Follow my track ! From Tokat (km 3595) and further !

Date	Km	Country	Latitude (N)	Longitude (E)	Alt	Comments
08/12/06	11862	China	37deg041'05.602"	079deg29'037.216"	5308	Reported by Thuraya sms: "Alt 5300 m , nous venons d'atteindre le plateau tibetain! -20 deg à 18h le reveil sera frais. Grand bonheur ici! Tout va bien je ne serais a Ali qu'à noel. No internet avant. "
12/11/06	10974	China	37deg00'00.00"	75deg35'00.00"	3800	This point is an estimate of my furthest reach South on the Karakorum Highway before returning to Taxkorgan. It was snowing, the road was covered with frost and after a while I had the strange experience not to be able to move my arm muscles from the elbows down anymore.  Khunjerab village was near but with such a bad weather at 3800m, the higher roads  and passes would certainly be closed. It was no use to keep being at risk and I asked the first truck on his way down to bring me back to Taxkorgan. We reached Taxkorgan at night. The truck left me 5 km's before the Police check-point, which I was supposed to never have crossed through... ...Violation of a police fence AND of a border check-point must be pretty serious when the case is put at court... However, it was dark, the check-point was quiet and only some faint light was visible from the window of the guards' house. I dared pass under the fence, silently and as swiftly as possible, hoping for the two cops inside not to look outside for the 15 seconds I needed to cross the illuminated spot on the road... And it worked !...
12/11/06	10934	China	37deg16'52.37"	75deg26'27.99"	3487	On my way to Khunjerab... That's where roughly it started to snow. Some tailwinds started to blow at 50km/h and a mix of dust, sand and snow was swept away along the asphalt in front of my bike. Yacks -usually dark black - were partly covered with white. I could stop from time to time in some Tajik houses to get some hot water and warm up my extremeties (feet, hands and nose!) ... But those places were not heated and I never completely recovered from the cold that was overtaking me. Nevertheless, I continued some 40 km's beyond that point before I realised it was pointless to go forward as the way ahead was certainly locked up by snow.
11/11/06	10876	China	37deg45'05.60"	75deg17'38.78"	3000	Sideway, to avoid the Police check-point. Before all, I promise, I first tried to be respectful of the rules! But... First, I went down the road up to the police check-point out of Taxkorgan. After 1 hour talking and negociating with everyone I could get a reach of, it was clear (even if somehow many justifications were contradictory) that I was not allowed to go further down the Karakorum Highway. I retreated, apparently thamed by those diligent and zeleous protectors of the Chinese border with Pakistan (actually 100km's away).  But ... 10 minutes after, I was pushing my bike down across the wide valley of Taxkorgan, through swamps, river arms and ponds. 4 hours of struggle, bare-footed in icy waters and frosting mud after, and I was done on the opposite side of the valley ! This is how I passed the Police check-point in clandestinity, receiving some friendly comments, greetings and even support from some local Tajiks, who were happy to un-cooperate for a while with the Chinese rulers.
11/11/06	10855	China	37deg46'57.91"	75deg14'02.95"	3137	Taxkorgan. The Stone Castle.
10/11/06	10827	China	37deg53'52.83"	75deg07'38.85"	3205	A hot spa. Where I eventually did not go as the owner was expecting from me to pay 10 times the normal price for a single shower. Why ?!
10/11/06	10774	China	38deg16'31.50"	74deg54'58.56"	4098	Alugrabat Pass. When I passed it on my way South, it was clear and dry. No snow at all. 5 days later, it was all white and trucks were using snowgear to pass through. Winter had fallen down to 3000-2500m when I was on my way to Khunjerab and the Pakistanese border.
09/11/06	10740	China	38deg28'17.04"	75deg03'00.20"	3617	Karakul. The smallest of 3 lakes and certainly the nicest. Karakul is a Khyrghyz populated area. I slept indoors in a family homestay. It is funny to compare the slight "chinesezification" of those people compared to the Tajik Khyrghyz, who leave next to the large Karakul, in Tajikistan. Food is based on noodles, tea is perfumed, pots, cups are of chinese design...
09/11/06	10706	China	38deg43'37.88"	75deg00'39.35"	3277	An immense laguna. Feeling near the sea at low tide at 3000 metres of altitude is a strange a unique feeling ! One mountain in the West was patly covered by huge dunes of clear grey sand.
08/11/06	10691	China	38deg44'33.56"	75deg09'34.43"	2909	A couple of concrete yurts constructed in a gorge separating one 6000 and one 7000 m's summit. I slept in the courtyard of an emptied stone house, where I allowed myself to enjoy the warmth of a fire; May be the 3rd only of this entire trip.
08/11/06	10643	China	38deg54'50.21"	75deg29'23.52"	2021	Where the climbing started again... The valley began to narrow a bit. The red hills around became small mountains and soon enough, high white peaks. The road wad luckily excellent and the ascent - even if steep -  easy enough.
07/11/06	10595	China	39deg17'12.53"	75deg31'40.25"	1306	Oupial, where it is flat flat flat. An oasis in the Kaxgar Desert.
05/11/06	10542	China	39deg26'19.88"	76deg01'47.87"	1360	Sunday's livestock market, Kaxgar, XinJian Province. It is a large fair as it used to be in Europe some decades ago : Farmers bring there hundreds of sheeps, goats, cows, horses and even camels and the field is soon covered of hairy quadrupeds, smoke, shrieks, galops, and... Tourists, (as this market is a one-day not-to-miss attraction, which any Lonely-Planet Carrier goes to see when in or near Kaxgar.
04/11/06	10521	China	39deg36'51.52"	75deg56'37.59"	1460	A road junction, some 30 km's before Kaxgar, which you'll find down in the S-SE. Night was falling and I had already gone 130km's in the day. But the full moon appeared and I felt I wanted to reach the city of Kaxgar that night instead of staying outdoors... The main 4-lane road that links Urumqi to Kaxgar is made of excellent cement and  was not too crowded. I soon arrived in the glow of Kaxgar and after 164 km's in only one day, I was eventually arrived where I could relax and rest for a few days.
04/11/05	10431	China	39deg41'52.36"	75deg06'06.04"	2133	My first chinese restaurant ! Unlike the Pamir and Kyrghyzstan, every Chinese village I have been through has one or two places where to get a decent meal. After the monotonous food I could get further up, it appeared so tasty and diversified. Available again some delicious and fresh fruits such as melons, watermelons, apples, pome granate and even still grapes !! ... At those lower altitudes winter is momentarily left behind and opulence is back for a while!
03/11/06	10376	China	39deg50'16.05"	74deg34'13.25"	2881	There was an unexpected last 3000-m pass left to climb up in the evening that required my final strenghts & resources available as the sun was already setting. Near the top appeared a deserted village and I decided to sleep there in a half ruined mud-made hut rather than opening my tent. It was cold outside but mild inside. Mud-walls are good insulators as well as the straw I laid on ! My first night in China was peaceful and quiet.
03/11/06	10354	China	39deg49'05.37"	74deg22'15.76"	2478	Red Mounts and Camels. After the crowded stage at border and a quick meal with another traveller there appeared to me an impressive stony desert made of extended flat arid plateaux, surrounded by red, pink, even blue-ish mudy hills and  sharp, dark and rocky mountains. And in the background, some high snowy peaks were telling : You're still near the Roof of the World ! No life could be seen except some lazy-moving and very hairy camels and...  one crazy biker, singing and shouting at them on the road !
03/11/06	10299	China	39deg41'38.21"	73deg55'25.33"	2804	Border crossing between Kyrghyzstan and China. This border is the main link between China and Central Asia. Hundreds of trucks are converging there. Powerful modern Chinese trucks, which are overloaded of Chinese goods come fast down the asphalted XinJian roads. Dusty, rusty and smaller -but all-terrain - the Kamaz's on the Kyrghyz side are twice as many as the Chines trucks opposite the Limes. IThis soviet made truck is the only vehicle able to drive up and down on this desastrous road of Kyrghyzstan. As a matter of fact the border check-point is - on the Khyrghyz side - a nomadic village of trucks, horning, smoking, roaring as some huge metallic animals squeezed against each others. Humans are ants between those monsters, Nevertheless, children play between the huge wheels, a pregnant women walk between some fallen containers and this old man pushes his donkey through the mess. The atmosphere is close to the one of a MadMax film. On the contrary, on the Chine side, it is silent and rather less crowdy. It is not a hell cleaner, but there is at least obvious order and organisation. And more money.
02/11/06	10260	Kyrghyzstan	39deg38'52.58"	73deg37'52.35"	3562	3 Chinese drivers were stuck on this high road (3500m) repairing the left front wheel of one of their trucks... I stopped and we tried to exchange a few words : hopeless... but very very basic information such as "how is the road", how many km's to the next village" were easy to share... China is not too far away now...
01/11/06	10222	Kyrghyzstan	39deg43'53.70"	73deg14'46.60"	3131	Sary Tash. The last village of some importance before the Chinese border located at a junction-roads where dozens of trucks pass through a day as well as any tourist willing to go into or exiting China. As a consequence, the local people there seem to have little interest for the traveller (you are one among so many!) and after the wonderful meetings in the Pamir, I felt sorry to contemplate that the relationships there were reduced to "Money, Money" and "Photo' Photo!"...
01/11/06	10198	Kyrghyzstan	39deg31'55.00"	73deg15'54.98"	3471	Ciao Pamir ! Out of the fantastic Kyzyl-Art valley, the road goes down straight North into the Khyrghyz plateau towards the village Sary-Tash opposite. When you turn back, you can admire the huge white wall of the Pamir Plateau extending from East to West as far as you may see. 5000m's summits are dozens but they look small next to Peak Lenin and at some distance behind, Peak Communism, both above 7000m.
01/11/06	10179	Kyrghyzstan	39deg23'39.64"	73deg18'19.78"	4046	2 women and a cat are the lonely guardians on the Kyrghyz side of the Kysyl-Art Pass. When I passed over the summit, I started to ride down the North face of the mountain. Air suddenly became icy as this face was in the shade and a lot more covered by snow than the Southern one. In a few hundreds of yards I got frozen and I did not think twice before I knoked at the door of their house and begged hospitality... That door simply and heartily opened to me. My basics of Russian and Tajik and Turk (close to Khyrghyz) languages allowed us to exchange a few friendly informations and make the unavoidable silences of the evening between a male foreigner and two isolated muslim women pleasant... Food was excellent and the warmth of their stove as well as of their care to me were just great... And salvatory as it was deadly freezing outside that night.
31/10/06	10176	Kyrghyzstan	39deg23'03.98"	73deg19'26.00"	4290	Kysyl-Art Pass (4290m). Border crossing between Tajikistan and Kyrghyzstan. ... "Come on, again, you'll make it" I say to myself... 10 more meters up and my heart seems to explode... I need to stop for 1 minute to recover some breath. And I start up again, as 10 meters before. I shall go 10 more meters, up to this small stone on the way ahead. "Come on, you can make it!". And no: I cannot go any centimeter further. I stop again, almost falling from the bike. I could not reach the stone. "Breathe, breathe, calm your heart down ! ". And I am up again... 10 more  meters ... Up to 4300 m above sea level. I'll reach it at sunset. The custom officers were laughing at me and one asked me : "Why do you do this ??!" I just answered that beyond the pass are the prairies of Kyrghyzstan ! I have no better reason.
31/10/06	10151	Tajikistan	39deg12'11.75"	73deg26'26.64"	4228	Uybulok Pass (4230m). I turned back to the dark blue waters of Karakul a last time. The pass was easy to climb at this early hour of the morning after a 2-night break in the village down there. The relatively fertile lands around the lake are behind, Yacks are small black spot on the green-yellowish prairie. Around me it are only stones and dust, a mineral world.
30/10/06	10121	Tajikistan	39deg00'39.02"	73deg33'36.90"	3935	Karakul Lake. The French NGO Acted has implemented a couple of homestays in the village next to this amazing lake, the highest of Central Asia. I had had no serious rest since I left Kharug 10 days before and I decided to  (or, in other words : "my body which could not go any further told me to"...) stay there 2 nights . I experienced the Khyrghyz hospitality having my own room and some excellent food, made of grilled sheep meat, bread, tea, yack butter and cow yogurt and milk... I spent my day-off walking and writting along the shores of the lake, struggling sometimes with a persistent lack of air despite of the strong winds, due to the high altitude. The sight at extended waters were relaxing, as when you go for a long promenade along the sea.
28/10/06	10061	Tajikistan	38deg33'38.43"	73deg35'47.38"	4655	Akbaital Pass (4655m). I had decided I would sleep outdoors there. This is only 150 meters under the Mont Blanc  summit (That's the highest mountain in Europe). Night fell, I carried on. The last houses  with hot food and protective walls were left behind, I carried on. The wind started to blow from the front, in the vicinity of the pass, I carried on. Fortunately, the half moon was providing enough light to avoid to push my bike into the abyss and stay on the surfaced track. I had to stop every 10 meters or so because of the lack of oxygen. 2000 meters lower, this slope would be no problem at all ! Here it is tough. But I carried on... At the top, I found no house, no free space. Just the road. And some mud stacks next to the cliffs. I shall install my tent between two of them to get a precarious protection from the likely trucks to pass through there later. When climbing, 1 minute seems to be 1 hour. On the contrary, when you are motionless, off the bike, when the cold bites you through your 4 layers of fleece and Gore-Tex, everything does take three times as much time as normal. Meanwhile the cold bites you even more... I shall have no water, it is frozen. All my food is also frozen, including tomatoes, cheese and bread. No water for the pasta. The snow around is dusty because of the trucks, no way to boil it... There will be no dinner tonight. "Go into your 2 sleeping bag and sleep". At 6.00 am, it was -12 deg C in the tent : No breakfast either.
28/10/06	10039	Tajikistan	38deg31'30.35"	73deg48'58.80"	4008	50m from China. Maps have been uncorrect or uncomplete for the last month now. But this time, the mistake is a major one : it shows the border  at some 15 km's away, and it is actually, physically here, opposite the road. A long fence runs along hills and cliffs to separate Tajikistan fron China : This mountain is Chinese. This one is Tajik. My right foot is in Central Asia. My left foot is in Extreme-Orient.
28/10/06	10000	Tajikistan	38deg16'28.37"	74deg02'57.26"	3716	Chechekty : 10'000 km's !!! Yahooooo !!! Yahooooo !!! Yahooooo !!! Yahooooo !!! The Pamirs stand magnificient, all around me.
27/10/06	9985	Tajikistan	38deg10'24.03"	73deg58'07.73"	3610	Murgab. Capital city (village?) of Eastern Pamir.
26/10/06	9937	Tajikistan	37deg54'06.20"	73deg52'14.49"	4183	Nayzatash Pass. My first night in a Khyrghyz familly, after the Pass.
26/10/06	9925	Tajikistan	37deg51'27.11"	73deg45'24.83"	4045	End of Alichur Valley, which starts East of at Sasy Kul.  It is one of the most fertile of the Pamirs; It looked like a bald prairie to me, but splendidly grand ! It is so wide that mountains seem small, but all reach at leat 4500 meters. Clouds fall on them, covering them with snow, and yet they only seem to be dark grey pads of cotton flying away.
25/10/06	9863	Tajikistan	37deg41'05.26"	73deg11'43.87"	3813	Yacks and ruines Russian military base. The Pamir Plateau has a few lakes. Most of them are salty. I had not seen drinkiable water since the Khargush Pass and it was becoming problematic as the day was nearly finishing. A fellow cyclist had told me 10 days before when I entered the Whakhan valley not to expect water at all in this area except in a former Russian military base which I would seen between the road ans the Sasy Kul. At first I only noticed some cattle far away. They were strange cow-looking animals, but not cows : more hairy, mostly black, longer, lower and apparently heavier. Horns were also a lot fiercer... Yacks ! There were yacks ! The first yacks I would ever seen in my life ! As the legend tells, yacks help the travellers in need : And those very ones were heading to a kind of ruined village... The Russian Base Camp !
25/10/06	9850	Tajikistan	37deg38'03.15"	73deg04'52.23"	3766	Asphalt ! After the Whakan valley, after the Khargush pass and so many days on my way up to the Pamir Plateau, the track down kept sandy and stony.  It ruined the pleasure of the descent down to the Pamir Highway as the front wheel was routinely tackled by a stone or stuck by some rather fluid sand. And when not fluid, the hard sand was so inequal that the track was unbearably bumpy. Some bad weather, which was following me was  pouring down the heights of the Khargush Pass. Some front wind was opposing me a fierce resistance. The sun soon disappeared and the reliefs appeared grey and dull. When eventually I reached the asphalt of the Pamir Highway, it was such a relief, believe me !! But I had still in me all the extraordinary happenings and landscapes of the Whakhan valley, Same as for this journey of today down hill (and this is all this trip is about) : it is hard, I complain, but the rewards are equally important !
25/10/06	9829	Tajikistan	37deg28'29.96"	73deg05'14.65"	4291	Khargush Pass. The pass was actually a small altitude plateau surrounded by 5000-meter mounts. This is the highest point the GPS could define on the track : 4291m. A few hundred meters after, started the descent down to the Pamir Highway. The Whakhan valley was behind me, as well as the Afghan mountains.
25/10/06	9824	Tajikistan	37deg26'40.18"	73deg04'50.33"	4236m	A small lake at Khargush Pass. This is were I called my friend Mathieu from my satellite phone : He was having a delicious breakfast with his girlfriend in Paris before going to work in a cosy office; it was a sunny day and I could here the birds singing there... I loved the contrast of those minutes and felt full of energy to continue my journey afterwards.
24/10/06	9816	Tajikistan	37deg22'59.05"	73deg07'10.84"	3873	Khargush borderguards' camp. One more passport control. This time it is at dusk and a snowfall may happen again. The icy wind will soon make the place unpleasant even for a yack. When the officer in charge saw my passport inside the base, he told the soldier to take me in. In a small room, without electricity, heated up only by a wood-stove, those men offered me hospitality and protection for the night. We had a dinner made of their own supply (brought from their last days-off) and some American survival rations in the yellow glow of a unique candle. I slept in a bed, my head next to a Kalashnikov and a dozen of bullets. In the morning, the bad weather had disappeared, showing the whole Afghan mountains opposite the plateau where the camp was. The plateau was only a little white, it snowed only a little. But all the torrents I saw in the morning were quiet and frozen. Those men stayed a long time looking at me on my way up, some waving, some shouting at me when I was stopping, out of breath because of the altitude... Then it turned all silent again. After a while, I saw a group of Ipex ( a kind of tall mountain goats with straight horns) running downhill and crossing the road in front of me.
24/10/06	9811	Tajikistan	37deg20'57.24"	73deg05'47.76"	3844	1st snow... Only 5 km's before reching the Khargush borderguards' camp : Not a big deal, but still fresh and wet !
24/10/06	9796	Tajikistan	37deg17'40.74"	72deg58'07.84"	3787	A mirador facing the Afghan border. The wind was blowing in gales, but I climbed up, just to have a great 360-view around !
23/10/06	9763	Tajikistan	37deg09'08.35"	72deg44'40.01"	3437	Ciao Hindu Kush. Last sight to the Pakistanese Hindu Kush Mountains.
23/10/06	9750	Tajikistan	37deg04'25.45"	72deg42'01.99"	2952	Radmt Fort. The track suddenly went steep up after Langyar. It was a tough road, made of sand and stones. No way to ride, the wheels had no adherence. I should push over 5 km's... When 3 young border guards showed up we had at first a friendly talk. Then, they carried on and I went my way. At the next loop, there were there, sitting. Theuy had taken a short cut straight up when I followed the vehicle track. It was obvious that they were waiting for me comfortably, as watching the TV : "a tourist pushing a 50-kg bike on this bad slope , this is so interesting !" I got angry. At the next loop, I got even more angry. At the third one, I started to shout at them : "Can't you go your way and leave me alone ??!"... They smiled and kept watching the TV... Then I stoped and waited till they would go on ahead of me.  At the top, when the struggle was over, I could ride again; I was soon at their level. I felt bad for my anger and I offered some tea. They naturally accepted.. We talked more and kept going along together. It ended up in one guard's house in the next village, nammed Radmt. Not far away stand the ruins of a castle  erected to protect the valley from the Eastern Invasions 2000 years ago. A group of children brought me there. The view to the gorge of the Pamir river was astonishing. There were the vertical cliffs over hundreds of meters high. The loops of the roaring blue waters so far down there. And when looking above, the immense blue sky and a large eagle circling silently above me.
23/10/06	9744	Tajikistan	37deg02'22.65"	72deg38'55.78"	2795	Isor Village. Late in the evening, I am ridding next to a Pamiri. After a while we start talking and it happens that he speaks an excellent French... He's probably the only one in the whole Pamir and we'll discuss late in the night in his house about everything,
22/10/06	9706	Tajikistan	36deg57'44.26"	72deg16'16.53"	2681	Bibi Fatima hot spring and Yamchun Castle. That morning, I went on the road early. Soon after, I met someone who told me a castle and a spa, high up in the mountain, just North of the GPS point. I left my bike in his home and I was soon joined by another fellow who took me up to the spa. We climbed may be 1000m upwards acroos fields and stony slopes. The air was still cold and there was some ice in the torrents or irrigation canals we walked over. We left the ruins of the Yamchun castle below us, which was built some 2000 years ago to prevent the Chinese razia into the valley. We arrived to the spa from above. It was a small hot pond next to a cold vivid torrent. Water temperature was may be 45-50 degrees C. Air temp. was around 15 deg C. Above me, a pure blue sky and a warming sun. The spa was surrounded by immense mountains and I was bathing with a couple of Pamiris and a few laughing children... Bonheur complet...
21/10/06	9697	Tajikistan	36deg55'59.13"	72deg12'51.75"	2725	When night fell on me, I was nearly ready to cook my dinner next to my tent. As always, someone showed up and soom talked to me, and after a while, he invited me to his home. At first, I refused, but after a while, darkness and cold getting stronger, I accepted. I packed up my camp and started to walk with him over a few hundreds of yards when I realised I had lost one of my shoes, fallen from one of the rear panniers. I went up and down the way several times before I thought it was lost for good. It was total darkness and nothing could be seen one metre ahead. After a while, my 'friend' came to me telling me that he discussed on the road with a truck driver, who had met a cyclist (many pamiri have bikes),. who had found a shoe on the way and brought it to the next village, 3 km's away.  Jeeee ! This is "Radio Whakan"... How news can circulate so quickly and so accurately ? Half an hour later, I had my shoe, 20 people laughing at me and at my stupidity (how can he lose a shoe?!)... Tired, I went back where I initially planned to sleep, alone, in my tent.
21/10/06	9671	Tajikistan	36deg48'44.81"	72deg01'20.85"	2722	First sights at the Hindu Kush. The so-called Afghan "Whakhan corridor " is a thin strip of mountains squeezed between the Tajik Pamir Plateau and the Pakistanese Hindu Kush chain, made of formidable mountains. From my bike I could clearly observes these peaks reaching above above 7000m for several days long. The weather was clear and the peaks were only masked a few hours a day by clouds. Around me, autumn was still producing the most colourful of the fireworks. Daily temperatures were mild (+15/+20deg C) and at night temperatures were moderately cold (-5/0deg C). I spent most of my nights in Pamiri's houses in this valley.
21/10/06	9641	Tajikistan	36deg40'54.53"	71deg45'36.13"	2627	A little girl. After Ischkachim, the road runs along the Pyandzh river. Trees are still plenty. Most of them wear their Autumn colours: Reds, yellows and browns... A few villages are on my way. At dusk, a meet with an old man who offered me heartily several kg's of apples, which he was carrying on his back in an enormous bag. Vegetables and fruits are a luxury in the Pamir. Food is scarce and not diversified. That was a luxury present. As always I have little to offer but smiles and laughs. But this time, I dismounted and took his bag on my bike. We walked uphill to his house where I was invited to spend the night. He had a welcoming family and the cuttest grand-daughter ever, with the loveliest smile possible.
20/10/06	9622	Tajikistan	36deg44'24.11'	71deg35'18.21"	2467	Ischkachim village. This is where the Whakhan Valley starts and extends to the East. Opposite, this is Afghanistan. On my side, Tajikistan. The North faces of the Afghan mountains - all reaching above 3500/4000m - are covered with snow. One of the 4 bridges that links Tajistan to Afghanistan is just 2km's NW of the village. Can you see it ?
20/10/06	9597	Tajikistan	36deg55'34.53"	71deg29'34.21"	2411	A natural spa. The Pamirs offer many natural hot springs, some of them next to the road, which the local people use with delight. After my cold wake-up in Bogush, I sank myself in a small pool carved into the floor of a shabby hut... For a while it's been the best hamam on earth...
19/10/06	9584	Tajikistan	37deg01'16.70"	71deg27'46.05"	2450	Bogush. My first night outdoors on my way down to the Wakhan valley, next to the Afghan border, near a beautiful river. The river brought lots of humidity on my tent and even inside and in the morning, all was covered by frost and both water and food were frozen. Air temperature was -4deg Centigrade at 7.00 am.
17/10/06	9557	Tajikistan	37deg29'28.28"	71deg33'14.42"	2229	Khorog. When I left my friends at the Garm-Khorog cross-road, the day was lovely. But the road was muddy and sticky. Ridding 50km's a day would be a maximum. As a consequence, it was clear that it would take me double time to reach Khorog by bike from Duchambe as I initially planned. I decided to put my bike on a truck once more, this time for 400km's, in order to save those days for my haul up in the Pamirs rather than on the way to reach them. As since we passed Kalaikhum, the road followed a valley, which separates Tajikistan from Afghanistan. Sceneries were amazing. Mountains were more astonishing than ever. Minefierlds were scary. And my 2 days onboard this modern caravan of 3 Kamaz trucks was a truly unique experience, made of hours shaken by the poor road, hours repairing a broken axis, a wheel, a leak... Hours, talking and laughing at a road-restaurant. Hours of vigilant driving while climbing up to a mountain-pass covered by snow, when the engines almost collapses because of the steep slopes. Hours of tensions while driving down the same pass, on even narrower and  steeper roads...
15/10/06	9508	Tajikistan	38deg52'01.71"	70deg06'32.83"	1209	Cross-road to Garm and to Khorog. By chossing this lattest, I made my way to the Pamir Region. As rain was again pouring I decided to knock at the first door I would find on the road. A modest family warmly welcomed me. We woke up at 3 in the morning in order to eat and drink before the Ramadan diet-hours started. When they went back to bed, I prepared my bike for the road. Around the village, there were some destroyed tanks, as ghostly evidences of the civil war which took place in Tajikistan some 13 years ago now.
14/10/06	9485	Tajikistan	38deg42'52.84"	69deg42'40.22"	1368	Obigarm. A FAO's  SUV gave me a lift some 15 km's before this small mountain city, which both rain and wind were preventing me from reaching before nightfall by bike. The 3 Tajic FAO employees took me to a small hotel luckily equipped with a sauna and a hamam , which (very) hot waters were a perfect relief for my sore muscles !  After Armenia, Tajikistan is the second country where I have seen most NGO's SUVs driving the roads. International aid is everywhere in the form of old alimentary cans now used as pots or NGO's posters or stickers. One can see along the roads many boards announcing either the construction of a drinking water distribution network or the renewal of a village's warehouse...
13/10/06	9456	Tajikistan	38deg31'52.30"	69deg17'45.40"	1154	Vakhsh Valley. Rain and frontwind were waiting for me on the roads out of Duchambe. It is impossible to ride many km's in a day and I start to think of getting a truck up to Khorog in order to save time for the Pamirs rather than on the way to access them.
09/10/06	9342	Tajikistan	38deg35'09.63"	68deg46'09.64"	804	Duchambe, capital city of Tajikistan. Middle of the stadium, near the Tajikistan's National University. Arriving in a big city is always something I fear a bit. Duchambe was a lot easier than I expected; It is calmer, cleaner and has little traffic compared to other capital cities. Stops, traffic lights, even pedestrian crossings are respected! Duchambe is certainly the most Russian city I have been in also, even if the civil war, 12 years ago, completely renewd the city's population now majoritary Tajic. I like Duchambe a lot. I have been hosted there a few nights by a wonderful Tajik family, after I met Zara and Misha in Samarkand. Both live in the USA but Zara is Tajik and they are paying a visit to her country after more than 13 years of exile. Duchambe is also the place were i got my winter gears ready, which includes tailor-made bike-gloves, boots, scarfs, etc.
09/10/06	9296	Tajikistan	38deg55'08.00"	68deg48'43.24"	1390	Varzor Valley. After the Anzob Pass, the road goes through the Varzor Vally over 60 km's down to Duchambe. The valley is deep, surrounded by high, heavy, thick mountains. The scenery reminded me of some impressive landscapes seen in the Lord of the Rings. It was breathtaking and I kept silent for hours, while the slope took me swiftly and continuously down. It was also my first meeting with Chinese people since ChinaTown in London : Chinese workers are renewing the road, as they are doing nowadays in many other countries , especially in Affrica and Asia. No Tajik worker was there.
09/10/06	9257	Tajikistan	39deg05'01.73"	68deg51'56.48"	3376	Anzob Pass. The higest point I have cycled up todate (3376m). The ascent was 18km's long. The way was either poorly asphalted over a few yards, or mostly a dusty track. I went up in the morning, on the North Face. Half the way was in the shadow and rather fresh. Trucks were still making huge clouds of dust but it was early and there was not as much traffic as the day before in the evening. Reaching the pass unveiled a new valley surrounded by snowy peaks all around. The volume of air was huge, the descent was incredibly steep. An eagle was flying majestuously. It was windy and freezy but I can tell that Soviets made in their time a lot easier-to-climb roads than Iranians, whom roads are for me the steepest and the most harduous to go along ever. However, I counted may be up to 8-9 brokendown trucks on the way up (and as many on the other side): Engines heat up excessively or brakes melt.
08/10/06	9242	Tajikistan	39deg07'47.02"	68deg51'50.94"	2367	Out of Anzob village. The ascent to the Anzob Pass starts soon after the eponym village. The road is mostly track and trucks create a huge cloud of dust behind them, which makes the entire volume of air there dusty. For some reasons, I thought it was 2 hours later than it actually was; I looked for a camp place while the sun was already low and masked by the moutains. October ! Days are shorter ! I can now longer cycle later than 06.00 pm.
08/10/06	9226	Tajikistan	39deg11'02.79"