Author Archives: Björn

Murghab Impressions

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We made it into Murghab in the early evening.

Most in the group were tired and surely the altitude was taking its toll. I was still feeling well enough, to have a quick look around town. Given its size (a population of around 4000) and location, attractions here were somewhat limited … I guess, the only thing to count, is the downtown Lenin Statue.

Needless to say, that my look around town did not last too long and that I made it back to the hotel with ample of time for a good read – before the group got together again for dinner.

When I woke up the day after, I did not feel too good – indeed I felt, as if I were completely hung-over (albeit without having had any alcohol the day before) … head-ache, nausea and slight dizziness – the altitude had finally gotten me. Watering up (with added in rehydration powder) and a Snickers (once I felt confident again on solid food) got me going again – and I was close to normal by lunchtime.

Before leaving Murghab we paid a visit to the local market and had a chance to visit the shops of the local handicraft collective for some Pamir-made souvenirs.

Lake Karakul to Murghab

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We were now on the final stretch of the today, making the remaining 130km from our lunch spot at Lake Karakul to Murghab.

We had a fairly flat start along the lake shore, however eventually we were going up again, making our way up to the Ak-Baital Pass – at an elevation of 4655m overall the highest point of the whole trip.

From the pass it was downhill again, as continued our journey – the destination being Murghab at a mere 3650m above sea level.

Lake Karakul

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As we were getting closer to Lake Karakul, we could eventually see a blue stripe showing up at the horizon.

It took a while until we could grasp the full size of this lake, which sitting at 3900m above sea level (that’s higher than Lake Titicaca) and with a surface area of 380km² is the highest lake of its size in the whole region. The lake was created a good 10 million years ago, when the area was hit by a meteor.

We stopped in a small settlement next to the lake, where lunch was supposed to wait for us (reality is … the guesthouse owner had messed thing up … and our lunch had to be improvised first). After a basic lunch we had a walk through the village down to the lake shore – before it was back to the van, to continue the drive towards Khorog.

Into Tajikistan

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We left Sary-Tash in the not-too-late morning, to make our way to the Kyrgyz/Tajik border – 44km from town.

Initially we were following the Alay-Valley, until we hit the mountain range and made our way up towards the Kyzyl-Art-Pass. Well before the top of the pass we arrived at the Kyrgyz border post, where we went through customs and got stamped out of the country.

We continued along the Pamir Highway, going up until we reached the highest point of the pass at 4280m above sea level, which also marks the actual border between the two countries.

Given we had just crossed into Tajikistan, we now had to officially enter the country … and surely the Tajik border post was just a few kilometers away.

While the Kyrgyz border post was fairly well equipped with computers and passport reader (incl. connection to the government network), procedures on the Tajik side were fairly manual. Nevertheless with documentation in order, getting out of the one and into the other country was a mere matter of time.

We were soon back on the Pamir Highway proceeding further into Tajikistan with Lake Karakul being our lunch break destination around 50km from the border post (or around 100km from Sary-Tash).

Sary-Tash Impressions

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After arrival in Sary-Tash and a quick gas refill we made it to our guesthouse at the outskirts of the village.

Sary-Tash – with its about 1500 inhabitants – sits at an elevation of 3170m above sea level in the Alay Valley. Despite its size, Sary-Tash is an important crossroad for the region – essentially a connection point between China (72km by road to the Chines border), Tajikistan (44km to the border with Tajikistan) and Kyrgyzstan (main road back to Osh).

We made it to our guesthouse, moved into our (multi-share) rooms – to then head out and just indulge on the views towards the Chong-Alau range.

Dinner was served in the restaurant yurt of the homestay. As – with the sun set by now – temperatures had dropped significantly (beanie time for me), most did call it a day early on.

When I got up the next day – after quick morning wash – I did head back out into the field in front of the guesthouse for another great view of the Chong-Alay range.

Breakfast was had in the yurt again – before we finally got packed up and were on our way towards the border …

Osh to Sary-Tash

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We left Osh in the early afternoon after the last à la carte meal for the following days (horse steak anyone with grilled vegetables anyone?).

Today we had a mere 185km on fairly reasonable roads ahead of us. However we were also looking ahead of quiet a climb … from Osh at just 960m above sea level up to the day’s destination Sary-Tash at an elevation of 3170m. To get there we even had to go higher – passing the Taldyk Pass at 3615m.

The climb could certainly be felt on the way with the temperatures slowly falling and the outside moving more and more to the less hospitable side. Initially we were looking at fertile land with loads of green and settlements – eventually the surroundings got more rocky, with grass being pretty much the only green around.

Also for us things were now turning more basic … as – for the next nights – we were now looking at homestays, guesthouses or simple hotels for accommodation. The days of flush toilets, reliable hot showers and without noodle soup were clearly numbered.

Exploring Osh

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We made it into the city of Osh, at around 250,000 inhabitants Kyrgyztan’s second biggest city (after – of course – Bishkek).

We had a couple of hours to kill before meeting up again for dinner. I ended up doing a walk around some of the town’s sights together with some folks from the group.

We first headed South along Lenin Avenue towards the square with a Lenin statue, as  well as the Kyrgyz flag – straight in front of the building of the city and county administration.

From here it was downtown. We made it to the Archaeological Museum, which featured an interesting collection of – well – everything … from artifacts from the stone ages to more recent mementos from Soviet times. It felt a bit, as if we were the only visitors of the day.

With Osh’s main attractions (i.e. Peak Sulayman-Too and the market) being included for the following day, we decided, that it was time to finally get an introduction to the Baltika numbering scheme (in other words: we had a pre-dinner drink).

Toktogul to Osh

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Today we had a distance of 330km ahead of us, we started along the lake until we got to the dam and the power plant; we now did follow the river, to finally hit the border to Uzbekistan.

We continued along the border and eventually made it to the city of Jalal-Abad, where we had a late lunch. We were now looking into an uneventful, postprandial ride to Osh, where we arrived in the late afternoon.

 

At Lake Toktogul

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This night’s hotel was located straight at the shore of the lake with a nice little beach in walking distance. The hotel also featured a swimming pool (actually two of them – but only one was filled), various sport facilities, a celebration hall and a restaurant – though most of the facilities were not yet properly prepared for the season and looked somewhat run down.

The beach was a nice sand beach – covered by wild-growing Marijuana plants. The cows grazing at this beach must be some of the most relaxed and happy cows on the planet 😉