And so, today, I reach the terminus of the Pamir Highway, one of the key “goals” I had for my journey. From tomorrow onwards, my focus will be on wrapping up my journey, returning to Almaty, flying back home, and getting married.

There are two paths back to Dushanbe from Kalaikhum: a northerly route which is ~300KM that cuts through a mountain range, follows the Vakhsh River westward towards the capital, and a southerly route that continues along the Afghan border for 380KM, travelling along rolling hills and valleys. The northerly route is known to be “mostly offroad” in condition, and most people I have met have recommended the southern route. All except Jeff, the French motorcyclist who I rode with to Khorog.

Today’s route in blue

In the end I decided to ride north. I liked that it was counter consensus, that the roads would be a challenge, and that the scenery would be more “epic” in nature.

I started late yet again; I tend to get up later when I’m staying at nicer places. This time I started with a coffee, a “SOE Ethiopian” that I purchased in Urumqi. It was already quite warm (40 degrees) by 10:00 when I set off.

First stop was a river crossing to Afghanistan, 5km away. As it was Saturday morning, they hold a market for locals and Afghans to trade and intermingle in no-mans land.

Tajik backdrop to the markets

The Kalaikhum Afghan Market

It was relatively crowded, with Afghans wearing lanyards with numbers around their neck. All sorts of goods were being sold; tools, clothes, snacks, melons, meat, and even wood. I was invited over to share in a watermelon between some Afghans.

Sharing is caring

Me and the lads

They were very curious, but alas my Arabic (if that is the language they speak) is very limited. I purchased a Chinese 14mm wrench (for tightening/loosening my mirrors) and left.

New tool acquired (only $2)

Outside, I bumped into the kiwi cyclist yet again! Third time since the road block. He had stumbled upon the market while riding (he didn’t know about it) and was enjoying an icecream.

Third time lucky merits a selfie

It was past time to get going, given the length of today’s ride, so we said our goodbyes and set off.

The way out of Kalaikhum follows a stream up into a narrow gorge, climbing steeply up the walls of the gorge. The way was almost completely empty besides a silver RAV4 who was tearing up the dirt track. I kept my distance; I didn’t want to have such an impatient driver behind me, nor get covered in the dust kicked up from its tyres.

Crossing the stream on an old metal bridge

The road was mostly gravel, with a few slices of old tarmac. It was carved into the mountain, and it was very obvious that it was not well maintained; when sections of tarmac from the old road appear to have collapsed down the mountain in the past, I could tell that the solution was to get a crane/bulldozer and just carve an extra chunk of earth out of the mountain to compensate, leaving an unpaved and oddly curved road.

The way up the mountains

It seems like this is also quite the area for beekeepers, with hives in boxes all the way up the mountain. I had learned my lesson from last time, keeping my visor down and riding slowly so as to not invite bees into my riding gear.

Beekeepers engaging in their craft

On the way up, I noticed that my tyre pressures were dropping. “Probably a slow leak from a nail”. I thought. I decided to pump some air into the tyres and to deal with the problem later. While I was pumping, a couple riding mid sized bikes stopped to say hello. They were the only bikes I saw along the way all day.

Sandeep on the cliff edge (the cliffs you see are the other side of the gorge). It was here I checked my tyres.

The views were spectacular, and it felt like such an adventure. The narrow rocky mountains had a mysterious feel to it, like they could have been home to witchcraft.

The mountain pass

After ascending to the peak, the landscape transitioned to long sweeping hills, with villages nestled in the flatter parts.

Sweeping hills on the other side of the pass

Sweeping hills pt 2

The way through the countryside

I decided to stop to check on my tyre pressure after descending. My front was okay, it had dipped about 10% but my rear was completely flat!

Uh oh

Double uh oh

It was midday by now and baking hot. I had run out of water, so I was keen to fix this and stop at the next town.

And alas, here my aliexpress tyre plug kit failed me again. This time it was the tool for inserting the plug; it must have been made from a weak metal, and bent while I was trying to push it into the tyre, and eventually the tips broke off.

After a while of working on this, I hailed down a passing car, and asked if they had a tool I could use. Thankfully they did - although I think probably all cars here would carry such toolkits due to the conditions of the road.

When I returned to the road, I was focused on making distance. It was 2pm and I had only made it ~50km of the 300km total, so I was behind.

I stopped at the village of Tavildara for some water - and just out of curiosity asked if they had a tyre plug kit for sale. I was led upstairs where they had an entire hardware store! A Russian tyre plug kit cost ~$3 usd and seemed much more sturdy than the aliexpress kit I had.

New acquisition

There was no time for lunch, so after some sugary drinks and chocolate it was time to return to the road.

The roads were mostly dirt from this point onwards, cresting over little mounds, turning suddenly. At one point I was going a bit too quickly up a crest, and saw only two narrow concrete pylons to ride over a small stream…thankfully I managed to steer onto them just in time, and remained shiny side up…but it was a good reminder to slow down whenever I could not see the path ahead; you never know what it could be!

I tried to do some powersliding that I had learned while riding in the desert in Dubai. It was with mixed success; I was a bit too afraid to fully commit to it, and I wasn’t sure that it was the right technique being a mixture of pavement occasionally, gravel roads, and dirt. Oh and the roads were on the side of a tall cliff, so it was relatively higher stakes than riding in the desert!

After two hours of riding, I suddenly noticed that turning felt quite sluggish and that I could feel every single bump in the rear. Oh no - another flat. This time my rear tyre was completely flat, and I was stuck in an area where it was difficult to stand my motorcycle upright by itself. After 10 minutes of manoeuvring the bike in all different positions to (1) stand upright by itself, and (2) expose the puncture, I gave up and asked a passing local for help.

Uh oh pt 3

I gave them the tyre repair kit while I held up the bike, and they had plugged it quite quickly. Only now, my air compressor was running out of battery…but to my luck they were carrying a proper air compressor with them.

Good Samaritans

Leaving in their truck

They were very kind, and even helped me wash my hands with their bottled water. As a token of my gratitude, I gave them two packs of cigarettes; one Marlboro and another pretty Chinese brand I had picked up along the way.

I feel like there must be something watching over me for my safety, because it was only on a whim that I decided to purchase the new tyre repair kit at Tavildara, and I did not feel too strongly about getting it (I thought it would be easier to purchase in Dushanbe).

The remaining journey was a blur. I was fully focused on the road, and barely stopped for photos. I was afraid that my front would have a leak as well, and was actively monitoring the pressures. My pump was out of battery, so it was a bit stressful!

I reached Dushanbe by 7:00PM, ahead of schedule. This was mainly because the roads were quite nice for the last 100km or so leading into the capital. Dushanbe is quite a bit more developed than Bishkek, with an army of Chinese NEVs as taxis, tall buildings in the city centre, and nice roads.

Dinner was plov (the best I’ve had so far), and afterwards I rode around the city to see some of the sights.

Great plov and sugary drink

Famous monument (wasn’t allowed inside with the bike)

Proper pic of the monument

Better pic of Sandeep with a famous monument (I also wasn’t allowed to take this pic but there was no gate in my way this time)

Tomorrow; Khujand!

Some stats:

• 295 KMs travelled
• 28.4L fuel added
• 30g coffee consumed
• 7 unique interactions

Altitude map of today’s ride

Route to date