The remainder of the Wakhan Valley was a much milder affair than yesterday’s section to Langar; the road followed the river, and was a mixture of gravel, sand, and patchy pavement.

Today’s route in blue

When I woke up, I felt like I had been badly beaten up the day before. Everything was sore, so I started the day off slowly with some stretches. The other guests at the guest house had disappeared by the time I emerged at ~9am, which made me feel somewhat guilty for sleeping in (but also like what’s the fun in getting up so early anyway…).

I took some time to repack my luggage (I’d put everything away in a hurry yesterday after the crossing), and then started riding.

The road weaved alongside the river, with the mountains of Afghanistan on the left, and small villages on the Tajik side. What I found interesting was how developed the villages were seemed to have a linear relationship with how far along the river they were situated.

Panj River

At one end, was Eskashim and Khorog, which are the capitals of the Wakhan valley and the GBAO region respectively. I was riding from the other end.

Panj River pt 2

As the day progressed, I went from seeing the most basic villages with only home stays, and patchy electricity with barely any cars, to villages with computer stores, two or three storey concrete houses, trucks, and basketball courts. By the time I reached Eskashem, people could be seen living more liberal lives (dressed in casual wear / jeans + tshirts rather than more traditional clothing + modest wear).

Along the route I stopped at two waypoints. The first was a Buddhist stupa, which was supposedly built during Silk Road times. I was quite curious about this because the region here is majority Muslim and I haven’t seen anything to do with Buddhism. I rode to the location on Google Maps (signage was quite poor), and I found myself at the edge of a small village, a cliff on one side and small agricultural plots on the other. No Stupa to be seen.

There was a kid riding his bike nearby, so I called him over and asked him to show me the stupa. Then, as we set off, he started climbing the cliff, expecting me to follow…This climb truly made me feel my age. While it was a walk in the park for the kid (and his friend who eventually joined), I was stopping every 10 metres to catch my breath, and carefully planning each step.

The kid leading me up the cliff…I stopped and was like “wtf?” before following

The stupa itself was quite basic and made of rocks piled together. I think I have been spoiled by the Buddhist artifacts I’ve seen in China and Thailand, because I was expecting a lot more. I gave the kids a few dollars for their trouble and then continued on riding.

After quite the climb: the stupa

The way back down…

Not enjoying this

Next stop was Yamchun Fortress, built in the 3rd century BC to control this trade route. This was situated 7km up a dirt road that turned off from the highway. While the road was lots of fun to ride, the fortress itself wasn’t accessible: they were still building a path from the fortress to the road. I continued on to Eskashem from there, slowly riding and enjoying the views along the way.

Yamchun Fortress

The road goes up a massive sand dune (thankfully the road has gravel)

When I reached Eskashem, I felt like this was the most developed place I’ve been in since be Osh. There were actual cafes, roads were made of concrete/pavement, there were petrol stations, and people were walking around town like there were things to do (I felt like most people were wandering around aimlessly in other places).

The town of Eskashem

I stopped at a cafe to take a break and bumped into a French rider named Jeff (Jean-something), who was riding a Tenere 700. The two Australians from yesterday had mentioned that a French guy was trying to catch up to them, and to stop and say hello if I saw him.

This was quite the encounter. He was 62, and riding using a paper map, and on his way to Mongolia from France. We chatted for a while - firstly on the route conditions I had taken (he had turned back because he wasn’t too keen to do the river crossing and was trying to manage his regret/fomo), and then on general route tips riding up to Kyrgyzstan. I told him to be careful of the ice on Ak Baital pass and to stop at Tulpar-Kul lake. We were both headed to Khorog, so we rode together for the remainder of the afternoon.

Route planning the old fashioned way

Road to Khorog

Panj River

Road on the Afghan side…subsumed by the river

Riding break

Along the way we bumped into three Aussies who were also riding: a father and son, and the son’s girlfriend. This was quite a good encounter because I was able to get intel on the Kyzl-Bel border crossing that I am planning to take back to Kyrgyzstan, and was happy to share my experiences at the river crossing and road conditions beyond.

Serious biker meeting

Final stretch to Khorog

I enjoyed beers and dinner with Jeff in Khorog, and stayed in a nice homestay. The first real bed since Osh!

Tomorrow; Kalaikhum!

Some stats:

• 254 KMs traveled
• 18.3L fuel added
• 0g coffee consumed (i know…i need to fix this)
• 3 unique interactions

Altitude map of today’s ride

Route to date