Headed off from the Jizeu valley and stopped at Bushan bazaar to buy some bottled water and fresh bread. Managed to connect to Whatsapp and send our daughter Kerri birthday wishes for her 33rd.
The road from Khorog to Kalai Kum wss very rough, having been built by the Soviets in 1930s. There were dozens of heavy Chinese freight trucks on the road and several pieces of wrecked trucks on the edge of the roads.
The houses we passed seemed more substantial with coloured steel rooves and more permanent stone walls.
It was interesting to view the Afghanistan side of the river where a road was being constructed. Turat said sometimes he would get a fright from them blasting the rocks to fit the road in the cliffs. There were several sections of the road through the rock being dug out. It was difficult to imagine how they got the people, supplies and machinery to some parts. The cliffs were high and the river was torrential in some places and there were no flat places to land a helicopter.
The green line where fields are irrigated above the villages and the dry rock looms above.
This section of road is lined with Tajik soldiers strolling up and down in their brand new uniforms and carrying arms. There were no visible soldiers on the Afghani side. There is only one border crossing to Afghanistan open on the Pamirs at present. Turat takes tourists to Afghanistan and speaks Farsi.
Stopped at the huge modern glass fronted supermarket in Kalai Kum. It had hostesses dressed in red to help customers find what they wanted. As it was such a hot day we decided to buy some cold beers to have before dinner. There was a chiller with all kinds of wines including some from Kim Crawford wineries in NZ and some Aussie labels. Quite a culture shock for us!
The town ran at right angles to the river and the towering Serena Hotel stood out like a sore thumb. It is the hotel the president stays at when he passes through. We headed a wee way out of town to a guesthouse that has recently been converted and renovated.
We sat outside under some pomegranate trees to have our beers and chat with the owner. They had a cafe but it was not running as they had not found a chef so we headed into town along a dusty dark road.
The only restaurant open was jutting out over the noisy raging river and we managed to find something to eat from the limited range they had.
The rooms looked out over a huge rocky hill so they made the rooms very hot. Luckily we arrived early enough to score a fan to help cool us.
The next day after breakfast we started the last stretch of our Pamir adventure. We headed off along the shortest route to Dushanbe and after about three hours said goodbye to the Afghani river valley and its road building projects.
The first part of our sealed road was built by the Turkish, then we drove on a part built by the Iranians. The next part built by the Chinese and still getting its finishing touches was the widest and smoothest. It had signs and lines painted to show the different lanes.
We headed up the Shurabad Pass at 2300m just before the town of Kulab. We could see the Nurek Reservoir in the hazy distance.
We drove smoothly through Dangara which is where the president comes from so the place is well presented if not a bit chaotic.
A short stop for lunch and a cuppa and a vehicle wash down by the crew waiting on the street and we were on our way through a couple of tunnels and past the fields of wheat, corn, and cotton and into Dushanbe the end of our time with Mark and Turat.
The road from Khorog to Kalai Kum wss very rough, having been built by the Soviets in 1930s. There were dozens of heavy Chinese freight trucks on the road and several pieces of wrecked trucks on the edge of the roads.
The houses we passed seemed more substantial with coloured steel rooves and more permanent stone walls.
It was interesting to view the Afghanistan side of the river where a road was being constructed. Turat said sometimes he would get a fright from them blasting the rocks to fit the road in the cliffs. There were several sections of the road through the rock being dug out. It was difficult to imagine how they got the people, supplies and machinery to some parts. The cliffs were high and the river was torrential in some places and there were no flat places to land a helicopter.
The green line where fields are irrigated above the villages and the dry rock looms above.
This section of road is lined with Tajik soldiers strolling up and down in their brand new uniforms and carrying arms. There were no visible soldiers on the Afghani side. There is only one border crossing to Afghanistan open on the Pamirs at present. Turat takes tourists to Afghanistan and speaks Farsi.
Stopped at the huge modern glass fronted supermarket in Kalai Kum. It had hostesses dressed in red to help customers find what they wanted. As it was such a hot day we decided to buy some cold beers to have before dinner. There was a chiller with all kinds of wines including some from Kim Crawford wineries in NZ and some Aussie labels. Quite a culture shock for us!
The town ran at right angles to the river and the towering Serena Hotel stood out like a sore thumb. It is the hotel the president stays at when he passes through. We headed a wee way out of town to a guesthouse that has recently been converted and renovated.
We sat outside under some pomegranate trees to have our beers and chat with the owner. They had a cafe but it was not running as they had not found a chef so we headed into town along a dusty dark road.
The only restaurant open was jutting out over the noisy raging river and we managed to find something to eat from the limited range they had.
The rooms looked out over a huge rocky hill so they made the rooms very hot. Luckily we arrived early enough to score a fan to help cool us.
The next day after breakfast we started the last stretch of our Pamir adventure. We headed off along the shortest route to Dushanbe and after about three hours said goodbye to the Afghani river valley and its road building projects.
The first part of our sealed road was built by the Turkish, then we drove on a part built by the Iranians. The next part built by the Chinese and still getting its finishing touches was the widest and smoothest. It had signs and lines painted to show the different lanes.
We headed up the Shurabad Pass at 2300m just before the town of Kulab. We could see the Nurek Reservoir in the hazy distance.
We drove smoothly through Dangara which is where the president comes from so the place is well presented if not a bit chaotic.
The final section down into Dushanbe was a Soviet road in need of repair interspersed with original parts of the old Silk Road.
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