-Qaha Fortress, which was built in the 3rd Century BC by King Siahpushes-Qahqaha, to defend his Zoroastrian kingdom from Chinese invaders. His followers were known as "Black Gowns," because, believe it or not, they apparently got around in black gowns.

The walls reminded me a little of the older parts of the Great Wall of China, basically mud brick and stone walls, sometimes stretching for quite long distances.

What's left of the fortress is pretty small these days, but the location and the views were impressive.

We bumped into Wilma and Lisa up there.

That's still Afghanistan over there

Bibi Fatima

Eventually we made our way up to Bibi Fatima hot springs, a place that a number of people had told us was worth visiting. The springs were way up above the main road, on a super dodgy steep and precarious track that went for about 6km.

But it was so worth it.

Bibi Fatima springs are named after the prophet Muhammed's daughter, and local women believe that if women swim here they'll get pregnant.

Apparently there's another step to that process, but I'm not sure what that is. My kids were all immaculate deceptions, so I wouldn't know about all that other stuff.

Lisa visited the springs first, as there's separate men's and women's bathing  times.

It was nearly dark by the time Beni and I got in, and it was so amazing. The springs consisted of two main areas, a large walled room with a very deep hot pool, and then an incredible cave area, where the hot water was cascading down a tall cliff into the deep pool below.

The water was super hot, around 45 degrees, which was an absolute treat, as it was about 2 or 3 degrees outside. The cave spring was completely dark and full of steam, so going in was pretty dodgy. I lost Beni immediately, and sat with 3 local Tajik men for awhile, and later Beni and I explored the cave together.

The local men were drinking the hot water cascading down the walls, so we did too. It tasted like a cup of hot coffee without the coffee.

One refreshing thing about the place is that, despite the conservative nature of this country, everyone in the springs was naked, both the men and the women, at their separate times.

Despite me dressing up as a woman to get in at the women-only time, I couldn't  fool them at the gate, even though I gave them my best falsetto in Tajik.

Bibi Fatima is a beautiful place, and I highly recommend you visit it, next time you're halfway up the Wakhan Valley in southern Tajikistan.

We camped in the village, I set my tent up by the springs carpark.

Yamchun Fortress

On our way down from the springs the next morning, we stopped at the super impressive Yamchun Fortress.

Perfect bridge

The Hindu Kush

Also known as the Fortress of the Fire Worshippers, this Zoroastrian fortress again stands at a high point overlooking the Wakhan Valley, and the views were incredible from up there. You can see right up and down the valley, as well as into large swathes of the Hindu Kush mountains - the northernmost part of Afghanistan.

Also built in the 3rd Century BC, this fortress had two main functions - to control the flow of goods up and down the Wakhan Valley, and, of course, as a defensive fortification from foreign invaders. The Wakhan Valley was an important part of the Silk Road network, between the Pamir region, and Bactria (much of which is today known as the Fergana Valley, in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan). The fortress was rebuilt in the 10th and 12th Centuries.

Yamg Village

Just by chance we stopped at this small village, and were amazed at the history and culture we discovered there.

Luckily there was a stop sign in the middle of the village, which had pretty much no vehicles. We could've got injured otherwise, with the huge risk of bumping into cows or goats or other pedestrians, pretty much none of which we saw.

This village was the home of the famous Sufi Muborakkadam, who lived in the second half of the 1800s, and was a theologian, calligrapher, musician, poet and inventor.

A museum has been built in his honour, with a completely traditional Zoroastrian design, and a local man showed us through, speaking to us in broken Russian.

The gate was very horny.

Our guide was a beautiful man. He's a musician (like his father and grandfather), and played some of the historical handmade stringed instruments for us, as well as showed us local crafts and tools.

Butter churning device

A carpet is looming here.

Device for spinning out cotton

They would mill about with this device, a water-powered tool.

Surprisingly there were loads of coppers around

Very unsawnoff shotgun

I tried to jam with our guide using the local instruments, but it was pretty much impossible to tune them so you could play together, as the tuning pegs kept slipping. The instruments are generally played solo around here, and there's no such thing as concert pitch.

Beautiful aren't they

There were four hearths in the building, each facing a different direction. This is important for those fire-worshipping Zoroastrians.

Traditional ceiling design

Our guide's wife made us some hot bread while we were inside. It was delicious!

Eventually we carried on, gradually climbing into the higher parts of the Wakhan Valley, and into the eastern Pamir Mountains.

The road was absolutely terrible, but the views incredible.

We eventually camped by a river, a stone's throw from Afghanistan.

So we threw a few stones over there.

We had an amazing fun night around the campfire, it was really special, because Lisa is well again. Beni and Lisa have been amazing to hang out with, and we've all been getting along like a log on fire.

Higher Than Ever

Sunrise

Bitta rope, and we could wade over to Afghanistan. We might freeze to death in the water on the way though.

Harey hole

There's some amazing high altitude vegetation around

Later we headed up the crap road through the Wakhan Corridor, eventually leaving the Afghan border at the Khargush military checkpoint, and then continued to climb, towards the Khargush Pass.

We've been hugging the Afghan border for nearly a week now, and, coupled with our experience at the Afghan markets, all felt like we'd love to visit Afghanistan sometime. But all the shit that's going down for women there is a huge issue to think about before doing so, as to enter the country as a tourist you need to hand over a sizeable fee to the government.

I have no particular desire to financially support the Taliban.

Guess who we met on the way?

Another herd of Bactrian camels. Afghani Bactrians, that is.

There were actually loads of them.

We picked up a couple of Dutchies for a bit, a dad and son. They were in a hurry, having a flight to catch, but there's no public transport here to speak of. The dad lived here for many years in a previous life. Later we heard they made their flight.

On the way to the Khargush Pass we stopped to do a hike that Ali had told us about, and it brought us to the highest altitude that any of us had ever been at in our lives.

It was bloody amazing.

The climb, to a viewpoint called Hausibek's Viewpoint, started at an elevation of about 4300m, and climbed way up to a jaw-dropping 4750m.

Just in case you're wondering, that's bloody high. For comparison purposes, the highest mountain in the European Alps, Mt Blanc, sits at about the same altitude.

But these sort of crazy elevations are very common here, as the Pamir Mountains are basically just an extension of the Himalayas, the highest mountain range in the world. Many of the peaks here are over 7000m.

After doing this hike I really can imagine how difficult it would be to climb at altitudes of 7000m or up.

The hike today was tough - not because it was particularly long, or because the track was particularly difficult (although it was steep) - but because of the altitude and the harsh icy wind. At that elevation, it's really hard to exert yourself, because the lack of oxygen in the air makes you puff and pant like a 61 year old man riding a bicycle up a steep hill.

It's weird.

Looks easy innit

We all felt a little dizzy, had slight headaches, and, of course, were constantly out of breath, as we made our way up. As a result, we needed to walk super slow, and we stopped regularly to catch our breath, even though we've been properly acclimatising on this trip, generally staying at altitudes a little higher every night.

This guy founded the company that made my sleeping bag. Monsieur Marmot.

The wind was so strong that sometimes it blew us around a bit. And it was really really cold. It was below zero up there.

But of course the views were incredible.

We were so freezing that we sheltered behind a rock wall at the top, to protect us from the bastard bitch fatherfucker wind. It was super rocky, and the rocks were sharp, so we dug little butt holes for our buttholes, so we could sit comfortably numb.

At the top we could see six different countries. Yep, it's true. We were so high (elevation-wise) that we could see over many borders that surrounded us, in this very border-heavy region. So standing up there we could look into China, Pakistan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, and, of course, Tajikistan.

But don't ask me where they all are. Our Pamiri friend had told us that interesting fact about this spot. I've never ever seen so many countries from one place, only on the www.

The way down was so much easier than the way up, of course.

Marmot Tajikistan HQ.

Eventually we headed back into the van, and made our way over the Khargush Pass, bouncing and rattling our way along the horribly corrugated and slow road to eventually reach the M41 again - the Pamir Highway.

But we didn't stay on it for long, veering off on another corrugated goat track to the beautiful Bulunkul, a stunning high altitude lake, where we camped for the night.

It was freezing, and there was no firewood, so we had an early one. During the night the wind picked up and I thought I'd need to re-fortify my tent, but I fell asleep instead, and luckily I was still there in the morning.

It snowed overnight, but only a sprinkle on my tent. But lots in the surrounding hills.

To Murghab

Lisa felt crap again the next day.

Damn!

She's so over being sick, and thinks it may have been caused by doing the high altitude hike when she wasn't fully recovered.

We'd planned to do a hike that next morning, but the weather was crap. It started to snow in the morning, and we drove into the little town of Bulunkul, where again we met Ali, Wilma and the other Lisa. Ali told us the spot we were planning to hike in was part of the Tajik National Park, and that we'd need to pay a total of a whopping 50€ just to all get in with our vehicle.

Well, that made our minds up, because our total cash reserves are less than that now. There was no ATM at Ishkashim, so we're really hoping to find one when we get to Murghab, as we're Somoni broke. We need Somoni.

Not sure exactly what we'll do if we can't get cash out there.

So anyway instead of hiking in the morning we drove in the snow to the little settlement town of Alichur.

It was snowing.

This building was pumping out government propaganda. All the way out here. And when everyone's at home trying to get warm. Good luck with that.

We went for a walk, and found a spot to eat. Lisa and I even got a vegetarian soup, Beni's had yak meat in it, and we broke up our bread and threw it in the soup, just like the locals do.

It was so great to be somewhere warm, and to eat something hot.

As we headed towards the main town in the eastern Pamir, Murghab, the weather cleared on and off, and we sometimes strolled around and explored the magnificent scenery.

Pretty desolate innit.

We eventually found the most incredible spot to stay for the night, in a stunning isolated valley about 10 clicks short of the town, and when we arrived the sun was out and there was no wind.

It was divine.

But Lisa was still feeling crap, her fever's back, and this time she has a sore throat too. We really feel bad for her.

I chilled in my tent late in the day, and the wind picked up. Before I knew it my tent was being blown so hard from the side that I had to physically push the tent out so the tent poles didn't snap.

Being in tents can be so intense.

I managed to get out and attach ropes to four corners of the tent, as the rain began to fall, and the wind continued to blow a gale.

But then it all cleared up, and it was as if nothing had happened.

Animal lair. Not exactly sure which animal.

We ate a delicious beetroot cabbage and potato soup in the van, chatted, and when I returned to my tent there was a huge yak with sharp horns hanging around it.

But he was a friendly yak, despite his gruff and hairy demeanour. He yakked off when I politely asked him to hit the road, yak.

And all he did for the rest of the night was spit and blubber and make yak growly noises.

Along with his many yak mates.

Moonrise from the van

Camping At 4000m

I awoke to a very icy tent.

I took some pics and then went back to sleep.

Luckily I was pretty much warm enough all night. Beni told me it got down to minus 2 degrees, but my cold weather gear, and the extra blanket they donated to me, was enough to keep the worst of the icy cold out.

Those guys have a diesel-powered heater in their van.

Of course, our campsite was absolutely stunning when I got up, and so was the scenery for the rest of the day. I've now become accustomed to magnificent mountain scenery as part of my daily routine, as this Pamir region is so remote and so free of human activity that it's basically stunning everywhere you look.

And pretty much all of the time.

We rolled into Murghab, a slightly larger town (but still small), and had to organise a few things - money, border permits, dropping some gear off for some  other people etc, and to stock up on supplies.

The town is just so interesting, a windswept outpost in a very remote region.

Some years ago the border between Tajikistan and Kygyspztan was open, and Murghab was a bustling town. Goods from Kyrgyzstan flowed freely across the border, as the large town of Osh, in the fertile and industrious Fergana Valley, is much closer than any decent sized town on the Tajik side.

But since border clashes between the two countries first erupted in 2004, and then greatly escalated in 2021, relations have remained frosty. Some of the border regions are complicated, with various enclaves of certain countries lying fully within other countries.

So the border remains closed.

Except for tourists with permits, like us.

As a result of the closure many local people have now left Murghab, as their businesses can no longer survive. It's quiet, and nothing much seems to happen. All the small shops are closed, but if you're lucky you can knock and eventually someone will come from another building and unlock it for you.

Prices are exorbitant (by Tajik standards), as all goods have to travel on crazy bad roads for at least 2-3 days to get there.

The beautiful Erali Guesthouse. We had organised our Kyrgyz border permits through these guys.

Love th EU flag

The entrance to the bank. You'd honestly never know it's a bank. We couldn't get money here either.

Yurt lunch spot

We got some veg plov here at the Pamir Hotel. Plov is a very common and simple rice dish in Central Asia, and is basically steamed rice fried with a few grated carrots, and normally served with meat mixed inside. Here they serve it with yak meat. Lisa and I skipped on that bit.

Plov is basically the Central Asian version of pilaf, the common Indian rice dish. Central Asians are proud of their plov, but most of the ones I've tried have been pretty bland, in my opinion.

Amazing cemetery on the way out of town

We then slowly climbed around a thousand metres up, and finally crossed the Ak-Baital Pass, the second highest international highway pass in the world, at 4655m.

The views all the way were stunning

But there was nothing much up there, no sign, nothing. This sign was quite a long way down on the other side.

It got late, and we stopped at this beautiful place off the road.

Our campsite was at an elevation of over 4000m, the highest campsite I've ever had the pleasure to sleep at.

It was windy, and icy cold, and I set up my tent as it began to get dark, and eventually sheltered in the warmth of the van.

Full moon coming

What an absolute blessing it is to be able to camp in a place like this.

But it's bloody cold outside.

Kyrgyzstan Beckons Again

Sadly, Beni and Lisa and I are nearing the end of our time together. It's been incredible hanging out with them, sharing 2 whole weeks together. We've had some unforgettable times.

In a couple of days, Insha'Allah, we'll cross the Tajik/Kyrgyz border, and head to the small Kyrgyz town of Sary Tash.

From there, they'll head east to China, and I'll head northwest to Osh, and then back into Uzbekistan, and back to my bike.

It's been an incredible journey in the Pamir, but it's not quite over yet.

This is one of the most remote, and most spectacular mountain areas I've ever visited.

Maybe you should come and have a look.

But don't forget your beani❤️

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