After a lazy morning and a delicious lunch of bread, cheese (cheese!), tomato and onion I pack my gear and head into town to meet Barbara. By the time we get out of town it is almost three pm. That's ok. We have allowed ourselves 5 days to cycle 240km.
We cycle for a couple of hours before finding a spot to camp. We eat dinner together (grechka with beetroot, capsicum and onion - delicious), play some cards and head to bed.
I wake up in the middle of the night to some rustling around my tent. It's a fox! Barbara is awake as well and discovers that the fox has stolen her shoes. We have a quick look but it's difficult with our headlamps in the dark. We head back to bed but the fox lingers around, it is nipping at Barbara's tent and seems to want to play.
In the morning I find my cup and spoon a few metres away, as well as my water bag. The hose is a few centimetres shorter but there are no holes in the bag. After 10 minutes of searching we also locate both of Barbara's shoes.
After this delay and a lazy breakfast it's 10 o'clock by the time we hit the road. We stop at a small roadside stall for lunch, I purchase a small fish and some sort of fried dough with potato and onions inside them. As we are leaving a share jeep turns up and one the passengers starts talking to Barbara in German. He is a local teacher and invites us to his house 40km up the road. We decide to stay there tonight.
We have a very cruisey afternoon, there is no wind and the asphalt is pretty good. This is holiday cycling. No need to hunt for a campsite, easy kilometres and good company. We are invited for chai in a village and are fed pasta, peaches, pears and apples. The fruit in the valley here is great. We are given a bag each of apples and pears as we leave.
Once we get to Nissam's house we are treated like queens. Chai is quickly served, along with bread, jam, grapes, pecans, peaches and dried mulberries. Dinner comes next, mutton, mash potato and tomato salad. Delicious. I don't think it gets much better than this. And then we are offered schnapps.
An early start in the morning brings more easy kilometres despite the light head wind. The valley continues to be spectacular, with views of Afghan villages and large brown hills/cliffs. A quick stop in a village to buy some more grechka turns out well for us. A lady near the shop invites us to her house and gives us about 3 kg of freshly picked peaches. Barbara also finds a fig tree on the outskirts of town and loads up of fresh figs.
We find a campsite in the mid afternoon and while away the time drinking tea, reading and having a well needed wash in the (freezing cold) creek.
The road today turns a little rough. And by a little I mean that we have to push our bikes through patches of bull dust, there are rocks and sections of washboard. The holiday cycling of the last couple of days seems to have ended. Luckily the scenery is still amazing. We gaze at Afghanistan, puzzling over how anyone can walk along the crazy paths that zig zag up the mountains.
In the evening, while dinner is cooking, Barbara gives me a haircut. Somehow I convinced myself that it would be fun to have a Mohawk.
It's a windy morning and the road surface is variable. We continue down the road, still marvelling at the scenery, after a week of staring at Afghanistan in the Whakan valley and now another 5 days of it, it doesn't get old. We wave to the children playing on the bank of the river and laugh at the crazy sounds the donkeys make. The occasional motorcycle puts along the road but the traffic in Afghanistan is light. None of those pesky Chinese trucks blowing dust around.
Lunchtime rolls around and just in time we are invited for chai. Chai comes and so does bread, soup, tomato salad, grapes and watermelon. We are spoilt. There is a cost though. Barbara endures the advances of one of the men, having to make up an Austrian phone number for him and frequently tell him that no, he can't take my bike and cycle the rest of the way to Austria with her. I feel bad for Barbara putting up with this but I am happy I get out of it. After a little while the men ask Barbara if I am a male of female. Ahhh, that is why I don't have to put up with the creepy man! There are benefits to having a Mohawk.
We finally escape, straight into the clutches of the craziest wind I have experienced so far. Coming head on in huge gusts, sometimes leaving us standing still, turning our backs to the sand that it picks up. It's kind of like being at the beach on a windy day and the sand hitting the back of you legs, except that your trying to ride into the wind and the sand hits your face.
It settles after a while and we make it to Khali-I-Khumb, after splitting up the fruit we have gathered today (figs and peaches) we part ways. I have found a homestay and Barbara is going to tackle the pass and make her way to Dushanbe slowly. It's been a great week cycling with Barbara, sharing food and stories at mealtimes, not having to worry about being so secluded at every campsite and she gave me a great new haircut.
15/9: khorog - just before baryanj rode 21km, ODO 2326km
16/9: just before baryanj - Dehrushan rode 61km, ODO 2388km
17/9 Dehrushan - a bit before Vanj turn off rode 67km ODO 2456km
18/9 a bit before Vanj turn off - another village rode 56km, ODO 2512km
19/9 some village - Khali-I-Khumb rode 43km, ODO 2555km
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