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- Yurt cafe just outside Murgab
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- We camped on the grass in the foreground – nice view to wake up to!
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- Cycling away from Alichur
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- The homestay of Rahima, the English teacher in Alichur
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- Helping out a Swiss couple who had got their 4WD stuck in the mud
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- They were very stuck…
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- Salt lake, amazing colours
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- En route from Bulunkul to Alichur, via a little used 4WD track
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- Bad weather approaching Alichur
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- Reflection in Bulunkul lake
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- Yurt near Bulunkul
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- More yurts near Bulunkul
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- Kids playing the local version of hoopla in Bulunkul
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- How this sort of vehicle survives for any period of time in the conditions up here, and on the roads up here, is a mystery to us
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- Yashil Kul
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- Yashil Kul, without a bike this time
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- Rainbow that magically appeared as we were walking away from Yashil Kul. We are fairly certain we were the only people to see this rainbow before it disappeared.
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- Can’t believe we have come all this way on our bikes!
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- Bicycle race, being held to celebrate Independence Day, that we encountered as we approached Murgab
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- We are so high up here – over 4000m – that you feel very near the clouds
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- Looking down on the salt lakes near Alichur
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- Trying to outpace the bad weather following us. Unfortunately we failed and got a soaking shortly after this was taken!
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- Entering Murgab district; denoted by rather cheesy statue of Marco Polo sheep for which the area is famous
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- Delays on the M41 due to….sheep crossing
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- Approaching Koi Tezek pass
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- The very friendly staff at Jelandy hot springs hotel
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- The not-so-lovely toilets in the hot springs hotel. Would it really take that much effort to build some dividing walls?!
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- Pete is very happy after managing to buy all of the Snickers bars in Jelandy village
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- Pamiri house, near Jelandy
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- One of the many crystal clear (and freezing cold) mountain springs in the area. Water doesn’t get much purer than this!
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- With a family that kindly invited us in for tea
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- Wouldn’t want to walk across that bridge!
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- We inadvertantly camped in some grazing grounds and woke to find cows sniffing round our tent!
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- Mickey – he has travelled all the way from Istanbul!
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- Gunt valley
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- On day walk that we did from Jelandy
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- Camping in Gunt valley (before the cows invaded!)
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- Beautiful sandy beach right below snowy-capped peaks, in between Rushan and Khorog. The other side is Afghanistan. We stopped for a swim here- lovely.
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- Old waterwheel near Rushan
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- Camping next to the River Panj
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- Abandoned tank on the Tajik/Afghan border
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- Tajikistan flags!
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- Afghan village on alluvial plain
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- The road quality isn’t always as good as you might like
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- Recycling at its best – inventive use of half of an old bus
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- To the point and certainly focuses the mind! We made sure not to stray off the road in this area!
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- Christine enjoying a Snickers bar while local kids look on enviously (we gave them one to share just after)
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- Friendly local kids posing for pictures by jumping up and down
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- Afghan donkey!
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- Kids chasing us out of their village (in a friendly way!)
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- Kids running towards us as we enter their village, wanting their photo taken and a high-five
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- Afghan villagers on the other side of the river
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- Afghan village, looking much more basic than villages on the Tajik side
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- The first car ever to drive across the Pamir Highway
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- Taking the bikes for a ride in a landcruiser, from Dushanbe to Kalaikhung, as the road is so bad we were advised not to try cycling it. Even in a landcruiser it took 9 hours to cover just 200km!
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- Looking back towards Tajikistan from Kyrgyzstan. Believe it or not some of those peaks are over 7000m, meaning they are only 1000m or so smaller than Everest. They don’t look so big because the valley we are in lies at almost 4000m.
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- Atrocious road on Kizil Art pass that delineates the Tajik/Kyrgyz border
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- Looking towards Kyrgyzstan from Tajikistan
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- Karakol lake – stunning colours
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- Operating the well in Karakol village. Nobody in the Pamirs has running water, everybody relies on wells or on rivers and streams.
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- Bedroom in the homestay in Karakol.
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- Donkeys by Karakol lake.
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- Watching a weather front approach across the lake. Shortly after we were hit by a fairly heavy snowstorm.
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- Karakol village homestay
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- Home for the night – abandoned house that we camped in to get out the wind on the way to Karakol.
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- Polish couple we met on the top of Ak Baital pass
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- Posing on the top of Ak Baital pass, at 4655m.
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- Just in case anyone thinks we are lying, here is the altimeter reading!
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- Approaching the pass
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- The road up, just before it gets steep
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- Marmots! We saw these everywhere in the Pamirs, really quite cute.
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- Cold camping, brrr! We had frost on our tent in the morning here.
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- A collection of hats in Murgab. The man’s hat is very popular with men in this area.
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- Murgab – bit of a run-down, tumble-weedy type of place
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- In the Gunt valley, soon after leaving Khorog
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- Man carrying an awful lot of hay!
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- Horses in Kyrgyzstan – we saw lots, even though we were only in the country for one day.
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