Across the roof of the world part 2

Day 65-67

After what seems like endless cups of tea and a mountain of bread I head off, into the head wind of course.  I am through the first checkpoint of the GBAO area with no troubles, a small pass and then it is more grinding slowly uphill an into the head wind. The blue skies make way for clouds threatening rain. 

After 46km I make it to Mamadzohir, a small homestay I have heard about. The lady the runs it must have seen my coming and is waiting out on the road or me. I am quickly hustled inside, given a mat to sit on next to the stove and plied with tea, bread and cream. I spend a cosy afternoon reading my book. 

The weather is worse in the morning, a light drizzle and more head wind. I think about staying at the homestay but decide to head off. The family offers me a lift to the next town but I decline. 

After the pass the weather starts to clear, although despite the sunshine the head wind is freezing cold. The rain gear stays on all day. 

A tourist van is stopped on the side of the road. One of the tourists hops out to chat and take a photo of me. During our conversation she proceeds to tell me about all the things I am doing wrong. They include wrong type of brake - disc brakes can just seize up,no slime in the tubes, wrong sort of valves in my tubes, no piece of rubber inbetween my tyre and tube to prevent punctures. Before she can continue I make an exit before I say something rude. 

After a fairly frustrating day of cycling into the head wind I end up at a guesthouse in Alichur. Somehow I missed the good one that all the other cyclists recommended and ended up at a fairly average place. I confuse the brea there with a brick. During the night someone decides it would be fun to bang on all the windows and doors. It's a bad sleep. 

The next day I stock up a lot of water. I know that there is no water until after Khargush pass and I am not sure I will make it there today. 

I cycle past a salt lake and make it to the turn off to the Whakan Valley. I sit there for 20 minutes eating and contemplating my decision, shorter and paved or longer and a terrible road. I take the turn off. Soon enough the road turns to loose gravel/ sand. I make my way past another salt lake and eventually over the pass. It feels bitter sweet to be going over the last pass of my pamir/ whakan adventure.

I find a great spot to camp near a little stream, just managing to cook, eat dinner and set up before the sun disappears over the hill. I have a great view of the Koh-i-Pamir massif in Afghanistan. Although I am camped at about 4160m there is no frost, part of the creek is frozen over in the morning though. 

2/9 Murghab - Mamadzohir: rode 46km, ODO 1884km

3/9 Mamadzohir - Alichur: Rode 60km, ODO 1944km

4/9 Alichur - Just past Khargush pass: rode 50km, ODO 1954km

Across the roof of the world

Day 62 - 64

I wake in the morning to a beautiful day with clear skies. I stroll down to the lake shore to have a look and take photos. The lake is bright blue, surrounded by mountains. Breakfast is more jam and bread, the amount of bread that 7 cyclists can eat is astonishing. We are Hungry Cyclists. 

I have a tail wind for the first 30km and they pass by quickly. In the afternoon the weather tuns again and it starts snowing. I am quick to put on my rain gear this time. It soon passes and after some terrible washboard road I arrive at the bottom of the pass. My campsite is at an altitude of 4260m. There are snow capped mountains close by. I prepare for a cold night. 

In the morning the tent and ground is covered in frost. My water bottles are full of ice. Although I didn't have a great sleep it wasn't too bad. The sun hits the tent at 7.30 and it is another beautiful day with clear skies. 

I head up hill, over the highest pass of the pamir, Ak-Baital, 4655m. I make it too the top in a couple of hours, after a lot of pushing my bike and huffing and puffing. I have a mild headache from the altitude but no other issues. At the top someone offers me a lift to Murghab, no thanks, I would rather ride down the hill. 

I head over the pass, into the head wind and down hill. The blue sky sticks around all day and I push onto Murghab, the thought of a warm bed and a beer keeping me going. 

I have a rest day in murghab.  It is all happening at the local school. The kids are in their best outfits for the first school day of the year.  In the morning I walk down to the bazaar. It is an alleyway of shipping containers. To my distress I can not find oats. What will I eat for breakfast? I buy some rice, buckwheat, a few veges and some chocolate bars. 

Some cycle tourists turn up at the guesthouse I am staying at and blog writing gets put on hold. We head to the hotel down the road for lunch and a beer. We all have to order two meals each. At 3600m the beer goes to my head quickly. A walk around town following rumours of internet proves fruitless. We do find the tourist information office, which is closed until June 1, 2015. I am on the edge of the season. The afternoon is spent eating melon and drinking tea, chatting with travellers. That evening we grab a few bottle of beer to drink with dinner. 

30/8 Karakol - before Ak-Baital pass: rode 51km, ODO 1755km

31/8 before Ak-Baital pass - Murghab: rode 82km, ODO 1837km