Kalaikhum – Dushanbe

5th August 2014      10-37’C        291km
Kalaikhum – Dushanbe

I set out early this morning, as I was awake at 5am.  The blanket that was serving as my mattress on the floor, did little to insulate me from the hard surface.   I had a quick breakfast of fried eggs with bread, the local bread in Tajikistan is a round disk, very tasty.

Five minutes out of town, I reached the first of many checkpoints, and as I parked the bike at the gate, I had an ominous feeling in my stomach.  I hoped this check didn’t take too long. My passport went inside the small hut, and in the meantime I chatted with the young soldier at the gate, as he swang his AK-47 around.
My passport came back after a few minutes, and I quickly said goodbye.  I got back on the bike, and rode just out of sight of the checkpoint.
I killed the engine and within four and a half seconds of getting off the bike, I’d grabbed the paper & wet wipes, and had my pants around my ankles, squatting by the side of the road, in the dust stirred up by passing trucks.   What a start to the day, it was going to be a long day.

Twenty minutes later at the top of the mountain pass, the scenario was repeated.  Although this time I had a magnificent view from my open air ‘facility’, looking out over the mountain peaks.

Back on the trail, the ‘road’ was atrocious. I’d been warned it was a bad road, but it was worse than the descriptions I’d been given.  A 100M drop to the bottom of the gorge, and babyhead rocks littered the road.  When a truck was in front, the clouds of dust stirred up made it impossible to see even 2M ahead, until I could try to blast past into the clear air.  The hairpin bends were deep with bulldust as the road climbed along the edge of the cliff.  It was treacherous riding, made even more so by the occasional crazy drivers coming the other way in the middle of the trail at breakneck speed.
Everything on the bike and every part of me was being shaken apart.

I was stopped at five further checkpoints, but the soldiers were always courteous and efficient.  At the last checkpoint, I stopped for a drink and noticed that the chain guard had snapped, a result of the beating it was taking on this very rough road.  I bodgied together a sort of retaining system using zipties, to the amusement of the soldiers at the checkpoint.   They were taking donations of food, drinks and cash from local drivers, although I was never given a  shake-down for any payment.

Finally the road to Dushanbe improved, and the last two hours, despite being a very hot 37’C, were a slightly easier ride.  As I rode into Dushanbe, I spotted a carwash and pulled in to the delight of the lads working there, who set about giving the bike its best clean in months.

I made a quick driveby of the Turkmenistan Embassy, in preparation for submitting my application for a transit visa tomorrow.  And I’m now settled in at the very comfortable Mercury Hotel, enjoying the wifi, garden and a shaded garage to work on the bike.