The cherry grove and buying a house

Fredag d. 20. oktober 2017 - Lørdag 21. oktober 2017                     (Update d. 03. januar 2018)

Dushanbe - Kirsebær lunden 35 km
Kirsebærlunden - Tursunzoda 35 km

I dag var det årsdagen for starten af vores rejse, vi havde været undervejs i 365 dage og dagen gik hen og blev lige så mindeværdig, som da vi startede vores rejse fra Billund.
Vi have to dage til at cykle 75 kilometer, som var distancen til den uzbekiske grænse, så vi havde god tid. Det var måske derfor vi glemte nogle ting i køleskabet da vi cyklede afsted fra Green House. Heldigvis kom vi i tanke om det, da vi havde cyklet den første kilometer. Så en af os måtte cykle tilbage og hente madvarene.
Vi fandt ud af Dushanbe og cyklede afsted i en tågedis af støv. To dage forinden havde der været en sandstorm, som havde dækket alt i et tyndt lag støv. Det var ikke noget vi mærkede noget til, da det skete i løbet af natten. Det kunne tydeligt ses dagen efter, hvor der var støv overalt.
Vi holdt en længere frokost pause under et stort kastanje træ og efter frokost cyklede vi 10 kilometer mere inden vi fandt et sted i en kirsebær lund, hvor vi kunne tætte vores telte op.
Inden vi satte teltene op, lå vi og slappede af og fik drukket et par kopper kaffe. Imens vi lå der, kom en mand hen til os og gjorde tegn til at How skulle følge efter ham. Det gjorde How og da han kom tilbage, fortalte han at manden havde et telt der var bygget op på en platform og der måtte vi sove om natten hvis vi ville.
Vi gik hen for at kigge nærmere på teltet. Der var lige plads til tre personer og hvis vi satte en presenning op på hver side, blev teltet næsten helt lukket til. 
Perfekt tænkte vi, så skulle vi ikke sætte teltene op. Manden blev ved os et stykke tid og vi forsøgte at snakke lidt med ham. Til al held ville jeg tage et billede med min mobil telefon, af manden og os. Imens jeg var igang med det kunne jeg pludselig se at min far ringede via Skype. Han ville bare lige ringe og fortælle at huset var vores. Vi blev noget forbavset og helt rundt på gulvet. Vi troede at huset var solgt til det andet par.
Men min far kunne fortælle at grunden til at vi fik huset, var fordi jeg havde sendt mailen fra banken til ham. Den mail have han så vist ejendomsmægleren, da han var ude og se huset og derved kom vi forest i køen, da accepten fra det andet hold ikke var gået endnu. Faktisk drejede det sig om 1 time. For da ejendomsmægleren kom tilbage på kontoret efter at have vist huset frem, til mine forældre. Fik han accepten fra det andet hold.
Så det må siges at være: A close call!!!
How var helt forvirret og vidste ikke om vi tog fis på ham. Han havde været en del af det hele fra start, men var nu vidner til at vi havde købt hus.
Inden vi lagde os til at sove, havde How og Marianne lavet en aftale om at de skulle ud og kigge på meteor regn, da det var annonceret i nyhederne at det skulle finde sted. En ting er hvad man aftaler og en ting er hvad det bliver til. How havde løftet pressiningen og kigget ud klokken to og da han ikke kunne se noget, havde han vendt sig om og sovet videre.
How havde ingen appetit næste morgen og havde det ikke godt. Alligevel spiste han havregrød og drak kaffe.
Hans tilstand blev bare værre op af dagen. Flere gange måtte han stoppe for enten at gå på toilet eller at kaste op. Vi havde virkelig ondt af ham. Men til al held skulle vi kun cykle en kort distance, selvom det var hårdt nok for ham.
Vi fandt et sted bag en tankstation, hvor vi først lå og slappede af. Vi snakkede om hvor vi skulle finde et sted at sove. Vi kunne ikke cykle ret meget længere, da vi ikke var langt fra grænsen til Uzbekistan.
Da vi havde siddet bag ved  tankstationen noget tid, dukkede en venlig mand op, han inviterede os hjem til sig. Det er lige på den anden side af vejen. Her viser han os et rum vi kunne sove i, men pga. sandstormen der havde været var rummet fuldstændingt støvet til. I stedet for spørger vi om vi ikke må sætte vores telte op i gården til huset. Det var ikke noget problem sagde manden. Så det gjorde vi.
Godt for How, som havde brug for hvile og nu kunne han slappe af i hans telt. Faktisk tog vi alle en god lur og da vi vågnede igen, havde How det en smule bedre.
Senere kom manden og sagde at hans kone ville lave aftenmad til os. Så det skulle vi ikke tænke på. Maden blev servert indenfor i et værelse, som for var sat i stand for nyligt. Manden fortalte os at han havde købt hele ejendommen med gården og ville lave et værksted for lastbiler.
Imens vi sad og spiste, kom der to fyre som gerne ville snakke med os. Hele samtalen forgik via google translate og vi fik en snak omkring biler og lastbiler. De ville også gerne vide hvordan det var at leve i Tyskland?
Tror ikke helt de forstod vi kom fra Danmark. Vi blev meget overrasket over hvor lidt biler kostede i Tajikistan.
Opel er den bil alle køre i. Hvis vi prøvede at tælle biler på vores vej, så var 9 biler ud af 10 en Opel og den tiende en lada.
Nu havde vi været i Tajikistan i mere end en måned og vi kunne se tilbage på en masse dejlige oplevelser, både krævende men bestemt også utrolig flotte og hvor vi igen havde mødt en masse søde og spændende mennesker. Foran os lå Uzbekistan og vi var meget spændte på hvad det kunne byde på.
En ting vidste vi. Vi skulle igennem et kæmpe ørken område og det var vi meget spændte på hvordan det ville blive, da vi aldrig har prøvet at cykle i en ørken.
Men først skulle vi igennem et krævende grænse tjek, som vi have hørt mange skræk historier omkring.
Mere herom i bloggen om Uzbekistan
 

English

Friday, October 20, 2017 - Sunday, October 22, 2017                     (Updated 03. january 2018)

Dushanbe - Cherry grove 35 km
Kirsebærlunden - Tursunzoda 35 km
Tursunzoda - Denov (Uzbekistan) 46 km

This day was the anniversary of the start of our trip, we had been on the road for 365 days and the day went by and became as memorable as when we started our trip from Billund.
We had two days to cycle 75 kilometers, which was the distance to the Uzbek border, so we had plenty of time. Mayby That's why we forgot some things in the fridge when we rode off from the Green House. Fortunately, we remembered it when we had cycled the first kilometer. So one of us had to ride back and pick up the food.
We found our way out of Dushanbe and cycled in a fog of dust. Two days before, there had been a sandstorm that had covered everything in a thin layer of dust. It was not something we noticed when it happened during the night. It could be clearly seen the day after as dust was everywhere.
We spent a longer lunch break under a big chestnut tree and after lunch we rode 10 kilometers more before we found a place in a cherry grove where we chose to stay for the night.
Before we put up the tents, we lay and relaxed and drank a few cups of coffee. While we were there, a man came to us and made signs that How should follow him. How followed and when he came back, he told that there was a tent that was built on a platform and we could sleep there if we wanted to.
We went there to take a closer look at the tent. There was room enogh for three people and if we put up a tarpaulin on each side, the tent was almost completely closed.
Perfectly we thought, we should not pitch the tents then. The man stayed with us for a while and we tried to talk a little with him. This was our luck, I wanted take a picture with my mobile phone, of the man and us. While I was doing it, I suddenly could see my dad called via Skype. He just wanted to call and tell us that the house was ours. We got a little surprised and all very happy. We thought the house was sold to the other couple.
But my dad could tell that the reason we got the house was because I had sent the mail from the bank to him. He showed that mail to the estate agent when he was out to see the house and thereby we got to the front of the queue, as the acceptance from the other people had not gone through yet. In fact, it was about 1 hours notis. Because when the real estate agent returned to the office after showing the house to my parents. He got the acceptance from the other couple.
So it has to be said: A close call !!!
How was confused and did not know if we caught him? He had been a part of everything from the start, but was now witnessing that we had bought a house.
Before we went to sleep that night, How and Marianne had made an appointment to look out for the meteor rain as it was announced in the news that it should take place. One thing is what one agrees and one thing is what it will be. How had lifted the tarp at two o'clock to see if enyting was happening and when he could not see anything, he had turned around and kept sleeping.
How had no appetite the next morning and did not feel well. Still, he ate oatmeal and drank coffee.
His condition just got worse during the day. Several times he had to stop either to go to the toilet or to throw up. We really felt sorry for him. But to our luck w only had to ride a short distance, even though it was hard for him.
We found a place behind a gas station where we first lay and relaxed. We talked about where to find a place to sleep. We could not ride a lot longer because we were not far from the border with Uzbekistan.
As we had been sitting behind the gas station some time, a friendly man appeared, he invited us to his home. It was just across the road. Here he showed us a room we could sleep in, but because of the sandstorm that had been the room was completely dusted. Instead, we ask if we could put our tents up in the yard of the house. That was no problem, said the man. So we did.
Good for How, who needed rest and now he could relax in his tent. In fact, we all took a good nap and when we woke up again, How felt a little better.
Later the man came and said that his wife would make dinner for us. So we should not think about making food ether. The food was served inside a room that had been rebuilt recently. The man told us that he had bought the entire property with the yard and wanted to make a truck repair shop there.
While we were eating, there were two guys who would like to talk to us. The whole conversation went on  through google translate and we talked about cars and trucks. They would also like to know how it was to live in Germany?
Do not think they fully understood we came from Denmark. We were amazed how little cars cost in Tajikistan.
Opel is the car all drive in. If we tried to count cars on our way, 9 cars out of 10 were an Opel and the tenth one a Lada.
Now we had been in Tajikistan for more than a month and we could look back on a lot of lovely experiences, both demanding but certainly also amazing and where we had met a lot of sweet and exciting people again. In front of us lay Uzbekistan and we were very excited about what it could offer.
One thing we knew. We were going through a huge desert area and we were very excited about how it would be, as we never tried to ride in the desert.
But first we had to go through a demanding border check, which we had heard many crazy stories about.
More about this in the blog about Uzbekistan.

Dushanbe days and a big surprise

Lørdag d. 14. oktober 2017 - Torsdag d. 19. oktober 2017                    (Update 02. januar 2018)

7 dage i Dushanbe

Dagene på Green House Hostel blev nogle dejlig dage. Vi brugte weekenden til at udfylde vores ansøgninger til det Uzbekiske visum og Janneke havde forklaret os, hvad vi skulle gøre når vi kom hen til ambassaden.
Topchan Hostel i Tashkent, havde ordnet letter of invitation, så vi var klar til at tage på ambassaden når den åbnede mandag morgen.
Ambassade besøget blev en sjov oplevelse.
Først skulle vi skrives ind i en bog ved indgangen og derefter måtte vi vente indtil vores navne blev kaldt op.
Vi blev kaldt op efter 15 minutter, nu kunne vi gå ind og aflevere vores ansøgninger, hvorefter vi fik at vide: Wait outside!! 
Her stod vi i 2 timer og ventede. Imens kunne vi følge slagets gang. Vi var ikke de eneste der ventede på et visum. Der var godt og vel 100 andre udenfor. Når et visum var klar til afhentning, blev navnet råbt op via en højtaler og så skulle vedkommende bane sig vej igennem menneske mængden, for at gå ind i bygningen og hente sit pas med visum.
Alle havde de mest mystiske navne, som ingen af os ville kunne udtale. Sjovt var det, da de skulle råbe vores navne op, for istedetfor at råbe vores navne, blev der råbt Dania, Dania og Malaysia.
Da vi var kommet igennem menneske mængden, fik vi vores pas udlevert, men først skulle vi betale 75 USD og How 105 USD. Men de havde forviklet et eller andet, for Heidi skulle betale 75 USD og jeg kom til at betale 105 USD og How 75 USD. Vi kunne godt regne ud de havde fået byttet rundt på sedlerne med betaling.
Men på ambassaden, sagde de at Marianne havde ansøgt om express service. Det var jo funny, vi have alle aflevert på samme tid og alle fået passene tilbage på samme tid.
Vi gad ikke forklare mere og ordnede det selv bagefter over en god kop kaffe på en dejlig cafe´.
Dagene gik med afslapning. How havde brug for nogle reservedele til hans cykel, så en af dagene cyklede han ud til den store bazar og fandt nogle ting han kunne bruge. Det er ikke fordi der er cykel handlere på disse kanter, som kan reparere ens cykel.
Vi var det meste af tiden på overnatnings stedet, hvor vi drak masse af kaffe og hyggede sammen med de mennesker der boede der. Vi snakkede specielt meget med to fyre fra Schweiz, som var på vej i jeep og motorcykel fra Vladivostok til Schweiz og et andet par (Martin og Nathalie) også fra Schweiz der var på en længere rejse igennem Central Asien. Så var der et par fra England, som var undervejs i en gammel øst europærisk bil. De havde haft problemer med bilen og imens den blev lavet boede de på Green House.
Disse oplevelser, hvor vi møder andre rejsende undervejs, er altid noget vi ser tilbage på som unikke øjeblikke.
Alle har en historie at fortælle og det er altid spændende at høre hvad andre har oplevet.
Vi blev ialt 8 nætter i Dushanbe. Vi kunne have nøjes med 5 nætter, med da vi var i Khorogh og skulle regne os frem til hvornår vi ville ankomme til Dushanbe og ansøge om visum, havde vi taget højde for at det måske kunne tage længere tid at cykle dertil end det gjorde.
Det dumme er at visumet til Uzbekistan er dato bestemt og gælder kun for 30 dage. Så for os var det vigtigt at vi cyklede ind i Uzbekistan præcis d. 22. oktober hvorfra visumet var gældende, så vi havde 30 dage til at cykle igennem landet. Det gav os et par spild dage, men måske kroppen havde godt af det efter turen igennem bjergene.
En af dagen begyndte vi at snakke om, hvordan det ville være at komme hjem igen. Vi havde 4 1/2 måned tilbage af rejsen og vi havde sat den 1. marts 2018, som vores hjemkomst dato.
Vi nød tiden på cyklerne, men samtidig er det lang tid at være væk fra familie og venner. Der er mange ting vi er gået glip af og afsavnet kan til tider være svært. En anden ting vi skulle så småt til at tage stilling til var. Hvor skulle vi bosætte os, når vi var på dansk jord igen????
Heidi havde kigget af og til på boligsiderne via internettet og vi var kommet frem til at Bredsten kunne være en mulighed for os. Tæt til Vejle og tættere på vores arbejde.
Inden vi tog afsted på rejsen, havde vi boet de sidste måneder på landet og fundet ud af, at vi ikke behøvede at bo i en større by. Der er ikke langt til alting i Danmark og med en bil er alt indenfor rækkevide.
Et par dage før vi cyklede afsted fra Dushanbe, kiggede vi begge på boligsiderne. Her så vi et hus vi totalt forelskede os i. Vi snakkede om at egentlig var det nu vi skulle slå til, for en handel kunne godt tage længere tid. Men hvordan kunne vi gøre det, hvor vi sad mange tusinder kilometer hjemmefra.
En masse ting blev sat igang. Først og fremmet skulle vi have accept fra vores bank, om at vi kunne købe huset. Så det blev første skridt. En mail blev sendt afsted.
Nu ventede vi med spænding på hvad svaret ville blive. Banken vendte tilbage og sagde at det kunne vi sagtens købe og de syntes også at huset så fint ud.
Næste spørgsmål blev, hvem kunne se på huset for os. Valget faldt på Marianne´s far og til al held kendte han en byggesagkyndig, som kunne tage med ud og kigge på huset.
Marianne´s far ringede til ejendomsmægleren for at lave en aftale. Desværre var huset næsten solgt, da der allerede var to hold der havde kig på det. Men ejendommægleren ville stadig gerne vise huset frem, for som han sagde: så længe der ikke er sat en underskrift er huset stadig til salg. Så de lavede en aftale om en fremvisning.
Inden fremvisningen med ejendomsmægleren tog Marianne´s far og Erik (Den byggesagkyndige) ud for at kigge på huset og til al held var ejeren hjemme, så det endte med at de kom indenfor og fik en rundvisning.
Vi fik at vide det var et hus i perfekt stand og lige til at flytte ind i. Men samtidig sagde min far at huset var solgt til det andet par. Så vi ærgede os meget over vi ikke havde set huset noget før.
Men det blev ikke enden på den historie, som du kan læse i næste afsnit.
 

English

Saturday 14 October 2017 -  Thursday 19 October 2017                                   (Updated 02nd january 2018)

7 days in Dushanbe

The days at Green House Hostel were some lovely days. We used the weekend to fill out our applications for the Uzbek visa and Janneke had explained what to do when we arrived at the embassy.
Topchan Hostel in Tashkent had arranged the letter of invitation so we were ready to go to the embassy when it opened Monday.
The Embassy visit became a fun experience.
At first we had to be writtin into a book at the entrance and then we had to wait until our names were called.
Our names were called up after 15 minutes, now we could go in and submit our applications after which we were told: Wait outside !!
Here we stood for 2 hours and waited. In the meantime, we could follow the course of the battle. We were not the only ones waiting for a visa. There were about 100 other outside waiting. When a visa was ready for pickup, the name was shouted out by a speaker and the person was forced to get through the crowd to enter the building and retrieve his passport with a visa.
Everyone had the most mysterious names, none of us could pronounce. It was funny when they shouted our names because instead of shouting our names, Dania, Dania and Malaysia were called out.
When we got through the crowd we got our passports, but first we had to pay 75 USD and How 105 USD. But they had complicated something, because Heidi had to pay 75 USD and I came to pay 105 USD and How 75 USD. We could figure out they had exchanged the banknotes with payment.
But at the embassy, ​​they said that Marianne had applied for express service. It was funny, we have all delivered at the same time and everyone got the passes back at the same time.
We did not manage to explain more and arranged it afterwards over a nice cup of coffee at a nice cafe.
The days went by with relaxation. How needed some spare parts for his bike, so one of the days he rode to the big bazaar and found some things he could use. It's not because there are bicycle dealers around in these places that can repair one's bike.
We spent most of the time at the place where we drank lots of coffee and enjoyed talking to the people who stayed there. We talked a lot with two guys from Switzerland, who were traveling by Jeep and motorcycle from Vladivostok to Switzerland and another couple (Martin and Nathalie) also from Switzerland who was on a longer journey through central Asia. Then there were a couple from England who were on their way in an old East European car. They had problems with the car and while it was repaired they stayed at Green House.
These experiences, where we meet other travelers along the way, are always something we look back at as unique moments.
Everyone has a story to tell and it's always exciting to hear what others have experienced.
We stayed for 8 nights in Dushanbe. We could have stayed for only 5 nights but when we were in Khorogh and wondering when we would arrive in Dushanbe and apply for a visa, we had taken into account that it could take longer to cycle there than it did.
The stupid thing is that the visa to Uzbekistan is a date specific and only valid for 30 days. So for us it was important that we cycled into Uzbekistan exactly on October 20th from which the visa was valid, so we had 30 days to cycle through the country. It gave us a few wasted days as we could have cycled earlier, but maybe the body enjoyed the rest after the trip through the mountains.
One day we began to talk about how it would be to return home again. We had 4 1/2 months left of the trip and we had put March 1, 2018, as our return date.
We enjoy the time on the bikes, but at the same time it's a long time to be away from family and friends. There are many things we have missed and missing people can sometimes be difficult. Another thing we had to decide on was: Where would we settle when we were on Danish soil again ????
Heidi had looked through the internet occasionally and we found that Bredsten could be an opportunity for us. Close to Vejle and closer to our work.
Before we left for the trip, we had lived the last months in the country side and found out that we did not have to live in a larger city. It is not far to everything in Denmark and with a car everything is within range.
A few days before we drove off from Dushanbe, we looked at the housing webpages. Here we saw a house we totally fell in love with. We talked about what we should do as a house trade could take longer. But how could we do that where we sat thousands of kilometers away from home?
A lot of things were started. First and foremost, we needed a accept from our bank that we could buy the house. So it became the first step. An email was sent.
Now we were excited about what the answer would be. The bank returned and said that we could easily buy it and they also thought the house looked nice.
The next question was who could look at the house for us. The choice fell on Marianne's father and for all good he knew a construction expert who could take a look at the house togehter with him.
Marianne's father called the real estate agent to make an appointment. Unfortunately, the house was almost sold, as there were already two couples who had a look at it. But the property broker would still like to show the house because, as he said, as long as there is no signature, the house is still for sale. So they made an appointment anyways.
Before the appointment with the real estate agent, Marianne's father and Erik (The building expert) went to look at the house and fortunately the owner was at home so they ended up coming inside and had a good look at the house.
We were told it was a house in perfect condition and ready to move into. But at the same time my father said that the house was sold to the other couple. So we were sad that we had not seen the house earlier.
But it was not the end of the story, which you can read in the next section.

To Dushanbe on nice roads and two tunnels

Søndag d. 8. oktober 2017 - Fredag d. 13. Oktober 2017                    (Update d. 29. december 2017)

Qal Ia Khumb - 3 km efter Zigar 69 km
3 km efter Zigar - Starten af hårnålesvingene 55 km
Hårnålesvingene - Kulob 59 km      (14.000 km cyklet ialt)
Kulob - 3 km efter Sovetskiy   76 km
3 km efter Sovetskiy - Nurak 51 km
Nurak til Dushanbe 54 km

Vi var alle friske til at cykle igen og kom afsted som planlagt. På vej ud af Qal Ia Khumb holdt vi ved en tankstation for at købe brændstof til madlavning. Der var ingen strøm så pumperne virkede ikke, men det var der taget højde for. Der var hældt benzin på store tønder. Benzinen vi fik, stod inde i bygningen i en plastbeholder og et syltetøjsglas blev brugt til at fylde op med. Der var benzin overalt. Tror ikke den var gået i Danmark.
Fra Qal ai Khumb er der to mulige veje at køre til Dushanbe. Der er Nord ruten på meget dårlig grusvej det meste af vejen plus den har en lang hård stigning og der er Syd ruten, som er 80 kilometer længere end Nord ruten, men den vej er betydelig bedre og asfalt det meste af vejen. Vi valgte Syd Ruten, da vi havde fået nok af dårlig vej.
Vi cyklede stadig langs med floden og den Afghanske grænse. Nogen gange kunne vi se små landsbyer på den anden side. Andre gange var de næsten helt usynlige, fordi de faldt i med naturens farver andre gange var de bygge højt over os på en klipperand.
Vi nød at cykle på god vej igen og at vi kunne cykle noget hurtigere end vi havde gjort i lang tid. Vores campingsted blev et sted How havde fundet via Maps.me. Stedet lå 3 kilometer udenfor byen Zigar og lige efter en lille militærbase. Vi blev nødt til at at tage alt vores bagage af cyklerne for at løfte alt ned over nogle store sten til stedet vi kunne sætte teltene op. Igen var vi lige ved floden og Afghanistan var lige på den anden side. Vi var lidt betænkelige ved at slå lejr der, efter vi kunne huske hvad manden havde sagt nogle dage forinden. Men vi havde ikke noget alternativ, da dalen snævrede sig ind længere fremme, så der kun var plads til vejen.
Da vi havde slået teltene op, fik vi besøg af 4 soldater. Ved hjælp af de få russiske ord vi kunne og tegn sprog, kunne vi forklare vores gøremål og soldaterne sagde: Karasho som betyder OK på russisk. Senere på aftenen, blev vi noget forskrækket, da der pludselig var nogen der tændte et skarpt lys hen imod os. Det viste sig at være den kommanderende fra militærbasen, som også lige ville tjekke op på os. Han kunne lidt engelsk og sagde at hvis der blev noget i løbet af natten, skulle vi bare råbe højt, så ville de høre os og komme os til hjælp. Jeg ved ikke helt om vi blev mere trygge af at få den besked!!!
Endnu en god nats søvn og alt havde været fredeligt. Morgenen var så smuk. Vi sad og fulgte solens stråler sprede mere og mere lys på bjergene imens vi spiste morgenmad. Dagen bød på 6 store bakker og en masse små. Nogen gange var det for stejlt til at vi kunne cykle, så cyklerne blev skubbet. Senere åbnede området sig op, fra at have cykle i den smalle dal kunne vi nu kigge ud over store bløde bakker. En helt befrielse.
Vi havde egentlig regnet med at cykle mere end de 55 kilometer vi nåede, men det passede fint med at vi var ved starten af nogle hårnålesving og en meget lang stigning, så vi blev enige om at det var bedre at vente til næste dags morgen og så startet med “friske” ben op af stigningen.
Aftensmaden blev helt uforglemmelig. Vi fik lavet en lækker flødesovs, et step op i forhold til tomatsovsen vi havde spist så rigeligt af. Den var så lækker at mange dage efter snakkede vi om sovsen og var konstant på udkig efter fløde.
Det vi havde troet skulle være en stigning på 7 kilometer gik hen og blev til 17 kilometer op ad bakke. Hårnålesvingene var ikke slemme, men senere skulle vi helt ned i de lave gear for at cykle.
Vi nåede til Shuro-Obad efter vi havde cyklet klatret de 17 kilometer. Her fandt vi et sted under nogle træer hvor vi kunne sidde og spise lidt brød, smøreost, peberfrugt og Chokotella. Vi må tilstå at vi var ved at være træt af al opmærksomheden. Vi havde fået nok af Hello, Where are you from, Ad-kuda og endnu mere hello. Vi gad næsten ikke vinke eller gøre væsen af os når børn som voksende råbte eller vinkede til os.
Vi var kommet ned i 1900 meter højde og vi havde set frem til nedkørslen som lå før Gulob. Men de første 8 kilometer af vejen var i så dårlig stand at vi ikke kunne udnytte det. Senere blev det meget bedre og nu fløj vi afsted nedover med 30-40 kilometer i timen. Indtil nu havde vi næsten ikke haft noget trafik af betydning, men det ændrede sig jo tættere vi kom på Gulob. Byen er den største i den region og er en travl by. Det går virkelig op for os, hvor dejligt det havde været med næsten ingen trafik i mange dage da vi kom ind i byen. Det blev næsten stressende at cykle imellem de mange biler og specielt når dem der kørte dem: Køre som en pose nødder - citat Heidi.
Lejrpladsen blev en støvet fornøjelse. Vi var kommet på den anden side af Gulob og fandt et sted et stykke væk fra vejen. Så langt så godt. Vi havde kun lige fået sat teltene op, hvor der pludselig kom 50 køer og får der skulle gennes hjem oppe fra et græsstykke. Der hvor vi lå var kun jord og støv. så alt blev til en stor støvsky og senere kom en flok drenge fordi se skulle spille fodbold og det støvede også.
Da mørket faldt på gik de hjem, men lidt senere kom en´ af dem tilbage med brød og æbler til os og en´ anden dreng dukkede op med mælk vi skulle have som gave. Utroligt den venlighed vi mødte igen og igen.
Næste dag blev en dag igennem knastørt landskab og fordi høsten var igang mange steder, var det som om der lå en tågedis af støv over området. Undervejs oplever vi, hvordan kalkuner blev solgt lige ved siden af vejen. De hængte på et stativ med et klæde over så de er beskyttet for støv og varme. Når en bil holdt ind til siden løb mændende hen og tog kalkunen ned fra stativet og holder dem op til vinduet af bilen. Der var måske 4 - 5 kalkuner på stativet og i en indhegning lidt væk fra vejen gik levende kalkuner rundt og ventede på deres skæbne. Et andet sted blev der solgt frisk slagtet får, også lige ved siden af vejen. Det var næsten samme fremgangsmåde som med kalkunerne. At de var frisk slagtet kunne vi se, da hoved, klovene og uld lå lidt fra hvor kødet blev solgt. 
Andensidste dag inden vi nåede Dushanbe blev igen med et par lange stigninger og en tur igennem en 2 kilometer lang tunnel. Vi griner lidt da vi kom til tunnelen og tænkte tilbage på den første tunnel vi skulle igennem da vi var i Kyrgistan. Dengang var vi næsten bange for at skulle cykle igennem en tunnel. Nu var det bare noget vi gjorde. Inden vi nåede til tunnelen kunne vi nyde udsigten over Blue Lake. Navnet er meget passende da søen virkelig har den flotteste blå farve.
Lidt før tunnelen begyndte det at gå ned af og inden dagen var omme havde vi bevæget os ned fra 1300 meters højde til 590 meters højde. Vi sov ved siden af en lille sø med udsigt til bjergene. 
At starte en dag med at skulle cykle 10 kilometer opad, er ikke ønske tænkning, men det var hvad vi skulle næste dag. Vi havde aftalt med How, at han kunne bare cykle i hans tempo og så måtte han vente på os på toppen af passet. Her var der endnu en tunnel vi skulle igennem og denne gang strakte den sig 4,4 kilometer igennem bjerget. 
Turen op til tunnelen gik bedre end forventet og det tog ikke meget mere end en time at komme derop. Ved åbningen til tunnelen, blev vi mødt af en bevæbnet politibetjent. Med et stort smil gav os hånden og sagde velkommen. Han ville også vide hvor vi var fra. Så gjorde han tegn til at vi skulle sætte lys på cyklerne, inden vi måtte cykle ind i mørket. Men mørkt blev det ikke, for tunnlen var lyst op og med kæmpe udluftnings kanaler, der larmede, så vi næste ikken kunne råbe hinanden op. De første 2,2 kilometer gik let opad inden vi kunne mærke det gik nedaf og at vores hastighed blev højere og inden længe kunne vi se lyset i den anden ende.
Da vi var ude af tunnelen, var vi alle glade og selvom der kom 2 kilometer vi igen skulle cykle opad, var vi ikke til at skyde igennem.
Vi var oppe i 1300 meters højde igen og nu ventede der os en lang tur helt ned til Vahdat. Hvor var et fedt af få sådan en belønning for alt slidet.
Vadhat brød vi os ikke om, det er en større forstad til Dushanbe og her var mange mennesker og vild trafik. Det var lige før det gik galt for Marianne. Hele tiden er vi vågen overfor biler der bare køre ud fra sidevejene eller fodgængere der krydser vejen uden at se sig for, men da Marianne cykler forbi en bil der holder, er der en dame der uhæmmet åbner døren og Marianne når kun at undvige med en milimeter. I sådan en situation, kommer der ikke søde ord ud af ens mund!!!
Vi kom alle levende igennem Vadhat og nu var der kun 20 kilometer til Dushanbe, de blev tilbage lagt med høj hastighed og på stor klinge. Alle så vi frem til nogle dages velfortjent pause og så var vi spændte på hvordan det ville gå med visum ansøgningen til Uzbekistan.
Vi cyklede direkte hen til Green House Hostel og her mødte vi Janneke og Luke igen. De havde allerede været der et par dage og havde fået ordnet deres ansøgning af Uzbekistan visum, så de var en stor hjælp til hvad vi skulle gøre når vi skulle på ambassaden.
 

English

Sunday, October 8, 2017 - Friday, October 13, 2017 (Update, December 29, 2017)

Qal Ia Khumb - 3 km after Zigar 69 km
3 km after Zigar - The start of hairpin turns 55 km
Hairpin wings - Kulob 59 km (14,000 km bicycle in total)
Kulob - 3 km after Sovetskiy 76 km
3 km after Sovetskiy - Nurak 51 km
Nurak to Dushanbe 54 km

We were all feeling better to ride again and left on time. On the way out of Qal Ia Khumb, we stopped at a gas station to buy fuel for cooking. There was no power so the pumps did not work, but it was taken into notis as there had been poured gasoline on large barrels. The gasoline we got was inside the building in a plastic container and a jam jar was used to fill up our bottle. There was gasoline everywhere. Do not think it had been legal in Denmark.
From Qal ai Khumb there are two possible roads to drive to Dushanbe. There is the North route on very bad gravel road most of the road plus it has a long hard climb and there is the South route, which is 80 kilometers longer than the North route, but that road is significantly better and asphalt most of the way. We chose the South Route as we had enough of the bad roads.
We still cycled along the river and the Afghan border. Sometimes we could see small villages on the other side. Other times they were almost completely invisible because they fell in with the colors of nature other times they were build high above us on rocky clifs.
We enjoyed cycling on paved road again and that we could ride somewhat faster than we had done for a long time. Our campsite became a place How had found via Maps.me. The location was 3 kilometers outside the city of Zigar and just after a small military base. We had to take all our luggage of the bikes to lift everything down over some big stones to the place we could put the tents up. Again we were right by the river and Afghanistan was just on the other side. We were a little apprehensive about camping there after we could remember what the man had said a few days before. But we had no alternative as the valley narrowed in, so there was only room for the road.
When we had set camp we got a visit of 4 soldiers. Using the few Russian words we could and some sign language, we could explain our chores and the soldiers said: Karasho that means OK in Russian. Later in the evening, we got a little frightened when suddenly someone shone a bright light towards us. It proved to be the commander of the military base who would also wanted to check us out. He spoke English and said that if something happend during the night, we should just shout loudly, so they would hear us and come to our help.
I do not know if we were more confident of getting that message !!!
Another good night's sleep and everything had been peaceful. The morning was so beautiful. We sat and followed the sun's rays spreading more and more lights on the mountains while we ate breakfast. The day offered 6 big hills and a lot of small ones. Sometimes it was too steep for us to ride a bike so the bikes were pushed. Later the area opened up, from cycling in the narrow valley we could now look out over large soft hills. A complete exemption.
We had really wanted to cycle more than the 55 kilometers we reached, but it was fine because we were at the start of some switchbacks and a very long climb so we agreed that it would be better to wait until next morning and then start with "fresh" legs up teh climb.
The evening meal was completely unforgettable. We made a delicious cream sauce, a step up compared to the tomato sauce we had eaten so much. It was so delicious that many days after we talked about the sauce and were constantly looking for cream.
What we thought would be a 7 kilometer increase was 17 kilometers uphill. The switch backs were not bad, but later we had to go down into the low gear to cycle.
We reached Shuro-Obad after we had cycled the 17 kilometers. Here we found a place under some trees where we could sit and eat some bread, spred cheese, pepper and Chokotella. We must confess that we were tired of all the attention. We had had enough of Hello, Where are you from, Ad-kuda and even more hello. We almost did not mind to rise our hands to greet or shout Hello back to the once who shouted or waved at us.
We were at 1900 meters in height and we had looked forward to the downhill that lay before Gulob. But the first 8 kilometers of the road were so bad that we could not go fast. Later it became much better and now we flew downhill wit 30-40 kilometers per hour. Until now, we had hardly ever had any traffic of importance, but it changed the closer we came to Gulob. The city is the largest in that region and is a busy city. We really realised how wonderful it had been with almost no traffic for many days when we entered the city. It was almost stressful to cycle between the many cars and especially when those who drove them: drove like a bag of nuts - quotes Heidi.
The campsite became a fun pleasure. We had made it to the other side of Gulob and found somewhere a bit away from the road. So far so good. We had just pitched the tents, where there were 50 cows wandering though our camp. Where we lay were only soil and dust. So everything became a big dust cloud and later a bunch of boys came because they wanted to play football and that got dusty too.
When dark fell, they went home, but a little later, one of them returned with bread and apples as a present for us and another boy showed up with milk we should have as a gift. Unbelievably the kindness we met again and again.
The next day we passed through a very dusty landscape and because the harvest has started in many places, it felt as if there was a fog of dust over the area. Along the way, we experience how turkeys were sold right next to the road. They hung on a tripod with a cloth over so they were protected from dust and heat. When a car stopped to take a look at the meat, men ran down and took the turkey down from the stand and held them up to the window of the car. There were maybe 4 to 5 turkeys on the stand and in a fencing a little off the road were living turkeys waiting for their destiny. Another place they sold fresh slaughtered sheep, also right next to the road. It was almost the same as with the turkeys. That they were freshly slaughtered, we could see as the head, the clowns and the wool lay a little from where the meat was sold.
The second last day before reaching Dushanbe was again with a couple of long climbes and a trip through a 2 kilometer tunnel. We laughed a bit when we got to the tunnel and thought back on the first tunnel we were going through when we were in Kyrgyzstan. At that time we were almost afraid to cycle through a tunnel. Now it was just something we did. Before reaching the tunnel we could enjoy the view of Blue Lake. The name is very appropriate as the lake really has the most beautiful blue color.
A little before the tunnel began a nice descend and before the day was endning we had moved down from 1300 meters to 590 meters and we slept next to a small lake overlooking the mountains.
To start a day cycling 10 kilometers upwards is not wishfull thinking, but that was what we were going to do next day. We had agreed with How that he could just bike at his pace and then he had to wait for us at the top of the pass. Here was another tunnel we had to go through and this time it stretched 4.4 kilometers through the mountain.
The trip up to the tunnel went better than expected and it did not take much more than an hour to get there. At the opening of the tunnel, we were greeted by an armed police officer. With a big smile, he gave us his hand and said welcome. He would also know where we were from. Then he signaled that we had to put light on the bikes before we could ride into the darkness. But it was not dark, because the tunnel was lit with lights and with huge ventilations that made a lot of noise, so that we could not hear each other if we shouted. The first 2.2 kilometers went up easily before we could feel it went downhill and our speed got higher and soon we could see the light at the other end.
When we were out of the tunnel, we were all happy and even though there were 2 kilometers we had to cycle upwards again, we were all jolly.
We were up at 1300 meters again and now a long ride down to Vahdat awaited us. It was so nice getting such a reward for everything we had worked hard for..
We did not like Vahdat, it is a major suburb of Dushanbe and there were many people and crazy traffic. Marianne nearly had an accident there. All the time we were aware to cars just driving out of side roads or pedestrians crossing the road without taking notis at anything, but as Marianne cycles past a car that was parked, a lady unrestrained opens the door and Marianne was so close to be hit with the door. In such a situation, there are no sweet words comming out of one's mouth !!!
We all came through Vadhat alive and now there were only 20 kilometers to Dushanbe, they were cycled at high speed and nearly racing. Everyone looked forward to some days well-deserved break and we were excited about how it would go with the visa application to Uzbekistan.
We rode straight to Green House Hostel and here we met Janneke and Luke again. They had already been there for a few days and had arranged their application for the Uzbekistan visa, so they were a great help for us. They knew what we were supposed to do when we were at the embassy.

Bad roads and bad stomachs

Søndag d. 01. oktober 2017 - Lørdag d. 07. oktober 2017                    (Update d. 29. dec. 2017)

Khorogh - Pastkhuf 52 km
Pastkhuf - Qalot 60 km
Qalot - Lakhsh 54 km
Lakhsh - til 57 km efter 57 km
57 km efter Lakhsh - Bondemand 57 km
Bondemand - Qal Ai Khumb 25 km
2 pausedage i Qal Ai Khumb

Da vi cyklede ud af Khorogh, satte vi kursen imod nye eventyr. I 2015 var vores tur sluttet i Khorogh, så vi kendte ikke meget til den næste del. Vi cyklede langs med Bartang floden, som danner grænsen mellem Tajikistan og Afghanistan. Nogen steder er floden så smal at der kun er 30-50 meter til den anden side, så mange gange kunne man vinke til dem der gik på den anden side af floden eller råbe Hello til dem!!
Vi mødte flere cyklister der var på vej mod Pamir. Der var en englænder, 2 franskmænd, en enkelt franskmand og to kvinder en fra Italien og en fra England. På dette tidspunkt, havde vi givet op med at tælle, hvor mange vi havde mødt på vores vej. En ting var sikkert, der var mange flere end i 2015.
Vejkvaliteten var bedre end vi havde regnet med og vejret var perfekt, men da det var første cykel dag efter et par pausedage, skulle vi lige igang igen. Efter 52 kilometer fandt vi et dejligt sted under nogle træer lige ved floden. Her satte vi vores telte op og fik lavet dejlig aftensmad. Om aftenen forsøgte How og Marianne at tage billeder med lang lukketid, det fik de meget tid til at gå med. Imens lå Heidi i teltet og skrev dagbog.
Næste morgen var det Heidi´s tur til at have dårlig mave. Marianne havde bøvlet med det et par dage i Khorogh, så det var som om det gik på omgang. 
Nu cyklede vi langs Panj floden og den skulle vi følge i lang tid. Det var så fascinerende hvordan vejen var anlagt med floden på den ene side og bjergene på den anden, nogen gange var klippevæggen helt tæt på os, hvor den stod ret op som en mur. Flere steder kunne vi se hvordan naturens kræfter havde ødelagt vejen. Store sten var faldet ned og havde lavet huller i vejen andre steder havde der været jordskred eller stenskred. 
Vi kom igennem massevis af små hyggelige landsbyer, hvor der stod træer i smukke efterårsfarver på begge sider af vejen, det dannede en alle´og flotte sten gærer var smukt anlagt. Der var der fuld gang på markerne enten med at høste eller forberede jorden til næste sæson.
I byen Rushon fik vi en hyggelig oplevelse, med en flok skolebørn udenfor en skole. De havde alle skoleuniformer og en af pigerne havde fødselsdag. De havde lige spist kage og nu stod de udenfor for at vaske deres tallerkner. Da de så os, ville alle gerne sige Hello og how are you og hvad de ellers kunne sige på engelsk. De stillede sig fint op, da vi spurgte om vi måtte tage et billede af dem.
Flere steder fik vi foræret æbler og tomater. Så vi havde tomater til at lave sovs af og æbler kunne vi spise til dessert. Gæstfriheden ville ingen ende tage. Vi fortsatte langs med floden og igennem den gigantiske natur, som skar sig igennem landskabet.
I Qalot fandt vi et lille stykke med græs, hvor to telte fint kunne stå og ikke nok med det, så var der et intermistisk squat toilet tæt på. Det var ren og skær luksus i vores øjne.
Vejens kvalitet skiftede fra god asfalt til grus med store sten og store huller. Lige som man troede, nu kan jeg bare give gas, så skiftede underlaget og man skulle være 100 % opmærksom. Kroppen blev godt banket igennem, især nakken og ryggen fik tur. 
På den Afghanske side af floden, kunne vi følge med i hvordan en ny vej var ved at blive bygget. Det meste forgik med håndkraft og blev hygget ud i klippevæggen. En mand brugte en stor jernstang til at vippe en kæmpe klippe blok ned i floden, men et ordentlig plask. Vi hørte eksplotioner og gik ud fra at det var når større klipper skulle sprænges væk. For os at se et vildt projekt, der vil tage mange år at fuldføre.
Vi skulle mest køre ned af, men skulle også bekæmpe nogle bakker og grumme stigninger. Når vejen er på den måde er det meget hårdere end når vi skal cykle op af en lang stigning på flere kilometer. Det skiftenede landskab trætter meget mere.
I Lakhsh spurgte vi om vi måtte slå vores telte op bag ved en købmand, fordi der var et stykke med græs. Men dem vi spurgte kiggede for ferdtet på os og sagde Afghanistan og peger over floden. En anden mand kom og viste os over til en skole og en klinik, som lå væk fra floden. Han forklare os at lige derover på den anden side af floden ligger Afghanistan og de er nogle bøller. Han holder hans arm op som om det er et gevær. Vi tænker han vil forklare os at de kan finde på at skyde ovre fra den anden side. Så vi følger hans råd og slå teltene op ved skolen. Det var midt i byen, så da vi havde slået teltene op fik vi besøg af nogle børn fra landsbyen. De sagde ikke meget, men stod bare og kiggede på hvad vi lavede. Vi fik endda taget billeder af dem, det ville de gerne have. Det sjove er at de ser så alvorlige ud og faktisk var det ikke kun dem, men mange af dem vi har taget billeder af har en meget alvorlig mine.
Heidi havde fået det bedre i løbet af natten, mens jeg havde fået symptomer på influenza. Jeg havde sovet meget uroligt og følte mig ikke godt tilpas. Men vi var opsat på at skulle videre mod Qal Ai Khumb og måske kunne vi nå dertil på en dag. Så jeg tog et par piller for at slå feberen ned og det hjalp. Lige fra start, var der nogle drablige bakker vi skulle over og der var ingen af os der syntes det var sjovt. Vi kunne godt mærke de sidste dages cykling i kroppen og benmusklerne var godt ømme. 
Vejene var nogen gange, så smalle af vi måtte holde ind til siden når en bil eller lastbil kom kørende. Hvor end vi kiggede hen havde vi bjergene helt tæt på os. Det var virkeligt flot, men vi begyndte at savne at landskabet skulle åbne sig op. Floden havde været meget rolig på den første del vi cyklede, men jo længere ned vi kom jo mere vild og brusende blev den. 
Vi kæmpede for at nå så mange kilometer som muligt, da vi måtte indse at vi ikke kunne nå til Qal Ai Khumb, som vi havde håbet på. Vi nåede 57 kilometer og så var dagen på sit sidste. Her spurgte vi en dame ved et hus, om vi måtte slå vores telte op på deres jord. Her var en fin have med små plateauer, hvor vi kunne finde plads til vores telte. Marianne havde det ikke godt overhovedet. Ondt i hele kroppen.
Alle var trætte, så inden vi fik sat teltene op, lå vi på How´s presenning og kiggede lige op i luften imens vi snakkede om hvad vi havde oplevet.
Da vi skulle sætte vores telt op, endte det med vi blev sure på hinanden. Nogen gange kommer vi til at bøvle for meget med teltet og denne dag var en af dem. Vi kunne ikke finde plads nok så det kunne stå udstrakt og Marianne ville gøre det på en måde og Heidi på en anden. Enden på det hele blev at Heidi fik lov at gøre det selv. Det kan ikke undgåes, at der kommer et skænderi af og til når vi er sammen i døgnets 24 timer. Men der går aldrig lang tid inden vi er venner igen.
Da teltet var sat op, kravlede Marianne direkte ned i soveposen og faldt i søvn med alt tøjet på. Hun fik det bare værre og værre. How og Heidi snakkede om de skulle lave aftensmad. How lavede quick nudler og Heidi spiste lidt yoghurt. Igen af os havde den store appetit.
Natten blev et marridt både for How og Marianne. Marianne løb på toilet massevis af gange i løbet af natten med dårlig mave og How blev også medlem af dårlig mave klubben. Om morgenen kom det ud af begge ender fra Marianne og på et tidspunkt var hun ved at besvime. Det var ikke godt!! Det virkede uoverskueligt at vi skulle cykle de sidste 25 kilometer til Qal Ai Khumb. Men omvendt kunne vi ikke blive hvor vi var. Så alle kræfter blev sat i værk, så vi kunne komme afsted.Vi havde også lavet en aftale med Lars fra Check-in bladet om interview, så vi følte vi måtte kæmpe os til byen. 
Turen til Qal Ai Khumb føltes som om den forgik i slow motion. På flad vej gik det godt nok, men lige så snart der kom en bakke, var det lige før jeg var grædefærdig. Der var ingen kræfter. How var også mærket. Vi lignede noget der var løgn. Heidi og How havde spist en yoghurt før vi cyklede afsted. Jeg havde ikke spist noget, da jeg ikke havde appetit.
Da vi havde cyklet 10 kilometer prøvede jeg at spise en lille yoghurt og senere købte vi nogle granatæbler, hvor jeg også spiste lidt af. Ellers var det ren vilje styrke der bragte os til Qal Ai Khumb. Her fandt vi et Guest House og alle faldt om udmattet i deres seng. Heidi fik kontaktet Lars og udsat interviewet til næste dag, hvor vi håbede på at have det bedre.
Senere gik How og Heidi hen for at købe lidt yoghurt og væske. Ellers lavede vi ingenting. Jeg fik yoghurt og drak lidt vand og begyndte at få det en smule bedre. How spiste en masse og fik det langsom bedre.
Vi blev 3 nætter i Qal Ai Khumb, så alle kunne komme til kræfter. På anden dagen fik vi besøg af Chris og Dea. Et engelsk dansk par, vi havde haft kontakt med via Facebook. Dea kommer faktisk fra Grindsted, hvor Marianne også er fra. De var på vej fra Europa til Kina og videre derfra til USA og syd Amerika. Deres mål er at blive ved så længe det er sjovt og så længe der er penge til det.
Vi havde regnet med at møde dem i Khorogh, men de havde haft problemer med Chris´s cykel og havde måttet vente i flere dage på en reservedel i Dushanbe. Men undervejs var vi blevet opdateret på Chris og Dea´s status, fra nogle af de andre cyklister vi mødte. Sådan helt på old fashion måde, fordi Dea og Chris ikke var online da de cyklede fra Dushanbe mod Qal Ai Khumb.
Det var ren og skær held, at de ankom til samme guest house som os. Ejeren af stedet, havde stået ud på vejen og set dem komme og så havde han sagt til dem: Come Other cyclist at my place. På den måde lykkedes det at vi mødtes.
De blev kun en dag og vi fik snakket om mange ting. Skønt at det lykkedes at møde dem. Chris har endda skrevet en bog (No wrong turns - Amazon) om en tur han har foretaget for nogle år siden og han er igang med at skrive en ny bog. Salget af bogen er med til at finanscerer deres tur.
Chris og Dea cyklede afsted næste dag og inden de kom afsted, fik vi taget fælles billeder og ønsket dem en god tur. Vi begyndte at gøre klar til at cykle næste dag, med indkøb og andre småting. Næste mål var at nå Dushanbe og det måtte vi se hvor lang tid det ville tage.

English

Sunday, October 01, 2017 - Saturday, October 7, 2017                (Update 29. december 2017)                  

Khorogh - Pastkhuf 52 km
Pastkhuf - Qalot 60 km
Qalot - Lakhsh 54 km
Lakhsh - 57 km after 57 km
57 km after Lakhsh - Bondemand 57 km
Bondman - Qal Ai Khumb 25 km
2 rest days in Qal Ai Khumb

As we rode out of Khorogh, we sat the course towards new adventures. In 2015, our trip ended in Khorogh, so we did not know much about the next part. We cycled along the Bartang River, which forms the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. In some places the river is so narrow that there are only 30-50 meters to the other side, so many times you could wave to those who walked on the other side of the river or shout Hello to them !!
We met more cyclists who were heading for Pamir. There was an Englishman, 2 Frenchmen, one Frenchman and two women one from Italy and one from England. By this time, we had stopped counting how many we had met on our way. One thing was for sure, there were many more than in 2015.
The road quality was better than we had expected and the weather was perfect, but as it was the first bike day after a couple of restdays, we had to start  our bodies again. After 52 kilometers we found a nice place under some trees just off the river. Here we put our tents up and made a nice dinner. In the evening, How and Marianne tried to take pictures with long shutter time, which gave them a lot of time fun. Meanwhile, Heidi was in the tent and wrote the diary.
The next morning, Heidi's had a bad stomach. Marianne had spent a couple of days in Khorogh with bad stomach aswell, so it was as if it was on going.
Now we rode along the Panj river and we should follow that for a long time. It was so fascinating how the road was running along the river on one side and the mountains on the other, sometimes the rock wall was quite close to us and it rose a straight up like a wall. In many places we could see how the forces of nature had destroyed the road. Large stones had fallen down and had made holes in the road elsewhere there had been landslides or rock slides.
We came through lots of small cozy villages, where trees were in beautiful autumn colors on both sides of the road, it formed an alley and beautiful stone ferrets were beautifully landscaped. People worked hard in the fields either to harvest or prepare the soil for the next season.
In Rushon, we had a nice experience, with a bunch of schoolchildren outside a school. They had all school uniforms and it was one of the girls birthday. They had just eaten cake and now they stood outside to wash their plates. When they saw us, everyone would like to say Hello and how are you and what else they could say in English. They stood so nicely when we asked if we could take a picture of them.
Several places we received apples and tomatoes. So we had tomatoes to make sauce and apples we could eat for dessert. The hospitality did not end in this nice country. We continued along the river and through the gigantic nature that stretches through the landscape.
In Qalot we found a small piece of grass, where our tents could stand well beside eachother, there was an intermittent squat toilet close by. It was pure luxury in our eyes.
The road quality changed from good asphalt to gravel with large stones and large holes. Just as you thought, now I can go fast, the surface changed and you should be 100% aware. The body was well used all the time, especially the neck and back got sore. After a day on these roads.
On the Afghan side of the river, we could follow how a new road was being built. Most of it was made by hand and was hammered out into the rock wall. A man used a large iron rod to tilt a huge cliff block into the river, with a proper splash. We heard explosions and assumed that it was when bigger cliffs were blown away. For us to see a wild project that will take many years to complete.
We should mostly drive downwards, but had to fight some steep hills and moan climbs aswell. When the road is that way, it is much harder than when we have to climb a long climb. The shifted landscape tires a lot more.
In Lakhsh we asked if we could pitch our tents behind a grocery store because there was a piece of grass. But those we asked looked at us and said Afghanistan and pointing over the river. Another man came and showed us to a school and a clinic that was away from the river. He explains that just on the other side of the river lies Afghanistan and they are some bullies. He held his arm up as though it was a gun. We think he wanted to explain to us that they might shoot from the other side. So we follow his advice and pitch the tents at the school. It was in the middle of the town, so when we had put up our tents. Some children from the village came along to see what we were doing. They did not say much, but just stood watching what happend. We even got pictures of them, they were ok with it. The funny thing is that they look so serious and actually it was not just them, but many of them we took pictures of had a very serious mine.
Heidi had gotten better during the night while I had symptoms of flu. I had slept very uneasily and did not feel comfortable. But we were keen to move on to Qal Ai Khumb and maybe we could go there in one day. So I took a couple of pills to beat the fever and it helped. Right from the start, there were some bad hills we had to climb and there was none of us who thought it was fun. We could feel the last days of cycling in the body and the leg muscles were very sore.
The roads were sometimes so narrow we had to hold into the side when a car or truck was passing. Whenever we looked, we had the mountains quite close to us. It was really nice, but we started to miss the landscape to open up. The river had been very calm on the first part we rode, but the farther down we came the more wild and roaring it became.
We struggled to reach as many kilometers as possible when we realized that we could not reach Qal Ai Khumb, as we had hoped for. We managed 57 kilometers and then the day was at its end. Here we asked a lady at a house if we could put up our tents on their ground. Here was a nice garden with small plateaus where we could find room for our tents. The lady said yes no probelm. Marianne did not feel well at all. Her whole body was sore and she had fever.
Everyone was tired so before we put up the tents we lay on How's tarpaulin and looked straight up in the air while we talked about what we had experienced that day.
When Heidi and I had to set up our tent we ended up fighting. Sometimes we are messing too much with the tent and this day was one of them. We could not find enough space for it and Marianne would do it one way and Heidi another. The end of all was that Heidi was allowed to do it herself. It can not be avoided that there is a quarrel from time to time when we are together 24 hours a day. But within short time we are friends again.
When the tent was set up, Marianne crawlled straight down into the sleeping bag and fell asleep with all the clothes on. She just got worse and worse. How and Heidi talked about making dinner. How made some quick noodles and Heidi ate a small yogurt. Non of us had any appetite.
The night became a nightmare for both How and Marianne. Marianne ran to the toilet a lot of times during the night with bad stomach and How also became a member of the bad stomach club. In the morning, it came out of both ends from Marianne and at some point she was nearly fainting. This was not good!! It seemed inconceivable that we would cycle the last 25 kilometers to Qal Ai Khumb. But conversely we could not stay where we were. So all the forces were put in place so we could get out. We had also made a deal with Lars from the Check-in magazine about  an interview so we felt we had to fight our way to the town.
The trip to Qal Ai Khumb felt like it was done in slow motion. On flat road, it went well, but as soon as a hill came, it was just before I was crying out in tears. There was no effort. How was also wasted? We looked like shit. Heidi and How had eaten a yogurt before we rode off. I had not eaten anything since I had no appetite.
When we had cycled 10 kilometers, I tried to eat a small yogurt and later we bought some pomegranates, where I also ate a little of. Otherwise, it was pure will of strength that brought us to Qal Ai Khumb. Here we found a guest house and everyone fell onto their beds and fell asleep at once. Heidi contacted Lars and postponed the interview to the next day, hoping to feel better.
Later, How and Heidi went to buy some yogurt and liquid. Otherwise, we did nothing. I got yogurt and drank some water and started to get a bit better. How ate a lot and got better slowly.
We stayed 3 nights in Qal Ai Khumb, so everyone could get their strenth back. On the second day, Chris and Dea an English Danish couple showed up at he guest house. We had written together via Facebook. Dea was actually from Grindsted, where Marianne also are from. They were on their way from Europe to China and further from there to the United States and South America. Their goal was to keep going as long as it's fun and as long as they have money for it.
We had planned to meet them in Khorogh, but they had had trouble with Chris's bike and had to wait several days for a spare part in Dushanbe. But on the way, we had been updated on Chris and Dea's status, from some of the other cyclists we met. Such a fashionable way because Dea and Chris were not online when they rode from Dushanbe to Qal Ai Khumb.
It was hardly fortunate that they arrived at the same guest house as us. The owner of the place had stood on the road and saw them come and then he had said to them: Come Other cyclist at my place. That way we managed to meet.
They only stayed one day and we talked about many things. So great we got to meet them. Chris has even written a book (No Wrong Turn - Amazon) about a trip he had been doing some years ago and he is writing a new book. The sale of the book helps to finance their trip.
Chris and Dea rode away the next day and before they left, we took some pictures of us together and wished them a good trip. We started getting ready to ride the day after and did some shopping and other things. Next goal was to reach Dushanbe and we had to see how long it would take.

 

Khorogh - Help my bike is on fire

Torsdag d.28. september 2017 - Lørdag d. 30. september 2017       (Update 29. dec 2017)

Rozhak - Khorogh 61 km
2 pausedage i Khorogh

Heidi´s forslag om at stå op klokken 6, skulle vise sig at være en mindre god ide´. Morgenen var bidende kold og solens stråler nåede overhovedet ikke ned i dalen hvor vi befandt os. Da vi spiste morgenmad sad vi og frøs og da teltene skulle pakkes sad frosten stadig i telt dugen.
Det var først da vi begyndte at cykle at vi fik varmen. Der var vildt hvor stor temperatur forskellen var mellem at være i skyggen og ude i solens dejlige stråler.
Vi cyklede langs med en flot flod og kunne næsten ikke lade være med at kigge på den. Vinden var svag men stadig modvind og jo tættere vi kom på Khorogh jo flere landsbyer cyklede vi igennem.
12 kilometer før byen kom vi igennem et område, hvor der har været et stort stenskred og derfor var vejen lagt om. Her var vandet i floden tyrkisblå og et sted stod der døde træer ude i vandet som ligner kulisserne til en hobbit film. Et andet sted kunne vi se at vandmasserne havde oversvømmet et hus og elmaster stod også under vand.
Overfladen af vandet var helt spejlglat, så træerne, bjergene og huse afspejlede sig i vandet. Det var så flot og vi brugte en del tid på at nyde synet og tage billeder.
Så kom den grumme stigning før byen. Det er et sted, hvor det ikke har være muligt at anlægge vejen langs med floden, i stedet for har man lavet en stejl vej op af bjerget og en åben tunnel vi skulle igennem, inden vi kort tid efter kunne krydse bygrænsen til Khorogh.
Vi cyklede direkte hen til Cafe´ Luni. Det havde været vores stam cafe´ i 2015.
Her parkerede vi cyklerne lige udenfor døren og gik ind for at spise frokost. Alt imens vi sad der, blev det lige en tand for dramatisk.
Pludselig var der nogle mænd udenfor der råbte højt, vi forstod ikke hvad der var galt. Men da mændende pegede hen mod Marianne´s cykel, kunne vi regne ud at et eller andet var galt. Så vi løb ud af Cafe´en. Vi kunne ikke tro vores egne øjne. 
Marianne´s cykel brændte!!! Jeg nåede at tænke: hvordan fanden kan min cykel brænde, den har jo igen motor??? Men forklaringen var, cyklen stod et niveau under hvor folk gik på gaden. En eller anden havde tændt en cigaret og smidt tændstikken, uden af se hvor den røg hen. Tændstikken var så havnet bag på Marianne´s cykel, hvor hendes rack pack sad og oven på den sad teltet fastspændt sammen med hendes cykel jakke og det var det der brændte. Heldigvis fik vi hurtigt slukket ilden. Der var brændt hul i jakken, så den ikke kunne bruges mere og det ene håndtag på bag tasken var brændt over. Til al held var der ikke brændt hul i teltet. 

Vi blev 3 nætter i Khorogh, hvor vi brugte tiden på at ansøge om LOI (Letter of invitation) til Uzbekistan. Dette kunne vi gøre via internettet. Hostel Topchan som ligger i Uzbekistan har en formular på deres hjemmeside, som vi udfyldte og sammen med en kopi af vores pas blev det sendt til dem. Betalingen skulle sendes via paypal. Visum til Uzbekistan kunne vi først ansøge om, når vi havde Letter of invitaion. Det tager typisk mellem 6-10 dage at få den. Så for os passede det fint, da vi regnede med at det ville tage 10 - 12 dage at cykle til Dushanbe og det var her vi skulle ansøge om visum til Uzbekistan.
Vi var også på Indisk restaurant i Khorogh. Det var dejligt at få noget helt andet at spise end den traditionelle plov, brød og te. Vi boede på Nigor Guesthouse, som lå lige i midten af byen. Tæt til bazaren, købmænd og de små spisesteder.
Aftenen før vi ville cykle, dykkede Sara op på Nigor´s. Der blev ikke sagt meget. Det eneste vi udvekslede var oplysningerne om hvor vi ansøgte om LOI og næste morgen da vi var klar til at cykle, sagde vi farvel til hende og at vi måske ville ses i Dushanbe.

English

Thursday, 28th. September 2017 - Saturday, September 30, 2017          (Update 29.dec 2017)

Rozhak - Khorogh 61 km
2 pausedage in Khorogh

Heidi's proposal to get up at 6 o'clock turned out to be a less good idea. The morning was biting cold and the sun's rays did not reach the valley where we were. When we ate breakfast we sat and froze and when the tents were to be packed, the frost was still in the tent cloth.
It was only when we started cycling that we got warm. It was crazy how much temperature difference there was between being in the shade and out in the sun's lovely rays.
We rode along a nice river and could hardly ignore to look at it because it was so beautifull. The wind was weak but still headwind and the closer we came to Khorogh the more villages we cycled through.
12 kilometers before the city, we came through an area where there had been a large landslide and therefore the road was changed. Here the water was turquoise blue and there were dead trees in the water that resembled the scenes of a hobbit movie. In another place, we could see that the water had flooded a house and electricity pooles was also under water.
The surface of the water was completely still, so the trees, mountains and houses reflected in the water. It was so nice and we spent some time enjoying the view and taking pictures.
Then came the hard climb before the city. It is a place where it has not been possible to build the road alongside the river, instead of there has built a steep road up the mountain and an open tunnel we had to go through before we could cross the Khorogh district boundary shortly thereafter.
We rode straight to Cafe'Luni. It had been our favorite cafe´ in 2015.
Here we parked the bikes right outside the door and went in for lunch. Whilst we sat there, it became just a little too dramatic.
Suddenly there were some men outside who shouted loudly, we did not understand what was wrong. But when the men pointed towards Marianne's bike, we could figure out something was wrong. So we ran out of the Cafe. We could not believe our own eyes.
Marianne's bike was on fire !!! I was thinking: how the hell can my bike be on fire, is has no engine ??? But the explanation was, the bicycle stood one level below where people walked on the street. Someone had lit a cigarette and threw the match without looking at where it ended. The match had ended on the back of Marianne's bike, where her rack pack was and on top of it the tent was tied up with her bike jacket and that was what burned. Fortunately, we quickly stopped the fire. The fire had burned a hole in the jacket, so it could not be used anymore and one handle of the bag was burned and broken as well. Fortunately, the tent did not get burned.
We stayed 3 nights in Khorogh, where we spent time applying for the letter of invitation to Uzbekistan. We could do this via the internet. Hostel Topchan located in Uzbekistan has a formular on their website which we filled in and together with a copy of our passports it was sent to them. Payment should be sent via paypal. We could first apply for a visa to Uzbekistan when we had a letter of invitation. It typically takes between 6-10 days to get it. So it suited us well when we thought it would take 10-12 days to ride to Dushanbe and this was where we had to apply for a visa to Uzbekistan.
We were also at the Indian restaurant in Khorogh. It was great to have something completely different to the traditional plow, bread and tea. We stayed at Nigor Guesthouse, which was located right in the middle of town. Close to the bazaar, grocers and the small eateries.
In the evening before we wanted to ride, Sara turned up at Nigor's. There was not much said. The only thing we exchanged was the information about where we applied for LOI and the next morning when we were ready to cycle, we said goodbye to her and said that we might meet in Dushanbe.

Breaking up

Lørdag d. 23. september 2017 - Onsdag d. 27. september 2017

Murghab - Mamazair 48 km
Mamazair - Alichur 59 km
Alichur - Bunden af passet ved Tjære Tanken 45 km
Tjære Tanken - Jelondy 47 km
Jelondy - Rozhak 70 km

Nu var vi nået til dag 333 af vores rejse og cykeldag 209. Mama Erali havde lavet morgenmad til os til aftalte tid, det eneste der var i vejen, var at vi ikke kunne finde ud af hvornår vi skulle krydse en ny tidszone. Når vi kiggede på internettet fik vi oplyst at det først var i Dushanbe den skiftede, men det var somom at heroppe havde de bestemt sig for at stille uret efter Dushanbe tid og ikke Bishkek tid. Så faktisk måtte mama Erali vække os, da vi var på Bishkek tid.
Det var ikke fordi at pausedagen havde fået stemningen i gruppen til at blive bedre. Sara var stadig ikke særlig snakkesagelig, hvor vi andre tre bare smakkede løs. Vi var alle trætte efter de første dages cykling i bjergene og for at vi kunne blive udhvilet, skulle der nok flere dages pause til.
Vores mål var sat på Khorogh nok 5 - 6 dages cykling fra Murghab og der kunne vi så tage os nogle velfortjente pause dage, inden vi ville fortsætte imod Dushanbe.
Vi forlod Murghab og talte om, at hvis det var muligt, ville vi gerne nå svinget ved Mamazair. Vi gjorde det samme stræk i 2015, men med en stærk modvind.
Så med dagens solskin og klar blå himmel og næsten ingen vind, burde det være muligt. Virkelig gode betingelser for cykling.
Lidt udenfor byen var der et check point, hvor de skulle tjekke vores pas og GBAO (Gorno Badakshan Autonomous Oblast) tilladelse. For at kunne cykle Pamir Highway skulle vi have en tilladelse, som man ansøger om samtidig med man søger sit visum. Langs ad på ruten findes der forskellige check points, hvor papirene bliver tjekket, så myndighederne er sikker på vi ikke bevæger os ind i områder vi ikke har tilladelse til.
Omgivelserne vi cyklede i var atter så smukke og et sted så vi, hvordan en mand gik i marken og slog græs med en le. Man bliver så overrasket over at alting stadig foregår med håndkraft og forholdene menneskerne lever under her. Det er et barsk liv, hvor de ikke kommer sovende til ting.
Vi så flotte kløfter og igen forkæler naturen os med så mange forskelige farver. Da vi havde cyklet de første 20 kilometer kom vi til et vandløb med det klareste vand. Her valgte vi at fylde vores flasker op med vand. Når vi gjorde det brugte vi altid vandrensnings tabletter. Vi ville ikke tage nogle chancer, da der stadig er massevis af dyr der vandre rundt i områderne og vi ikke kan være sikker på at vandet er 100 % rent.
Vi havde hørt så mange historier om andre cyklister der har fået dårlig mave undervejs og ikke har kunnet komme af med det igen. Så vi tog vores forhåndsregler.
Da vi cyklede videre kom to tyske cyklister os i møde. Dem snakkede vi med længe, på samme tid nød vi synet af en flok Yak okser der gik på græs lidt fra hvor vi stod. De var så flotte og i forskellige farver. Sort/hvid og nogen brune, der var endda små yak kalve. De var så søde at se på.
Nogen gange var det bare så fristende at bruge god tid på snakke, men vi måtte indse at hvis vi brugte alt for meget tid på det kom vi ingen steder.
Så atter på cyklerne og videre mod Mamazair. Der var en del lastbiler på vejen, det var somom de kørte sammen to og to. Nok for at kunne hjælpe hinanden hvis en af bilerne ville bryde sammen. Der findes ikke autohjælp i disse egne.
Det vi regnede med ville blive en dejlig dag uden vind endte i styg modvind. Resten af vejen efter vi havde holdt frokost og helt op til Mamazair. Hele dagen havde vi dannet 3 forskellige grupper. How der cyklede for sig selv, så var der Heidi og mig som cyklede sammen og Sara holdt sig for sig selv. Det blev ret akavet når vi holdt pauser, for hvad skulle vi sige til hende og det var somom hun havde bestemt sig for ikke at ville være en del af gruppen mere. Men hvad ville hun så???
Vi måtte tage en snak, for vi blev alle påvirket af situationen og vi havde ikke tænkt os at få ødelagt turen på en som surmulede og ikke ville sige noget.
Boblen sprang næste dag da vi havde cyklet de første kilometer. Det var Heidi der konfronterede Sara. Heidi sagde stille og roligt hvad hun følte og jeg kom med min vision. How var neutral og sagde ikke noget overhovdet. Jeg sagde at jeg godt vidste dette ikke var en solo tur, som var det Sara havde lagt ud med, da hun cyklede hjemmefra Danmark og at det var somom hun ikke var glad. Vi ønskede ikke at se nogen sure eller nedtrygte. Der var jo ingen af os der var taget på denne tur for at være sure. Hun måtte selv melde ud, hvis ikke hun ønskede at være en del at gruppen mere og gerne ville cykle selv igen.
Faktisk gjorde jeg hende opmærksom på, at da vi mødtes i Almaty, havde vi sagt at cykle sammen i en gruppe kan give gnidninger og det er naturligt når vi bliver trætte og presset, men så måtte vi melde ud hvad vi var utilfreds med, så vi kunne finde en løsning og arbejde videre derfra på en frisk. 
Reaktionen blev en grædende Sara og enkelte ord fra hende. Men nu var der blevet åbnet op for posen, så aftalen blev at når vi kom til Alichur sidst på dagen måtte vi tage snakken igen, så kunne Sara havde tid til at tænke tingene igennem. Vi skulle finde en løsning der vill fungere for os alle.
Vi fortsatte mod Alichur. Først var det bidende koldt og frisk. Temperaturen lå lige omkring 2 grader og da vinden tog til føltes det som minus grader. Vi skulle virkelig kæmpe op mod vinden og vi kunne maximum cykle 10 km i timen. Vores første mål blev Bash Gumbez, som er tre huse der ligger lige imellem Mamazair og Alichur. Heidi og jeg kunne huske at i 2015, var vi blevet inviteret indenfor i et af husene og fået the, brød og youghurt, så det håbede vi på at vi kunne igen.
Undervejs til de tre huse cyklede vi hver for sig. Alle måtte kæmpe for sig selv med mod vinden. Vi var helt skæve i hovederne da vi nåede til Bash Gumbez, så det var dejligt at vi kunne søge ly i en Yurt, der var sat op ved husene. 
En Yurt er betegnelsen på et telt af filt, som normalt bliver brugt af normader i Sirbirien og Cental Asien.
Som regel er teltet kegleformet og bygget op af grene der er flettet ind i hinanden og dækket med ler og græstørv. Indeni er teltet dekoreret med flotte farverige tæpper og midt i rummet står der en lille ovn der kan varme rummet op. Ordet yurt stammer fra det Kasakiske ord kiyiz üy som betyder filthjem.
Der findes stadig mange steder, hvor folk lever i disse Yurter, men lige som mange steder er de sat op, som en restaurant eller så turister kan prøve at sove i dem.
Vi var alle glade for at kunne side i ly og ikke udenfor i den kolde vind. Som frokost fik vi managrød, brød, youghurt og dejlig varm te. Vi håbede på at vinden ville lægge sig, men det gjorde den ikke, tværtimod.
Da vi fortsatte, forsøgte vi at lave en "kæde", hvor en´ af os lå forest og gav ly for vinden for de andre og så skulle vi skiftes til at tage føringen. På den måde kunne vi spare på vores kræfter. Men vi kunne ikke få det til at fungerer med en kæde på 4. Istedetfor delte vi os op to og to. Sara og How arbejdede sammen og Heidi og jeg arbejdede sammen. 
Vejen havde nogle små bakker vi skulle over, men ellers mest flad og lidt nedaf. Men med vinden lige i vores hoveder fik vi ingen udnyttelse af vejen når gik nedaf.
De næsten 60 kilometer tog os mere end 5 timer og vi må siges at være utrolig glade da vi så Alichur og ikke mindst skiltet på Guest House Nur.
Da vi kom indenfor sad der allerede to andre cyklister. De kaldte sig FITZ-project https://www.instagram.com/fitz_project og var to piger, Lien og Annelies fra Belgien (FB - FITZ-project).
Så efter vi havde fundet os til rette, sad vi og snakkede. De kunne fortælle en masse skæge historier og det kunne vi ligeså. Senere fik vi endda et super dejligt bad. Nur Guest House havde lavet en lille bygning, hvor bad og sauna var i et. Så det var en fryd at være i bad og næsten ikke til at komme ud af igen.
Aftalen om at tage en snak blev ikke til noget. For det første ville det virke mærkeligt at sidde og have snakken imens Lien og Annelies var til stede og for det andet gik Sara tideligt i seng. Vi andre sad og snakkede et par timer mere inden vi faldt om i vores senge.
Næste morgen startede med en meddelelse fra Sara. Hun Sagde: Guys I have an anouncement. I am tired and will stay one more day. Vores svar var OK, så må vi have splitte maden op og det var det.
Sara havde taget et valg og nu måtte vi starte på et nyt kapitel. Faktisk vidste vi ikke rigtig hvad vi skulle sige til beslutningen og det var ikke sådan vi havde ønsket det skulle ende.
Efter morgenmaden gjorde vi og How klar til at cykle videre. Lien og Annelies tog afsked med os ude foran Nur Guest House. Sara fulgte med os hen til en af vandpumperne i landsbyen og her sagde vi farvel.
Hendes sidste kommentar var: jeg er ked af at det skulle ende sådan. Hun fik et kram af os alle og så cyklede vi afsted.
Morgenen var kold og meget frisk og naturen minede mest om et månelandskab. Det var specielt flot da vi nåede til området omkring Sasykul søen. Vi standser op til flere gange for at tage billeder. Her er meget øde, det er kun ved vejen som føre ind i Wakhan dalen, at der ligger et enket hus helt for sig selv. Det virker så lille i det store landskab. Vildt at tænke på at der bor mennesker her. Hvad lever de af og hvor får de vand fra???
Nu skulle vi op af en længere stigning og da vi kom helt op på toppen måtte vi sande at vinden kom lige imod os igen. Det blev ikke bedre af at vejen blev til virkelig dårlig grusvej. Måske det dårligste stykke på hele Pamir.
Store sten, vaskebrædt og kraftig modvind gjorde det umuligt at cykle, så et langt stykke besluttede vi os for at skubbe. How var stærkere end os og formåede at cykle, pånær når vinden blev for kraftig.
Hvis vi havde krafter, ville vi se om vi kunne nå til bunden af det sidste høje pass - Koitezek 4271 m, men som dagen gik kunne vi godt se det ikke blev muligt.
Da vi efter et par timers kamp stod på toppen af Neizatash passet (4137 m). Kunne vi godt se der stadig var langt op til starten af næste pas. Så vi begyndet at kigge efter et muligt sted at slå lejr. Atter havde vi fået asfalt, hvis man kan kalde det: når vi måtte zig zagge ned af vejen for at cykle på et stykke med asfalt. Den første del havde været med kæmpe huller i vejen og store sten vi skulle styre udenom, som krævede 110 % koncentration.
Vi fandt et støvet sted, lidt væk fra vejen og lige ved et vandløb. Her var plads til to telte og vi kunne vi ligge i læ af en stor betonklods. Senere fandt vi ud af, at det var en stor tank, som havde været brugt til at fylde tjære i, nok så vejen kunne ordnes.
Vi lavede et hegn af store sten, så vinden ikke kunne blæse alt for meget støv i vores mad og teltene. Da solen gik ned kom kulden og vi fik hurtigt spist, for derefter at søge ind i vores telte og soveposerne. Nu havde vi mere end 10 timer inden solen ville stå op igen.
Vi glædede os alle tre til denne dag. Vi viste at når vi havde nået toppen af Koitezek passet, så ventede der os lækker asfalt og en lang tur ned af til landsbyen Jelandy. I Jelandy findes der en masse varme kilder og vi ville se om der var plads på Jelandy Hotel. Hotellet er ikke noget fancy, men i tidernes morgen under sovjet styre, har det helt sikkert været prangende. Hotellet har to bassiner fyldt med varmt svovl vand og dette ville være godt for vores ømme muskler og helse for vores kroppe.
Inden vi nåede så langt, var der det sidste høje pass og det krævede al den sidste kraft fra os. Vejen derop er anlagt, så vi kunne se vejen helt til toppen og det gjorde det nok mere uoverskuelig. Hver gang man havde cyklet et stykke og kiggede op, virkede det stadig somom der var flere hundrede kilometer op til toppen.
Morgenmaden lå tungt i maven, vi havde fået havregrød som altid, men idag var det somom at vores kroppe havde svært ved at fordøje den. Så vi spiste næsten ingenting, da vi heller ikke havde nogen appetit.
Endelig da vi nåede toppen, brød vi ud i skrål: We made it !!! Nu lå der en lang nedkørsel foran os og fra nu af ville det kun blive varmere igen.
Vores frokost pause blev, hvor vi sad lænet op af en stor sten, kiggende lige ud i luften, fordi vi var fuldstænding udmattede. Vi havde ikke engang krafter til at tage vores cykelhjælme af. Vi spiste lidt tørt brød, som vi havde fået foræret tidligere på dagen og en snack. Så måtte vi videre inden vi blev alt for nedkølet.
Det var først efter 2-3 kilometer at vejen gik over i dejlig asfalt og vi kunne nyde turen igen. Lige inden vi nåede dertil, mødte vi tre cyklister der var på vej opad (En tysk pige, En italiensk pige og en fyr fra Finland), så Marianne fik fyret hendes finske sætning afsted: hyvä päivä ja hyvä matka som betyder god dag og god rejse.
Vi nåede ned til Jelandy, men desværre var alt udsolgt på hotellet. Så vi fandt et guest house lige bag ved hotellet. Udover os kom 3 andre cyklister, en fyr fra Holland, en pige fra Slovakiet og en fyr fra Canada.
Fyren fra Holland havde også set vores videoer på YouTube, så nu begyndte How at kalde os The YouTube Stars.
Vi fik aldrig prøvet de varme kilder. For os var det ikke en katastrofe, da vi havde prøvet dem i 2015 og How sagde: Never mind!!!
Afsted det gik fra Jelandy, nu var der ingenting der kunne stoppe os. Khorogh lå 125 kilometer længere fremme og vi glædede os til nogle dages pause med andet en pasta, pølsegryde, plov og havregrød.
Vi startede tidligt for at have en hel dag til at nå Khorogh. Men allerede ret tidligt på dagen måtte vi sabde det ikke blev muligt. Det vi havde troet skulle blive en smooth downhill gik hen og blev en kamp op imod vinden.
Vi besluttede os for at cykle så langt som muligt, så vi ville få en forholdsvis kort dag næste dag.
Det gav os mere mulighed for at nyde den sidste del af turen oppe fra højderne. Fra Jelandy begyndte naturen at forandre sig. Træer, grønne områder og græs voksede. Brusende floder og vandfald plus at alt stod i de smukkeste efterårs farver. Jeg tror jeg næsten syntes at den del af turen blev den smukkeste af hele Pamir Highway. Når vi cyklede forbi huse, blev der råbt Hello og mødte vi nogen der gik på vejen var det det samme.
Alle steder var menneskene ved at gøre klar til vinteren. Halm var stakket op oven på de flade tage af husene.
Vi kunne mærke varmen kom tilbage og naturen blev mere og mere frodig.
Vi bevægede os nedaf i en kæmpe slugt hvor bjergskråningerne stod stejlt op mod himmlen på begge sider.
Det blev så varmt, at da vi holdt frokostpause, måtte vi have noget af alt tøjet af.
Da vi havde cyklet 70 kilometer, nåede vi til den lille landsby Rozhak og her var en mark omringet af nogle træer. Vi spurgte en bondemand om vi måtte slå vores telte op der. Ingen problem. Så det gjorde vi.
Senere på aftenen kom en meget fuld politimand hen til os. Han blev ved mad at sige at vi kunne sove hjemme ved ham og han ville give os vodka. Vodka tegnet blev vist ved at langefingeren bliver slået ind imod halsen.
Der ligger en historie bag dette tegn, så alle i Central Asien ved hvad tegnet betyder.
Vi sagde tak men nej tak og efter noget tid dinglede han hjem.

English

Saturday, September 23, 2017 - Thursday, September 28, 2017

Murghab - Mamazair 48 km
Mamazair - Alichur 59 km
Alichur - The bottom of the pass at Tjære Tanken 45 km
Tjære Tanken - Jelondy 47 km
Jelondy - Rozhak 70 km

Now we had reached Day 333 of our trip and cycle day 209. Mama Erali had made breakfast for us at the agreed time, the only thing that was in the way was that we could not figure out when we had to cross a new time zone. When we looked on the internet, we were told that it was only in Dushanbe it changed, but it was like this time they had decided to set the clock after here was  Dushanbe time and not Bishkek time. So, in fact, Mommy Erali had to wake us up when we were at Bishkek's time.
It was not because the rest day had made the mood of the group better. Sara still did not say a lot, were the tree of us was more talkative. We were all tired after the first days of cycling in the mountains and in order for us to be rested, we would have to spend more days resting.
Our goal was set on Khorogh which was 5 to 6 days cycling from Murghab, and there we could take some well-earned rest days before continuing to Dushanbe.
We left Murghab and talked about if it was possible, we would like to reach the turn at Mamazair. We did the same stretch in 2015 but with a crazy headwind on the last part.
So with todays sunshine and clear blue sky and nearly no wind it should be possible. Really Great conditions for cycling. 
A little outside the city there was a checkpoint where they had to check our passports and GBAO permission. In order to ride Pamir Highway, we should have a permit that you apply for at the same time you applying for a visa. Along the route there are various checkpoints where the papers are checked so the authorities are sure you do not move into areas you are not allowed to.
The surroundings we rode in were again so beautiful and at one point we saw how a man worked in the field cutting down grass with a scythe. You get so surprised that everything is still done by hand and the conditions the people live under here. It's a tough life here and they do work hard for their living.
We saw big gorges and again nature spoiled us with so many different colors. When we had cycled the first 20 kilometers, we came to a waterstream with the clearest water. Here we chose to fill our bottles with water. When we did, we always used water purification tablets. We did not want to take any chances as there are still lots of animals walking around the areas and we can not be sure the water is 100% clean.
We had heard so many stories about other cyclists who had a bad stomach along the way and could not get rid of it again. So we took our precautions.
As we rode on, two German cyclists came towards us. We talked for a long time, at the same time we saw a bunch of Yak bulls who were grassing a little from where we stood. They were so beautiful and in different colors. Black and white and some brown, there were even small yak calves. They were so quite to look at.
Sometimes it was just so tempting to spend long time talking, but we had to realize that if we spent too much time we did not get anywhere.
So we hoped on the bikes again and drove on to Mamazair. There were some trucks on the road, it was like they drove two and two together. Maybe to help each other if one of the cars would break down as there are no auto-help in these areas.
What we figured would be a nice day without wind ended in rising headwinds. The rest of the road after we had lunch and all the way up to Mamazair. Throughout the day we had formed 3 different groups. How did cycling for himself, there were Heidi and me who cycled together and Sarah kept to herself as well. It became quite awkward when we stoped for breaks. What should we say to her and it was as if she had decided not to be part of the group any more. But what was her thourghts ???
We had to talk, because we were all affected by the situation and we did not intend to destroy the ride on someone who was sad and would not say anything.
The bubble bursted the next day when we had cycled the first kilometers. It was Heidi who confronted Sara. Heidi quietly said what she felt and I came with my vision. How was neutral and did not say anything. I said I knew this was not a solo trip, which was what Sara had started when she rode away from Denmark long time ago and I said it was like she was not happy. We did not want to see anyone sad or depressed. There was none of us that had taken on this trip to be sad. She should be honest and tell us if she did not want to be a part of the group anymore.
In fact, I made her aware that when we met in Almaty, we had said that cycling together in a group could give some squabble and it's natural when we get tired and pressed in different situations, but then we should say what we was unhappy about, so We could find a solution and work from there and start from scratch again.
The reaction was a crying Sarah and some few words from her. But now the bag had been opened, so the deal was that when we arrived at Alichur at the end of the day, we had to talk again after Sara had had time to think things through. We had to find a solution, that could work for all of us.
We continued towards Alichur. At first it was biting cold and fresh. The temperature was about 2 degrees and when the wind got stronger, it felt like minus degrees. We really had to fight the wind and we could only ride a maximum speed of 10 km per hour. Our first goal was Bash Gumbez, which is three houses located between Mamazair and Alichur. Heidi and I remembered that we had been invited inside one of the houses in 2015 and got bread, youghurt and warm tea, so we hoped it would be possible again.
Along the way to the three houses we cycled separately. Everyone had to fight for themselves against the wind. We were quite windblown when we reached Bash Gumbez, so it was great that we could seek shelter in a Yurt that was set up at the houses.
A Yurt is the term of a tent made of felt, which is usually used by norms in Siribiria and Cental Asia.
As a rule, the tent is conical and is built up of branches intertwined with clay and turf. Inside the tent is decorated with beautiful colorful carpets and in the middle of the room is a small oven that can heat the room. The word yurt is derived from the Kazakh word kiyiz üy which means felthome.
There are still many places where people live in these yurts, but like many places they are set up as a restaurant or so tourists can try to sleep in them.
We were all happy to be able to sit inside the yurt and not outside in the cold wind. As lunch we got porrige, bread, yoghurt and nice hot tea. We hoped that the wind would calm down, but it did not, on the contrary.
As we continued, we tried to make a "chain" where one of us layed in front and sheltered the wind for the others and then we had to change to take the lead. That way we could save our energi. But we could not make it work with a chain of 4. Instead, we split up two and two. Sara and How worked together and Heidi and I worked together.
The road had some small hills, but otherwise flat and slightly downhill. But with the wind just in our heads we got no use of the road when it went downhill.
The nearly 60 kilometers took us more than 5 hours and we must said that we were incredibly happy when we saw Alichur and not least the sign of Guest House Nur.
When we got inside, there were already two other cyclists. They called them selfs FITZ project  https://www.instagram.com/fitz_project and were two girls, Lien and Annelies from Belgium (FB-FITZ project).
So after we had taken all our stuff inside, we sat and talked. They could tell a lot of funny stories from the road and we did the same. Later we even got a super nice bath. Nur Guest House had made a small building where the bath and sauna were in one. So it was a pleasure to take a bath and hardly to get out of again.
We did not get to talk about what to do with our situation. Firstly, it would seem strange to sit and have the talk while Lien and Annelies were present and second, Sara went to bed early. We sat and talked a couple of hours more before we dropped into our beds.
The next morning started with a message from Sara. She said: Guys I have an announcement. I am tired and will stay one more day. Our response was OK, so we have to split the food and that was it.
Sara had taken a choice and now we had to start a new chapter. In fact, we did not really know what to say to the decision and it was not the way we wanted it to end.
After breakfast, we and How got ready to ride on. Lien and Annelies said goodbye to us in front of Nur Guest House. Sara accompanied us to one of the water pumps in the village and here we said goodbye.
Her last comment was: I'm sorry that it should end that way. She got a hug of us all and then we rode off.
The morning was cold and very fresh and nature mostly reminded of a moon landscape. It was especially nice when we reached the area around Sasykul Lake. We stoped several times to take pictures. It is very desolated here, there was one small house at the road that leads into the Wakhan Valley. It seems so small in the big landscape. It is hard to believe that people live here. What do they live from and where do they get water??
Now we had to go up a longer climb and when we got to the top the wind came right against us again. It did not get any better that the road became a really bad gravel road. Perhaps the worst part of the whole of Pamir.
Large stones, washboard and heavy winds made it impossible to ride a bike, so we decided to push for a long stretch. How was stronger than us and managed to cycle, only when the wind became too strong he had to push.
If we had the strength, we would see if we could reach the bottom of the last high pass - Koitezek 4271 m, but as the day passed, we could see that it was not possible.
After a couple of hours of struggle we stood on top of the Neizatash pass (4137 m). We could see that there was still a long way to the start of the next pass. So we started looking for a possible place to set camp. Again we had asphalt if you could call it taht: when we had to zigzag down the road to cycle on a piece of asphalt. The first part had been with huge holes in the road and large stones we had to control beyond which required 110% concentration.
We found a dusty place, a bit off the road and just beside a river. There was room for two tents and we could lay in shelter of a big concrete block. Later we found out that it was a big tank that had been used to fill tar in, so that the raod could be repaired.
We made a fence of large stones, so the wind could not blow too much dust into our food and tents. When the sun went down then came the cold and we quickly eate, then searching inside our tents and sleeping bags. Now we had more than 10 hours before the sun would rise again.
We were all three looking forward to this day. We knew that when we had reached the top of the Koitezek pass, we would get leisurely asphalt and a long trip down to the village of Jelandy. In Jelandy there are a lot of hot springs and we wanted to see if there was room at Jelandy Hotel. The hotel is nothing fancy, but in the time during Soviet ruling the county it certainly has been flashy. The hotel has two basins filled with hot sulfur water and this would be good for our sore muscles and healthy for our bodies.
Before we reached so far, there was the last high pass and it required all the last power from us. The road there is set so we could see the road all the way to the top and it made it more unimaginable. Every time you had cycled a bit and looked up, it still seemed like it was hundreds of miles up to the top.
The breakfast layed heavy in our stomach, we had had oatmeal as always, but today it was a fact that our bodies had difficulty digesting it. So we ate almost nothing on the way up, as we also had no appetite.
Finally when we reached the top we broke out i happiness: We made it !!! Now there was a long downhill ahead of us and from now on it would only get hotter again.
Our lunch break was where we were leaning up against of a big rock, looking straight into the air because we were completing exhausted. We did not even have the power to take off our bicycle helmets. We ate a little dry bread, which we had received earlier in the day as a gift and a snack. Then we had to go on before we became too cold.
It was only after 2-3 kilometers that the road got beautiful asphalt and we could enjoy the trip again. Just before we reached it, we met three cyclists who were on their way up (a German girl, an Italian girl and a guy from Finland), so Marianne got to try her Finnish sentence: hyvä päivä ja hyvä matka - which means good day and have a nice trip.
We reached Jelandy, but unfortunately everything was sold out at the hotel. So we found a guest house just behind the hotel. In addition to us came 3 other cyclists, a guy from Holland, a girl from Slovakia and a guy from Canada.
The guy from Holland also watched our videos on YouTube, so now How began to call us The YouTube Stars.
We were to lazy and we did not try the hot spring. It was not a big deal for us, as we tried it in 2015 and How said: never mind ;-)
Off we went from Jelandy, now there was nothing that could stop us. Khorogh was 125 kilometer further ahead, and we were looking forward to some days break witt out pasta, sausage, plow and oatmeal.
We started early to have a whole day to reach Khorogh. But already early in the day we had to realise it was not possible. What we thought would be a smooth downhill became a battle against the wind.
We decided to ride as far as possible so we would have a relatively short day the next day.
This gave us more opportunity to enjoy the last part of the trip from the heights. From Jelandy, nature began to change. Trees, green areas and grass grew. Big rivers and waterfalls plus everything was in the most beautiful autumn colors. I think I almost thought that this part of the trip was the most beautiful of the entire Pamir Highway. As we rode past houses, people yelled Hello and when we met someone along the road they greeted us as well.
Everywhere people were getting ready for the winter. Straw was stacked on top of the flat roofs of the houses.
We could feel the warmth coming back and nature became more and more lush.
We moved downhill into a huge gorge where the mountain slopes stood steeply against the sky on both sides.
It was so hot that when we had lunch break, we had to take of some of all the clothes.
When we had cycled 70 kilometers, we reached the small village of Rozhak and here was a field surrounded by some trees. We asked a farmer if we could pitch our tents there. No problem. So we did.
Later in the evening a very drunk policeman came to us. He went on to say that we could sleep at his house and he would give us some vodka. The vodka sign was shown by the long finger being hit against the throat.
There is a story behind this sign, so everyone in Central Asia knows what the sign means.
We said thank you but no thanks and after some time he dangled of towards his house.

Cycling the Tall Tajik mountains - ups and downs

Mandag d. 18. september - Fredag d. 22. september 2017                             (Update d. 26. dec 20179

Tehuset før passet - Karakol 58 km
Karakol pausedag
Karakol - 44 km efter Karakol 44 km
44 km efter Karakol - Murgarb 93 km
Pausedag i Murgarb

Natten havde været meget varm for alle. Da vi kiggede udenfor var hele landskabet dækket i sne. Det havde sneet hele natten og nu lå der ca. 5 cm sne og sikke et smukt syn.
Vi var alle klar på samme tid, Janneke, Luke og os. Spørgsmålet var om vi overhovedet kunne cykle i sneen.
Vi forsøgte, men solen var begyndt at smelte sneen, så der var både sne og mudder som ikke blev en god cocktail. Luke ville ikke give op så han formåede at cykle det meste af vejen op. Alle vi andre blev enige om det nok var bedst bare at skubbe. Så nu havde vi 3 kilometers hårdt arbejde foran os.
Vi befandt os i mere end 4000 meters højde og det gjorde arbejdet endnu hårdere. Vi kunne kun skubbe 50 - 100 meter af gangen inden vi blev nødt til at holde en pause for at få vejret. Underlaget blev virkelig vådt og små vandløb dannede sig, da sneen smeltede.
Selvom at det var hårdt, havde vi det skægt og samtidig kunne vi nyde den smukkeste udsigt til bjergene lige meget hvor vi kiggede hen.
Det tog os 1 1/2 time at skubbe op de 3 kilometer til Kyzyl Art passet. Nu befandt vi os i 4.280 meters højde.
Vi var alle stolte og godt brugte da vi nåede derop. På toppen er der en stor statue af et Marco Polo får, som står og kigger ud over bjergene.
Det var lige før det blev myldretid imens vi var deroppe. Der var alle os og fra den anden side ankom to på motorcykel og et tysk par på cykler. Vi kunne godt se at Pamit Highway var blevet mere poplulær siden vi havde cyklet den to år tidligere. Dengang mødte vi færre cyklister end hvad vi havde mødt indtil nu.
Efter et godt stykke tid på toppen, bevægede vi os den sidste kilometer ned mod grænsen til Tajikistan. Nu kunne vi godt cykle. Da vi nåede ned til grænsen, var bommen lukket. Vi kunne ikke se nogen ved posten, så vi prøvede at råbe "Hello". Der skete ikke noget. Klokken var 12 og vi blev eninge om at grænsen nok var lukket, fordi dem der passede den var gået til frokost pause. Vi besluttede os for også at spise frokost. Men vi kunne ikke rigtig sidde nogen steder, på grund af jorden var pjask våd efter den smeltede sne. Så vi stod op og spiste. Ligesom vi havde taget brød og lidt pålæg ud, kom en fyr for at åbne bommen. Vi nåede kun at spise et par mundfulde brød, inden vi måtte følge manden for at vi kunne blive stemplet ind i Tajikistan. 
Grænseområdet bestod af en stor murstens bygning og nogle små intermistiske skure og området var ikke asfalteret. Så nu hvor sneen var smeltet, var det hele forvandlet til en stor mudderpøl. Hvilket ikke var godt, da alt mudderet satte sig fast på cyklerne. Alle steder det var muligt, blev cyklerne smurt ind i et tygt lag mudder.
I første omgang kunne vi ikke gøre andet end at skubbe cyklerne over grænsen og blive registreret.
Alle oplysninger fra vores pas skulle skrives ind i to forskellige bøger og det foregik i to forskellige skure. Tænk sig at arbejde helt heroppe i disse omgivelser. Kan måske godt forstå at soldaterne af og til tager sig en vodka for meget, for at holde varmen.
Da vi alle var blevet skrevet ind i bøgerne, måtte vi forsøge at få mudderet af cyklerne, hvilket ikke var let. Vi brugte hænderne og en sten for at skrabe den værste mudder af cyklerne, så vi kunne fortsætte. Herefter var det med at komme igang igen. Vi var blevet afkølet og kolde. Vinden gik igennem marv og ben. En anden ting var, at der var et pas mere vi skulle over og vi ville gerne nå landsbyen Karakol, hvis det var muligt.
Turen op til andet pas var ikke slem, der kom endda asfalt igen, men vi havde stadig 27 kilometer til Karakol og klokken var 15:30, da vi stod på næste pass og nød panorama udsigten ned over Karakol søen og de sneklædte bjerge. Vi ville se om det ikke kunne lade sig gøre. Janneke og Luke besluttede sig for at stoppe og slå lejr da der var 20 kilometer til Karakol.
Vi fortsatte i høj hastighed, da det meste af vejen dertil var ned af. Vi nåede frem inden det blev mørkt og vi var godt brugte og meget sultende. Vi indlogerede os ved Homestay Aigerim og fik et stort værelse, hvor vi kunne sove på madrasser på gulvet rundt om en lille ovn, hvor der blev fyrret op med komøj.
Da det blev mørkt, blev der tændt for generatoren, så der var lys og elektricitet. Generatoren kørte i 4 timer eller indtil alle var gået i seng. Her er ingen rindende vand og WC er i en bygning 100 m fra huset. Her er der to rum med to huller i jorden, hvor man sidder i hug og må ordne hvad ordnes skal.
Vi blev en dag i Karakol. Både for at kunne se søen som ligger ved landsbyen og for at akklimatisere os til højden. Søen er en af verdens højst beliggende i en højde af 3960 m og den spreder sig over et areal på 380 km2 og navnet Karakol betyder  "Den sorte sø".
Næste dag stod jeg op inden de andre og gik ud for at opleve landsbyen og tage nogle billeder.
Landsbyen består af flade lerhuse, de fleste hvide og man får en følelse af at være i en afrikansk landsby.
Landskabet er barsk, men samtidig utrolig smukt. Søen med sine blå farver op imod de sneklædte bjerge er så flot og hele tiden ser man nye nuancer, når solen går væk bag en sky eller når den kommer frem igen.
Ellers gik dagen med at få muddert af vores cykler, hvilket var størknet og blevet stenhårdt.
Heidi og jeg tog den lette løsning og cyklede hen til en af vandpumperne i byen. Her stilte vi cyklerne ind under og vupti så var muddert opløst og væk. Efter vi havde ordnet cyklerne, fik vi os en lur.
Sara og How gjorde det manuelt og det tog tid. Sara skilte hele bremsesystemet ad for at rengøre det og da
hun havde problemer med hendes brænder, brugte resten af eftermiddagen på at fikse den. How forsøgte også om han kunne få den igang. Men det lykkedes aldrig.
Næste morgen blev vi vækket af Sara´s lystige morgensang og herefter gik vi igang med at pakke vores ting sammen. Morgenmaden vi fik bestod af spejleæg, brød, kiks, chokolade og en stor pot te.
Inden vi forlod Karakol, cyklede vi forbi en af vandpumperne for at proviantere med vand til 2 dage. Vi havde 7 liter hver, så vi var pakket tungt da vi også havde mad til et par dage.
Desværre må vi indse at det ikke altid kan være fryd og glæde når man cykler i en gruppe. Da vi cyklede ud af Karakol, bemærker Sara at hendes cykel siger en mærkelig lyd. Efter et par kilometer, vil hun stoppe for at justere bremserne eller hvad det nu er der laver den mærkelige lyd og hun er ikke i godt humør.
Vi forsøger at snakke om problemet med cyklen og siger at alles cykler siger nogle mærklige lyde og om hun ikke kan vente med at fikse lyden. Så vi kan spare tiden og istedefor få cyklet nogle kilometer.
Men hun vil ikke cykle med den lyd og vil ikke vente. Beskeden vi fik var at vi skulle bare cykle og give hende 10 minutter til at ordne cyklen.
Så How, Heidi og jeg cyklede 1 kilometer længere frem og stoppede for at vente ti minutter. Tiden gik og Sara kom op til os. Jeg spurgte om problemet var løst, men fik ikke et svar. Det blev starten på nogle dumme dage inden vi fandt en løsning.
Jeg ved godt det ikke er rart at være den som bliver irettesat eller bedt om at være glad, hvis ikke man er glad, men så må man kunne snakke om tingene og løse problemet. Specielt når man cykler sammen i en gruppe.
Man skal være ærlig og kunne sige sin mening og derefter sige OK det var det, lad os vaske tavlen ren og starte på en ny. Her nytter det ikke at man forbliver tavs og melder sig ud af gruppen.
Fra Karakol ville vi se om vi kunne nå til foden af Ak Baital passet, så vi skulle starte med opkørslen fra starten af næste dag. Vejen var stadig asfalteret og vejen ver mere eller mindre flad. Et par gange hen mod frokost, kom der et par stejle stigninger, inden vi kom ned på en fladt plateau, hvor flere vandløb flød igennem landskabet. Her fandt vi et sted i ly for vinden og fik vores frokost. Sara sagde stadig ikke rigtigt noget. Vi andre snakkede lystigt om alle mulige ting.
Kort tid efter vi var cyklet videre, gik vejen over i at blive grusvej og himmlen foran os trak sig sammen. Så det så ud til at der snart ville blive uvejr.
Vi mødte to tyskere som var på vej ned oppe fra dalen og de kunne berette om at det bare var koldt og de havde haft sne. Ganske rigtigt, kort tid efter vi havde mødt dem, blæste det op og det begyndte at sne.
Vi tog en hurtig besluting og fandt et sted i en fordybning, hvor vi hurtigt fik slået teltene op.
Vi forventede at nu fik vi snestorm!!! Men det blev aldrig til noget.
Snestormen kom aldrig, men når vi kiggede op den vej vi skulle være cyklet, var det en god beslutning vi havde taget. Skyerne var kul sorte og himmlen så meget truende ud.
Vi kogte vand til kaffe og te inden vi hver især kravlede ind i vores telte for at slappe af og få varmen.
Senere da vi skulle lave aftensmad, var det begyndt at sne. Så vi sad alle i vores fortelt godt pakket sammen. Marianne havde selv meldt sig som kok, så hun sad halvt udenfor og passede blusset.
Vi ville lave en masse grøntsager, som vi kogte og med en suppe til. Desværre ikke det rette valg, da det tog alt for lang tid at koge. Så vi spiste halvkogte grøntsager med suppe og brød.
Hele teltet var vådt da vi vågnede. Udenpå var teltet dækket med frost og indeni havde vi kondensvand på teltdugen. Heldigvis kom solen frem og det hele tørrede i løbet af kort tid. Hvis der er noget vi hader, så er det at skulle pakke teltet når det er vådt.
Foran os lå kampen med turens højeste pass - Ak Baital. Vi skulle op over 4665 meters højde. Der var 9 kilometer op til foden af stigningen og derfra skulle vi klatre 450 højdemeter over de næste 7 kilometer.
Det første stykke gik stille og roligt. Vi cyklede i hver vores tempo. Heidi havde diamanter i hendes ben, som hun selv beskrev det. Jeg følte mig også godt til pas. How ligeså. Sara sagde ikke så meget så ved ikke helt hvad hun følte.
Fra starten af passet, var det meget stejlt. Så det første stykke skubbede vi. Men efter 700 meter fladede vej ud og det var muligt at cykle stille og roligt.
Heidi havde været bange for passet, da hun huskede hvor hårdt det havde været i 2015, men hun var flyvende og tog føringen. Hun cyklede det meste af vejen og på et tidspunkt er hun så langt fremme at vi ikke kan se hende mere. Men hun har sidenhen fortalt at der var både tid til triumph og billeder da hun som den første stod på toppen af passet. Jeg pressede på for at følge trop og blev nummer to på toppen, kort tid efter kom How, storsmilende og med et kæmpe sejrs brøl over at værenået derop.
Vi kunne se Sara længere nede. Hun kæmpede, så Marianne gik ned for at hjælpe hende. Hun var helt færdig og græd. Marianne sagde til hende det var helt iorden at græde, for det er en hård kamp at komme helt derop, men nu er du snart oppe og du har besejret passet.
Da hun nåede toppen gav vi hende alle et kram, for det havde hun brug for. Vi tilbød at tage billede af hende, men svaret var: jeg er ikke i humør til at få taget billeder. Jeg var måbende. Hun var på det højeste pas og sted hun ville komme på hele hendes tur og det var nok en: once in a lifetime oplevelse. En af de store og så ville hun ikke have taget billeder?????
Det blev ikke længe vi blev på passet, vi ville cykle ned på den anden side, hvor vi vidste at der lå et tehus. Her ville vi holde en sen frokostpause og så forsøge om vi kunne nå de sidste 60 kilometer til Murghab efterfølgende.
Det var et langt stræk, men i 2015 var det lykkedes for os. Så vi vidste det var muligt og specielt da vi fik en god medvind og vejen blev asvalt igen, samtidig med det gik ned af det meste af vejen.
Det lykkedes for os at nå Murghab ligesom det begyndte at blive mørkt. Vi var trætte efter mere end 6 timers cykling og 92 kilometer.
Først forsøgte vi om der var plads på Mansur Guesthouse, da den lå lige ved vejen og så kunne vi slippe for den stejel bakke op til Erali Guesthouse. Mansur var udsolgt, så vi måtte bruge de sidste kræfter på at komme op af bakken til Erali´s. Det var her vi havde boet i 2015.
Stedet var helt mørkt, men mama Erali bød os velkommen og fik forklaret at hendes mand skulle komme hjem for at tænde generatoren. Så der gik et stykke tid inden vi fik lys.
Mama Erali var lige så sød, som vi huskede hende og hele tiden skulle hun være sikker på at alting var OK. Når hun havde forklaret noget blev det efterfulgt af OK OK???
Da lyset blev tændt, genkendte hun os og inden vi havde set os om, havde hun fundet gæstebogen fra 2015 og fundet frem til den side vi havde skrevet på. Det var så sødt.
Der blev reddet op til os og sidenhen lavet te og en stor portion plov (Tajikisk risret). Herefter gik der ikke længe inden vi gik i seng. Vi var alle fuldstændig færdige efter en lang og hård dag på cyklen.
Pausedagen i Murghab, var velfortjent. Vi sov så længe vi kunne, sad lang tid over morgenmaden og fik hånd vasket lidt tøj og så fik vi et fortjent bad, da vi ikke havde været i bad siden Sary Tash som var 5 dage forinden. Sidenhen gik vi ned for at kigge lidt på byen og finde Bazaren. Desværre var mange af butikkerne på bazaren lukket pga. det var fredag. Fredag på disse kanter er som weekend for muslimer og den bruges også til fredags bøn. Men det var stadig specielt at gå rundt imellem de små butikker, som er bygget af gamle skibs container.
Vi var alle meget sultne. Det var somom at forbrændingen var gået 20-30 % op efter vi var kommet op i bjergene og vi var næsten konstant sultne. Vi endte på byens "fineste" hotel for at spise frokost og fik stegt kylling med sovs og kartofler. Dejligt med at stort stykke kød, da det ikke var det vi fik mest af på disse kanter.
 

English

Monday, September 18th - Friday, September 22, 2017          (Updated 26th dec. 2017)

The house before the pass - Karakol 58 km
Karakol restday
Karakol - 44 km after Karakol 44 km
44 km after Karakol - Murgarb 93 km
Day of rest in Murgarb

The night had been very hot for everyone. When we looked outside the whole landscape was covered in snow. It had snowed all night and now there were about 5 cm snow and it was a beautiful sight.
We were all ready to leave at the same time, Janneke, Luke and us. The question was if we could even cycle in the snow.
We tried, but the sun had melted the snow and snow and mud did not make a good cocktail. Luke would not give up so he managed to ride the bike. Us and Janneke agreed that it was probably best to push. So now we had 3 kilometers of hard work ahead of us.
We found ourselves at more than 4000 meters altitude and that made the work even harder. We could only push 50-100 meters at a time before we had to take a break to get our breath back to normal. The ground became really wet and small streams formed when the snow melted.
Even though it was hard, we had a lot of fun and at the same time we could enjoy the most beautiful view of the mountains no matter where we looked.
It took us 1 1/2 hour to push up the 3 kilometers to the Kyzyl Art Pass. Now we found ourselves at 4.280 meters.
We were all proud and well used when we reached the top. At the top there is a large statue of a Marco Polo sheep who is looking out over the mountains.
It nearly became rush hour while we were up there. There were all of us and, on the other hand, two arrived on a motorcycle and a German couple on bikes arrived. We could see that Pamit Highway had become more popular since we had cycled it two years earlier. At that time we met fewer cyclists than we had met so far.
After a while on the top, we moved the last kilometer down to the border of Tajikistan. Now we could ride the bike. When we reached the border, the gate was closed. We could not see anyone, so we tried to shout "Hello". Nothing happened. It was 12 o'clock and we agreed that the border was probably closed because those who watched it had gone for lunch break. We also decided to have our lunch break too. But we could not really sit anywhere, because of the earth was wet after the melted snow. So we stod up and ate. Just as we had taken out bread and other stuff to eat, a guy came to open the gate. We only managed to eat a few mouthfuls of bread because we had to follow the guy, so that we could be stamped into Tajikistan.
The border area consisted of a large brick building and some small intermittent sheds and the area was not asphalted. So now that the snow had melted, it all turned into a big mud pudding. Which was not good when all the mud clung to the bikes. Everywhere it was possible, the bikes were covered into a dirt layer of mud.
Initially, we could do nothing but push across the border and be registered in two places.
All information from our passport should be written in two different books and it took place in two different sheds. Imagine working all the way up in these environments. May well understand that the soldiers sometimes take a vodka too much to keep warm.
When we had all been written into the books, we had to try to get the mud of the bikes, which was not easy. We used our hands and a stone to scratch the worst mud of the bikes, so we could continue. After that, it was about to get started again. We got cold by waiting for the paperwork to be done. The wind went through marrow and bones. We would like to reach Karakol village if possible. But we still had another pass to cross.
The trip up to the second pass was not that hard, we even got asphalt again, but we still had to cover 27 kilometers and the time was 15:30 when we reached the pass and could enjoy the panorama view over lake Karakol and snow cowered mountains. We wanted to see if it could be done. Janneke and Luke decided to stop and camp when there were 20 kilometers left to Karakol.
We continued at high speed as most of the road was down. We arrived before it got dark and we were tiered and very hungry. We stayed at Homeray Aigerim and got a big room where we could sleep on mattresses on the floor around a small oven where they made fire with cowshit.
When it got dark, the generator was turned on, so there was light and electricity. The generator ran for 4 hours or until all had gone to bed. Here is no running water and the toilet is in a building 100 m from the house. Here there are two rooms with two holes in the ground, where you have to squat to do what needs to be done.
We stayed one day in Karakol. Both to see the lake that lies at the village and to acclimatize. The lake is one of the world's highest located at an altitude of 3960 m and spreads over an area of ​​380 km2 and the name Karakol means "The Black Sea".
The next day I got up before the others and went out to experience the village and take some pictures.
The village consists of flat clay houses, most white and one gets a feeling of being in an African village.
The landscape is rugged, but at the same time incredibly beautiful. The lake with its blue colors up against the snowy mountains is so beautiful and you always see new shades when the sun goes away behind a cloud or when it comes back.
Otherwise, the days goal was getting the mud of our bikes, which was solidified and became rock hard.
Heidi and I took the easy solution and cycled to one of the water pumps in town. We put the bikes underneath and washed them so the mud dissolved and within short time the bikes looked nice again.. After we had arranged the bikes, we got a nap.
Sara and How did it manually and it took time. Sara separated the entire brake system to clean it and 
She had trouble with her stove and spent the rest of the afternoon fixing it. How did try to get it started? But it never succeeded.
The next morning we were awoken by Sarah's happy morning song and then we started packing our stuff. The breakfast we got consisted of eegs, bread, biscuits, chocolate and a big pot of tea.
Before we left Karakol, we cycled past one of the water pumps to proviate with water for 2 days. We had 7 liters each so we were packed heavily as we also had food for a few days.
Unfortunately, we had to realize that it can not always be joy and happiness when cycling in a group. As we rode out of Karakol, Sara noticed that her bike says a strange sound. After a couple of miles, she would like stop to adjust the brakes or whatever it was that makes the strange noise and she was not in a good mood.
We try to talk about the problem of the bike and say that everyone's bikes say some strange sounds and if she could wait till later to fix the sound. So we could save time and instead get cycling and cover some kilometers.
But she will not cycle with that sound and will not wait. The message we got was that we just had to bike and give her 10 minutes to fix the bike.
So How, Heidi and I cycled 1kilometer further forward and stopped waiting ten minutes. Time passed and Sarah came up to us. I asked if the problem was resolved but did not get an answer. It was the start of some stupid days before we found a solution.
I know it's not nice to be the one who gets reprimanded or asked to be happy if you're not happy, but then you have to be able to talk about things and solve the problem. Especially when cycling together in a group.
One has to be honest and could say its meaning and then say OK that's it, let's clean the board and start a new one. It is not a pleasure to stay silent and report out of the group.
From Karakol we wanted to see if we could reach the foot of the Ak Baital Pass so we had to start the climb from the start of the next day. The road was still paved and the road was more or less flat. A couple of times towards lunch, there were a couple of steep climbs before we ended on a flat plateau where several streams flowed through the landscape. Here we found a place in the shelter of the wind and got our lunch. Sara still did not really say anything. We, How, Heidi and I talked happily about all sorts of things.
Shortly after we had cycled on, the road became gravel and the sky in front of us did not look nice. So it seemed that there would soon be a storm.
We met two Germans who were coming down the valley and they could tell that it was cold and they have had snow. Quite right, shortly after we had met them, the wind picked up and it started to snow. Just a little bit.
We took a quick decision and found somewhere in a grove where we pitched the tents.
We expected that a big snow storm would come!!! But it never happend.
The snowstorm never came, but when we looked up the road we had cycle, was it a good decision we had taken. The clouds were coal black and the sky looked very threatening.
We cooked water for coffee and tea before we each climbed into our tents to relax and getting warm.
Later, when we were supposed to make dinner, it started to snow. So we sat all in our awning well packed together. Marianne had herself signed up as a cook, so she sat half outside and took care of the cooking.
We wanted to make a lot of vegetables, which we cooked and with a soup. Unfortunately, not the right choice as it took too long to cook. So we ate semi-cooked vegetables with soup and bread for dinner that night.
The whole tent was wet when we woke up. Outside the tent was covered with frost and on the inside of the tent  we had condens dripping down from the cloth. Fortunately, the sun came out and it all dried in a short period of time. If there is something we hate, then it is to pack the tent when it is wet.
We had the highest pass - Ak Baital, in front of us. We were going to climb to 4665 meters above sea level. There were 9 kilometers up to the foot of the climb and from there we should climb 450 altitude meters over the next 7 kilometers.
The first piece went quietly. We cycled at each of our pace. Heidi had diamonds in her legs, as she herself described. I also felt good. How was OK as well? Sara did not say so much so we did not quite know what she felt.
From the start of the pass, it was very steep. So the first piece we pushed. But after 700 meters the road got flat and it was possible to cycle on in a slow pace. the road was till gravel and not in the best condition.
Heidi had been afraid of the pass when she remembered how hard it had been in 2015, but she was flying and took the lead. She cycled most of the way and at one point she was so far ahead that we could not see her anymore. She told us later: that there was both time for triumph and pictures as she was the first on the top of the pass. I pushed my self to follow and became second at the top, shortly after, How came, big-smiling and with a huge victory roar reaching the top.
We could see Sara further down. She struggled so Marianne went down to help her. She was completely wasted and crying. Marianne told her it was absolutely OK to cry because it's a tough fight to get up there, but now you're up and you've defeated the pass.
When she reached the top we gave her all a hug because she needed it. We offered to take her picture, but the answer was: I'm not in the mood to get pictures taken. I was surprised. She was at the highest pass and place she would come on her entire trip and this was a once in a lifetime experience. One of the big and she would not have taken pictures ?????
It did not spend long at the pass, we wanted to ride down on the other side, where we knew there was a tea house. Here we would have a late lunch break and then try to cover the last 60 kilometers to Murgab afterwards.
It was a long stretch, but in 2015 we succeeded. So we knew it was possible and especially when we got a good tailwind and the road went down most of the way after the tea house.
We managed to reach Murghab as it started to get dark. We were tired after more than 6 hours of cycling and 92 kilometers.
First we tried if there was room at Mansur Guesthouse as it was just off the road and then we did not have to climb the steep hill up to Erali Guesthouse. Mansur was sold out, so we had to use the last effort to get up the hill to Erali's. This was where we had stayed in 2015.
The place was completely dark, but Mama Erali welcomed us and explained that her husband should come home to turn the generator on. So it took a while before we got light.
Mama Erali was as sweet as we remembered her and constantly she wanted to make sure everything was OK. When she had explained something, it was followed by OK OK ???
When the light was turned on, she recognized us and before we realized she had found the guestbook from 2015 and found the page we had written on in 2015. It was so sweet.
We were saved to us and then made tea and a large portion of plow (Tajik rice). Then it did not take long before we went to bed. We were all completely finished after a long and hard day on the bike.
The rest day in Murghab was well deserved. We slept for as long as we could, spent a long time over breakfast and got to hand washed a little clothes and then we got a deserved bath because we had not been bathing since Sary Tash 5 days before. Then we went down to look a little on the village and find the Bazaar. Unfortunately, many of the bazaar stores was closed because it was Friday. Friday in these aereas is as a weekend for Muslims and it is also used for Friday prayers. But it was still special to walk around the small shops built by old ship's container.
We were all very hungry. It was as if our metabolism had risen 20-30% after we got into the mountains and we were almost constantly hungry. We ended up at the city's "finest" hotel to have lunch and got fried chicken with sauce and potatoes. Nice to get a big piece of meat because it was not something that happend everyday around The Pamirs.