From Murghab to Ishkashim
Welcome back to our journey through beautiful and rough Tajikistan with its kind and hospitable people. The night we arrived in Murghab, we didn't sleep well because of the high altitude, moreover, my friend had a strong headache and felt really dizzy. That's why, as we sat at the table with the locals eating breakfast, we decided to leave the "exploration" of the Murghab's surrounding for our way back. Right after we gulped the last bite of the typical Tajik bread with strawberry marmalade we jumped into the car and got going.
We were barely behind the last house of Murghab when another checkpoint popped-up in front of us. The house looked abandoned, but the ramp was down, so I gave it a minute before I got out of the car and went to the door. Knock-knock-knock. Another minute passed and a sleepy soldier opened. Once again the same drill: passports, visas, permits, car documents. As it turned out, each checkpoint in Tajikistan had its own special way how to lure money out of tourists. This time the tinted rear windows of our car caught the attention of the soldier. He considered a huge problem that this feature had not been noted in the car documents. I tried to persuade him that it wasn't a problem if the car had been made like this in the Ford factory (which was not our case :) ) and that it should be noted in the documents only when it has been done afterwards in some workshop. So we had a heated discussion whether this is the case A or B (I ain't throwing another 10 bucks out of the window for nothing, but otherwise I am really generous guy ;)). Eventually, a can of pork meat spread and a small bottle of Fanta did the job. Despite being in a Muslim country, this was the second - but not the last - time, pork meat saved our asses ;) Setting him up with nutritious breakfast cheered him up and we were free to go.
The road after Murghab was in a pretty bad condition, but as we later found out, not the worst we were going to experience. We still did 100 kilometres in about 2 - 2,5 hours. As we passed along yurt camps, sheep herds and tiny settlements consisting of only a handful of houses I caught myself thinking many times "How can anyone survive or even live here?". The area is so barren and harsh in summer I don't dare to imagine what winter must look like. Constantly rising we arrived at the Khargush Pass and got the first glimpses of the Wakhan Corridor and the mountains of the Hindu Kush. My expectations were big and I thought of this part of the road as the most adventurous and magnificent one. To find out whether this was true we had to pass the next checkpoint :)
This one consisted of two small dirt-made shelters and two, bored to death, soldiers with AK-47s hanging on their shoulders who greeted us yawningly. The standard screening procedure went ahead. These guys had also inspected our backpacks and the cargo area thoroughly which helped them a lot in their negotiations later on. As it turned out, this time we had a serious problem and not one made up by the soldiers. We passed two checkpoints in Kyrgyzstan, both sides of the border control and two other checkpoints in Tajikistan and now, after so many kilometres, one of the soldiers noticed (I swear we hadn't known about it) that the car papers didn't match the license plate. Yes, we were carrying documents of another rental car the whole time and nobody had found out. We couldn't believe it, neither could the soldiers and they started to question everything we told them. Among other things the way we got down there, almost to the Afgan border. It was very naive (from my side) to think that a pair of meat spread cans and two cokes would have settled this. One of the soldiers called their supervisor with a walkie-talkie. He arrived on foot in no time from the nearby barracks. After he had been told what was going on and inspected all the papers by himself, he called his supervisor. In the meantime, we continued to host the first three guys with bread, cookies, meat spreads and soft drinks. The supervisor of the supervisor must have been someone of big importance, at least in these barracks. I could see that because of the respect (maybe even dread) the checkpoint soldiers had for him and because of the 40 minutes, it took him to come. Also, when he arrived, there was no sign of the feast the three had previously had on the bonnet of our car. They hid everything in a blink of an eye once they saw him coming. Honestly, it was a really uncomfortable situation. Just a brief look at us was enough for him to evaluate the situation. He didn't want to see any papers or documents before he reached the verdict: "Tourists, not spies. Let them pass and deal with it at the next checkpoint. I have better things to do. One Fanta, one Coke and 10 dollars" :) We were so relieved and happy.
Everything we went through was forgotten moments later as we got to the part where the road follows the river Panj. The horizon opened and on the Afghan side of the river, the Wakhan Corridor presented itself in its full rough beauty. The more we drove on the curvy gravel road with steep scarp on our left-hand side, the more peaks of the Hindu Kush mountain range rose up into the skies in front of us. Sometimes small currents crossed our way and the dust converted into a slippery mud so we had to slow down a bit. But it only helped us to better appreciate the indisputable charm of this place. For me, personally, this was the most exciting section of the whole journey and it outdid all the expectations I had had. Continuously descending we arrived in the picturesque village of Langar (2800m).
We spent the afternoon in Langar resting and enjoying the sunny weather in the garden of our hosts. A young family with two kids, who were running barefoot around us all the time, offered us their living room for a night for 10 US dollars per person with dinner and breakfast included. An unbeatable deal considering the unobstructed view of the mountains their place offered.
The next morning, with all the signs of headache or dizziness gone, we had a peaceful and smooth day ahead of us. Only 150 kilometres were to be conquered and we decided to use this opportunity to make two or three small detours. We strolled through the village of Vrang and climbed (by car) to the Yamchun Fort which perched some couple hundred meters above the Wakhan valley. It wasn't in great shape, but definitely worth seeing as it is the most preserved Silk Road outpost in Tajikistan.
Later that day we arrived in Ishkashim (a Tajik-Afghan border village) where we stayed for two nights before we hit the road again. To find out what happened there and how we concluded our M-41 journey come back to our blog in two weeks ;)
Useful tip: I have mentioned it already, but I find it important to stress it once again. Pre-stock heavily in Osh or Dushanbe, depending on where you start from, with plenty of basic food and water/soft drinks. Not only will you have the "luxury" of having a snack or drink between the settlements along the road, basic food also provides you with a very powerful edge during negotiations with whomsoever. Trust me, you will need it.
We were barely behind the last house of Murghab when another checkpoint popped-up in front of us. The house looked abandoned, but the ramp was down, so I gave it a minute before I got out of the car and went to the door. Knock-knock-knock. Another minute passed and a sleepy soldier opened. Once again the same drill: passports, visas, permits, car documents. As it turned out, each checkpoint in Tajikistan had its own special way how to lure money out of tourists. This time the tinted rear windows of our car caught the attention of the soldier. He considered a huge problem that this feature had not been noted in the car documents. I tried to persuade him that it wasn't a problem if the car had been made like this in the Ford factory (which was not our case :) ) and that it should be noted in the documents only when it has been done afterwards in some workshop. So we had a heated discussion whether this is the case A or B (I ain't throwing another 10 bucks out of the window for nothing, but otherwise I am really generous guy ;)). Eventually, a can of pork meat spread and a small bottle of Fanta did the job. Despite being in a Muslim country, this was the second - but not the last - time, pork meat saved our asses ;) Setting him up with nutritious breakfast cheered him up and we were free to go.
The road after Murghab was in a pretty bad condition, but as we later found out, not the worst we were going to experience. We still did 100 kilometres in about 2 - 2,5 hours. As we passed along yurt camps, sheep herds and tiny settlements consisting of only a handful of houses I caught myself thinking many times "How can anyone survive or even live here?". The area is so barren and harsh in summer I don't dare to imagine what winter must look like. Constantly rising we arrived at the Khargush Pass and got the first glimpses of the Wakhan Corridor and the mountains of the Hindu Kush. My expectations were big and I thought of this part of the road as the most adventurous and magnificent one. To find out whether this was true we had to pass the next checkpoint :)
This one consisted of two small dirt-made shelters and two, bored to death, soldiers with AK-47s hanging on their shoulders who greeted us yawningly. The standard screening procedure went ahead. These guys had also inspected our backpacks and the cargo area thoroughly which helped them a lot in their negotiations later on. As it turned out, this time we had a serious problem and not one made up by the soldiers. We passed two checkpoints in Kyrgyzstan, both sides of the border control and two other checkpoints in Tajikistan and now, after so many kilometres, one of the soldiers noticed (I swear we hadn't known about it) that the car papers didn't match the license plate. Yes, we were carrying documents of another rental car the whole time and nobody had found out. We couldn't believe it, neither could the soldiers and they started to question everything we told them. Among other things the way we got down there, almost to the Afgan border. It was very naive (from my side) to think that a pair of meat spread cans and two cokes would have settled this. One of the soldiers called their supervisor with a walkie-talkie. He arrived on foot in no time from the nearby barracks. After he had been told what was going on and inspected all the papers by himself, he called his supervisor. In the meantime, we continued to host the first three guys with bread, cookies, meat spreads and soft drinks. The supervisor of the supervisor must have been someone of big importance, at least in these barracks. I could see that because of the respect (maybe even dread) the checkpoint soldiers had for him and because of the 40 minutes, it took him to come. Also, when he arrived, there was no sign of the feast the three had previously had on the bonnet of our car. They hid everything in a blink of an eye once they saw him coming. Honestly, it was a really uncomfortable situation. Just a brief look at us was enough for him to evaluate the situation. He didn't want to see any papers or documents before he reached the verdict: "Tourists, not spies. Let them pass and deal with it at the next checkpoint. I have better things to do. One Fanta, one Coke and 10 dollars" :) We were so relieved and happy.
Everything we went through was forgotten moments later as we got to the part where the road follows the river Panj. The horizon opened and on the Afghan side of the river, the Wakhan Corridor presented itself in its full rough beauty. The more we drove on the curvy gravel road with steep scarp on our left-hand side, the more peaks of the Hindu Kush mountain range rose up into the skies in front of us. Sometimes small currents crossed our way and the dust converted into a slippery mud so we had to slow down a bit. But it only helped us to better appreciate the indisputable charm of this place. For me, personally, this was the most exciting section of the whole journey and it outdid all the expectations I had had. Continuously descending we arrived in the picturesque village of Langar (2800m).
We spent the afternoon in Langar resting and enjoying the sunny weather in the garden of our hosts. A young family with two kids, who were running barefoot around us all the time, offered us their living room for a night for 10 US dollars per person with dinner and breakfast included. An unbeatable deal considering the unobstructed view of the mountains their place offered.
The next morning, with all the signs of headache or dizziness gone, we had a peaceful and smooth day ahead of us. Only 150 kilometres were to be conquered and we decided to use this opportunity to make two or three small detours. We strolled through the village of Vrang and climbed (by car) to the Yamchun Fort which perched some couple hundred meters above the Wakhan valley. It wasn't in great shape, but definitely worth seeing as it is the most preserved Silk Road outpost in Tajikistan.
Later that day we arrived in Ishkashim (a Tajik-Afghan border village) where we stayed for two nights before we hit the road again. To find out what happened there and how we concluded our M-41 journey come back to our blog in two weeks ;)
Useful tip: I have mentioned it already, but I find it important to stress it once again. Pre-stock heavily in Osh or Dushanbe, depending on where you start from, with plenty of basic food and water/soft drinks. Not only will you have the "luxury" of having a snack or drink between the settlements along the road, basic food also provides you with a very powerful edge during negotiations with whomsoever. Trust me, you will need it.