From Khorog you have a couple of choices regarding which road to take. The main Pamir Highway (M41) leads up into the mountains, while a southern route continues to follow the Afghan border as the Wakhan corridor narrows. Recently there was only one choice, as the M41 was closed due to big landslides a couple … More Tajikistan Part 2: The Pamir Highway (22/09/15-01/07/15 Khorog to Kyrgyzstan)
During the hour long search at the Uzbek border the guard felt the need to make a little small talk with me. ‘Did you hear about the killings in Dushanbe a few days ago’. ‘Err, no?’. ‘Yes – many terrorists in Tajikistan’. I thought she was just gloating about how much better Uzbekistan is (those … More Tajikistan Part 1: Cycling the Afghan border (08/09/15-21/09/15 Uzbekistan to Khorog)
I got off the night train and walked straight to the Tajikistan consulate. I was there an hour before ‘opening time’ (not that that means anything to them) and already there was a huge crowd outside – they’d been closed Monday & Tuesday due to the Uzbek Independence Day so it was no surprise that … More Uzbekistan Part 2: Bukhara to the Tajikistan Border (03/09/15-08/09/15)
I normally start these blogs with a screenshot of my cycling route for the relevant dates. Not much point in that on this occasion – I’ve cycled about 100km during my first fortnight in this country thanks to Tajikistan pissing me about as much as possible. So, if you’re only interested in bicycle blogging – … More Uzbekistan Part 1: The Silk Road by Train (18/08/15-01/09/15)
After my thorough questioning by the Iranian border staff, I cycled over to Turkmenistan. They didn’t seem to care that (having now switched back to my UK passport), it looked like I’d just magically arrived at the border with not a single other stamp in my passport. They had many more important things to do… Like … More Turkmenistan: The Desert Dash (14/08/15-18/08/15)
I had my longest ‘civilisation-less’ stretch ahead of me from Sharhud. Nothing major, but more than 200km between towns. As usual the wind was pain in the back (or front, rather) and the heat scorching. I hate the lack of shade in the desert – it makes things really tough sometimes. Normally I like to … More Iran part 3: Shahrud to the Turkmenistan border (05/08/15-14/08/15)
I woke up on my last day in Armenia exactly 6 months since I started this trip. Half a year! That’s a good while… Very soon this will be the longest I’ve ever been away from home. Time seems to move at a different pace on bicycle. It doesn’t feel like I’ve been away that … More Iran part 1: From the Armenian border to Tehran (16/07/15-26/07/15)
The Armenian side of the border was a chaotic shambles, but within 5 minutes of cycling I was cycling in peace and quiet. In the evening sun everything looked golden – the fields a deep yellow and the mountain peaks different shades of blue as they faded in the distance. In one village not far … More Armenia part 1: From the Georgian border to Yerevan (03/07/15-08/07/15)
Turkey had been great, but enough was enough. I was excited about travelling somewhere new and the Caucasus seemed like a perfect place to detour while waiting for Ramadan to pass. The border official took an eternity looking at my passport, calling his boss over to check things but eventually I was let through – … More Georgia: Dodging cows, cars and thunder storms (21/06/15-02/07/15)
JKB's Bike Ride 