Back to Osh (via Khorog)
Here I go again! You are about to read the final post about our journey along the legendary M-41.
The plans for Ishkashim were clear: take a rest in lower altitudes after four bumpy days on the road, walk on the banks of the river Panj and visit the Afghan border market.
There were no obstacles in executing the first bullet from our list. We had booked two nights in a guesthouse far in advance and we had chosen well. The carpeted patio in front of the house was the place where I relaxed, talked to my Hojancha on the satphone and enjoyed the delicious breakfast and dinner prepared by our host.
As for the second bullet, we managed that one too despite being warned by the locals not to go too close to the river. We were told, there were some cross-river shooting casualties some time ago. We didn't push our luck too much and made just a brief 30-minute walk along the river bank on the outskirts of Ishkashim. We didn't go out of the village and thus had to watch our steps as every imaginable rubbish from the locals had been thrown out there. That seemed to me by far more dangerous than the possibility of being shot by someone from the opposite side of the river.
We couldn't visit the Afghan border market as we had planned because the Tajiks had closed the border bridge in Ishkashim (security issues) approximately three months before we arrived there. As I am not a savvy passport stamps collector, it didn't bother me that much (however, my friend got a little bit depressed).
Two days in Ishkashim passed very quickly. While filling the tank of our car at the local gas station before departing from the village I got in chitchat with a policeman who was on guard there. He was very curious about our home country, what it looked like etc. and couldn't understand why somebody from land with moderate climate would want to come to this deserted part of the world. I grabbed him by the shoulder ;) and turned him around by 180 degrees so he faced the monumental mountains. He understood, but it didn't change his mind and told me that he would leave right away if he could. I understood likewise. Life here isn't a fairy tale, I suppose.
The road to Khorog meandered the same way the Tajik-Afghan border did. We passed only one checkpoint. Everything went smoothly there and we left without any delays or problems. By that time I was so used to the "Fanta and a meat spread" procedure that I entered every checkpoint booth with passports in one hand and the snack combo in the other one. I guess it was not always necessary but it certainly never did any harm :).
In Khorog, which is the only city in Pamir, we had a couple of hours to re-stock with water, bread and biscuits. I know, it seems we only ate bread and biscuits, but despite all the vaccinations that we had, we preferred not to take the risk and not to visit the local doctors ;). We visited the main square and the tourist office where we found out that the Tajik president was about to come to Murghab and thus for security reasons the Tajik-Kyrgyz border will be closed for an undisclosed amount of time. This was no good news for us at all. We knew we had to make it back to the Kyzylart Pass in 3 days latest to pass the border safely.
Back in our car, we were heading towards Murghab. Some 50 kilometres after Khorog the road started to become a real pain. This was by far and without any doubts the worst section of the whole route. There was no way we could cover more than 20 kilometres an hour because of the large number of deep potholes. It was almost dusk when we arrived in a tiny settlement with only a hand full of houses in the middle of nowhere. The moment we turned off the engine, a local woman approached us and offered us a Tajik style b&b for 5 USD pp. Although to be fair it was a half board :). This kind of welcome was being repeated every time we stopped anywhere we went.
The next morning we left very early for two reasons. Firstly, we were afraid of the road conditions which were still ahead of us. Secondly, we wanted to arrive in Murghab around noon and be able to drive a bit around it as we had found an old observatory marked on the road map and wanted to give it a chance. It seemed surreal to me to find an observatory in this emptiness. We were lucky, the road got much better very soon after we left our hosts. Not only were we able to arrive in Murghab before lunch and "car-roam" around it, but we also managed to drive to the Shorkul and Rangkul lakes on the same day. Btw. they weren't spectacular :)
The moment of truth came the next day at the Kyzylart Pass = Tajik-Kyrgyz border crossing. As we didn't hear any news about the presidential visit since we left Khorog, we weren't sure whether the border was still open and if they allow us to cross it. My worries dissolved in a split second once the same guy we had seen a week ago asked me for our meat spread :) he obviously liked it. I gave him both cans we had left plus a coke and just like that we were back in Kyrgyzstan. By the way, none of the officers knew anything about the president coming to the region. I dared to ask only when I was sure we had been allowed to go on.
Later that day we arrived in Osh. Due to the change in our itinerary and one-day postponement of the return flight to Istanbul we now had almost three full days to discover the city. We strolled through the streets and among others visited the Osh New Mosque, the Dom Babura Mosque and saw the famous statues of V. I. Lenin and Alymbek Datkanyn Aykeli. Other authentic and tasty experiences awaited us on the Jayma Bazaar where we could taste local dishes like tandoor samsa - puffed baked dough with meat filling and oromo - steamed layered dough filled with chunks of meat, fat and vegetables. I didn't regret our early return to Osh in any way.
This was it. Nothing more, nothing less. An amazing road trip through rough land with its hospitable people. I really hope you liked reading about it. Don't be shy :) and let me hear your comments and thoughts. I am always happy to get back to you.
I almost forgot to share with you the summary of our checkpoint outlays: 2x biscuits, 3x loaf of bread, 5x bottle of water, 5x Coke, 7x meat spread can, 8x Fanta. It was definitely worth it when one considers that they let us pass with wrong car papers, two bottles of schnapps and accepted pork meat as "a gift".
Brace yourself for something more "tropical" soon ;) in two weeks time it's Hojancha's turn again and you don't wanna miss it!
P.S. this is the observatory somewhere near Murghab :)
The plans for Ishkashim were clear: take a rest in lower altitudes after four bumpy days on the road, walk on the banks of the river Panj and visit the Afghan border market.
There were no obstacles in executing the first bullet from our list. We had booked two nights in a guesthouse far in advance and we had chosen well. The carpeted patio in front of the house was the place where I relaxed, talked to my Hojancha on the satphone and enjoyed the delicious breakfast and dinner prepared by our host.
As for the second bullet, we managed that one too despite being warned by the locals not to go too close to the river. We were told, there were some cross-river shooting casualties some time ago. We didn't push our luck too much and made just a brief 30-minute walk along the river bank on the outskirts of Ishkashim. We didn't go out of the village and thus had to watch our steps as every imaginable rubbish from the locals had been thrown out there. That seemed to me by far more dangerous than the possibility of being shot by someone from the opposite side of the river.
We couldn't visit the Afghan border market as we had planned because the Tajiks had closed the border bridge in Ishkashim (security issues) approximately three months before we arrived there. As I am not a savvy passport stamps collector, it didn't bother me that much (however, my friend got a little bit depressed).
Two days in Ishkashim passed very quickly. While filling the tank of our car at the local gas station before departing from the village I got in chitchat with a policeman who was on guard there. He was very curious about our home country, what it looked like etc. and couldn't understand why somebody from land with moderate climate would want to come to this deserted part of the world. I grabbed him by the shoulder ;) and turned him around by 180 degrees so he faced the monumental mountains. He understood, but it didn't change his mind and told me that he would leave right away if he could. I understood likewise. Life here isn't a fairy tale, I suppose.
The road to Khorog meandered the same way the Tajik-Afghan border did. We passed only one checkpoint. Everything went smoothly there and we left without any delays or problems. By that time I was so used to the "Fanta and a meat spread" procedure that I entered every checkpoint booth with passports in one hand and the snack combo in the other one. I guess it was not always necessary but it certainly never did any harm :).
In Khorog, which is the only city in Pamir, we had a couple of hours to re-stock with water, bread and biscuits. I know, it seems we only ate bread and biscuits, but despite all the vaccinations that we had, we preferred not to take the risk and not to visit the local doctors ;). We visited the main square and the tourist office where we found out that the Tajik president was about to come to Murghab and thus for security reasons the Tajik-Kyrgyz border will be closed for an undisclosed amount of time. This was no good news for us at all. We knew we had to make it back to the Kyzylart Pass in 3 days latest to pass the border safely.
Back in our car, we were heading towards Murghab. Some 50 kilometres after Khorog the road started to become a real pain. This was by far and without any doubts the worst section of the whole route. There was no way we could cover more than 20 kilometres an hour because of the large number of deep potholes. It was almost dusk when we arrived in a tiny settlement with only a hand full of houses in the middle of nowhere. The moment we turned off the engine, a local woman approached us and offered us a Tajik style b&b for 5 USD pp. Although to be fair it was a half board :). This kind of welcome was being repeated every time we stopped anywhere we went.
The next morning we left very early for two reasons. Firstly, we were afraid of the road conditions which were still ahead of us. Secondly, we wanted to arrive in Murghab around noon and be able to drive a bit around it as we had found an old observatory marked on the road map and wanted to give it a chance. It seemed surreal to me to find an observatory in this emptiness. We were lucky, the road got much better very soon after we left our hosts. Not only were we able to arrive in Murghab before lunch and "car-roam" around it, but we also managed to drive to the Shorkul and Rangkul lakes on the same day. Btw. they weren't spectacular :)
The moment of truth came the next day at the Kyzylart Pass = Tajik-Kyrgyz border crossing. As we didn't hear any news about the presidential visit since we left Khorog, we weren't sure whether the border was still open and if they allow us to cross it. My worries dissolved in a split second once the same guy we had seen a week ago asked me for our meat spread :) he obviously liked it. I gave him both cans we had left plus a coke and just like that we were back in Kyrgyzstan. By the way, none of the officers knew anything about the president coming to the region. I dared to ask only when I was sure we had been allowed to go on.
Later that day we arrived in Osh. Due to the change in our itinerary and one-day postponement of the return flight to Istanbul we now had almost three full days to discover the city. We strolled through the streets and among others visited the Osh New Mosque, the Dom Babura Mosque and saw the famous statues of V. I. Lenin and Alymbek Datkanyn Aykeli. Other authentic and tasty experiences awaited us on the Jayma Bazaar where we could taste local dishes like tandoor samsa - puffed baked dough with meat filling and oromo - steamed layered dough filled with chunks of meat, fat and vegetables. I didn't regret our early return to Osh in any way.
This was it. Nothing more, nothing less. An amazing road trip through rough land with its hospitable people. I really hope you liked reading about it. Don't be shy :) and let me hear your comments and thoughts. I am always happy to get back to you.
I almost forgot to share with you the summary of our checkpoint outlays: 2x biscuits, 3x loaf of bread, 5x bottle of water, 5x Coke, 7x meat spread can, 8x Fanta. It was definitely worth it when one considers that they let us pass with wrong car papers, two bottles of schnapps and accepted pork meat as "a gift".
Brace yourself for something more "tropical" soon ;) in two weeks time it's Hojancha's turn again and you don't wanna miss it!
P.S. this is the observatory somewhere near Murghab :)
