The Silk Road overland East to West - Visa strategy

When travelling on the Silk Road in Central Asia is is never long before the conversation between travellers turns to visas. For a successful overland trip a visa strategy has to devised before departure. It is not a region which can be travelled through on a whim. With a little planning visas can, however, be picked up along the way. In this post I will describe how we did it, which we managed without requiring the services of a visa support agency. There are obviously thousands of permutations of how to cobble together all the visas needed for such a trip, but I thought I'd simply write about how we did it - as I think the post is long enough as it is!!

First of all here are some general tips on Central Asian visa planning and execution.

• Plan exactly when and where you will get each visa.
• Know how long the visa process takes and then add on more time in case of unexpected embassy closures, like those for public holidays which an embassy will take both for the country the embassy is in and those for the embassy's national holidays.
• Have plenty of passport photos and photocopies of your passport to hand.
• Have a good idea of the dates you will be entering and exiting the country, how long you will need a visa for and an address of where you will be staying (any address is fine).
• Speak the language, take a person who does or, at the very least, take a phrasebook, if applying in person at an embassy.
• Know how much it is meant to cost. Question any price rises.
• Overlap your visas by a couple of days. This means that you are not relying on crossing a border on one particular day. Borders are sometimes closed at weekends or on public holidays.
• Always enquire about an Express Visa Service. Sometimes this doesn't cost any extra.
• Consider getting multiple entry visas for flexibility.
• Use forums, such as the Lonely Planet Thorntree, for up to date info and tips, but beware of tips from people who haven't actually done it!!
• Use Caravanistan's Central Asia visa guide, an up-to-date resource on visas as well as border crossings in the region.
• Finally, apply flattery liberally, even when you are clearly being obstructed.

Here is a summary of how we got all the visas needed to travel overland from Kathmandu to London. We were travelling on British passports from Nepal westwards through, Tibet, China, Central Asia, across the Caspian Sea to the Southern Caucasus, before entering Turkey and the final stretch through Europe to the UK. All the visas we obtained were single entry tourist visas and obtained in person at an embassy unless otherwise stated. DISCLAIMER: This information may already be out of date!!

Country	Cost	How long for? Number of entries? When does the visa time start?	Obtained where?	Length of visa process
Nepal	$100	3 month Multiple entry as standard	On arrival at Kathmandu airport	On the spot
	Remember to have a passport photo hand in your hand luggage.
Tibet	$37	14 day	Kathmandu agent as part of Tibet tour	On the spot
	See Arrange a Arranging a Tibet tour in Kathmandu – the good, the bad and the ugly for more info.
China	Travelled in mainland China on Tibet Permit. See above.
Kyrgyzstan	£60.00	1 month (visa starts on specified entry date)	London by post	1 week
	Applying for a visa through the Kyrgyz embassy in London was a very simple process. Fill out the online form here and then send your passport and relevant documents to the embassy.
Kyrgyzstan extension	1065 Som	1 month Multiple entry (visa starts when previous runs out)	Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan	1 day (submit in morning collect in afternoon of same day)
	At the OVIR office we were required to copy by hand a Letter of Invitation, in Russian, which we submitted with an application form and passport photo.
Kazakhstan	Travelled on our Kyrgyz tourist visas. Note you must has a double or multiple entry Kyrgyz visa to be able to re-enter Kyrgyzstan. For more information see A couchsurfing minibreak in Almaty.
Tajikistan	£100 (+£50 for GBAO permit)	2 months Double entry with GBAO permit (visa starts on specified entry date)	London by post	1 week
	We followed the instructions on the Embassy website here. Together with an application form, our passports, photocopy and photo a travel itinerary was required. We simply wrote a letter with where we planned to be when and this appeared adequate.
Tajikistan Visa registration	135 Somani	Visa registration for a double entry 2 month visa	Khorog, Tajikistan	On the spot
	We read that if you have anything more than a 1 month single entry tourist visa you are required to register. We went to the OVIR office and were directed to the neighbouring bank to pay. Returning to the OVIR
Afghanistan	£70.00	1 month (visa starts on entry which can be any time within the stated 6 month period)	London in person	5 days
	The details for applying at the London embassy can be found here. Along with the usual documents the website states that utility bills are required to verify your current address in the UK. When we presented these the embassy said that they now no longer require them instead we needed a letter from our place of study or employer. After a day of frantic phones calls we got the letters and then the application went very smoothly. Hindsight I would have got a visa in Khorog, Tajikistan which takes 1 day.
Uzbekistan	$62	1 month (visa starts on specified entry date)	Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan	7 days
	To get a visa you must phone (in Russian) the embassy the day beforehand and get your name put on a list. Fill out and print off an application form here. The following day take the form, a photo and a copy of your passport to the embassy at 10 am and join the queue. A week later you need to get your name put a list the day before again. Return at 10 am with your passport and the visa is put in your visa then and there. We had a slight problem in that the official wasn't keen to give us a visa more than 3 months before our entry date (it was 3 months and 6 days before our planned entry). Luckily we managed to talk him into doing it for us. Note that a tourist visa (denoted as T on the visa) only allows for the holder to stay in hotels registered to take foreigners. For each stay you are given a registration slips which needs to be retained. We only got asked to show them once, on the Tashkent metro, when we were staying with friends and didn't have any, but we managed to get around this problem, and continue staying with our friends.
Turkmenistan	$85	5 day TRANSIT (visa has specified dates and entry point)	Applied for in Dushanbe, Tajikistan Collected in Tashkent, Uzbekistan	7 days Express service
	See Turkmen Visas – a riddle wrapped in an enigma for the long version of this.
Azerbaijan	$101 (I think we might of got scammed on this)	5 day TRANSIT (visa specified a months period for travel)	Dushanbe, Tajikistan	On the spot
Georgia	No Visa	3 months
Abkhazia	$10	1 month (specified	Online application. Pick up in Sukhumi, Abkhazia
	For details see How to obtain a visa for Abkhazia when in Georgia
Armenia	$10 or 3000AMD	21 days	Georgia/Armenia border crossing by rail
	Note that at the current exchange rates it is cheaper to pay in AMD (have the correct change if paying in $)
Nagorno Karabakh	$10	14 days	Yerevan, Armenia	On the spot
	For more information see How to obtain a Nagorno Karabakh visa. Remember to register the visa on entry and exit of Nagorno Karabakh.
Turkey	$20	90 days Multiple entry (standard visa)	Sarpi border crossing between Georgia and Turkey	On the spot
	Can pay in US dollars, Euros or UK pounds but not Turkish Lira.
Total Cost	$928

Although we didn't need to use a visa support agency this is an option to consider. If you need a visa in a hurry or are not near the required embassy a visa support agency can help. It could be cheaper to pay for some else to organise your visa, than paying for food and accommodation in a place you don't want to be whilst waiting for a visa to be processed, and it will almost certainly be less hassle. I heard excellent reports from travellers who used Stantours and did contact them myself at one point to make some enquires when I was weighing up our options. They responded to my email very quickly and seemed very knowledgeable.

Oybek crossing into Uzbekistan

With no more days left on our Tajik visa we had to continue our journey to Uzbekistan. Driving north of Khujand, through the Fergana valley, we could see that the cotton harvest was in full swing. The roads were good now, and the landscape flat and open. The taxi dropped us at the border and we exited Tajikistan. We then had to drag our bags through the across an excessive amount of no-mans land to find that everyone was squeezed into a tiny building where the Uzbek passport control was located. Badly laid out and organised, queuing would have been intolerable if it hadn't been for the Tajiks who, always polite and gentle, insisted on queuing fairly. The Uzbek officials treated them terribly. A French tourist fainted and was let through. Passport control closed for a lunch break. Eventually we made it to customs where we had to fill out the form several times, our bags were searched and then we were finally in Uzbekistan.

Luckily we only had to do that crossing once. I pity the Tajiks who have to do it regularly. In Uzbekistan there are many ethnic Tajiks, with majority Tajik areas being in the famous cities of Samarkand and Bokhara, but the Uzbek authorities make life very difficult for them which has separated families and stifled trade. Uzbekistan is also rated by Transparency International as the 4th most corrupt country in the world and is one of the worst for Soviet bureaucracy, all of which we were about to experience a lot more of.

Khujand - Last stop in Tajikistan

Yet another epic journey between main Tajik towns, via terrible roads and over mountain passes. The journey was only bearable with the knowledge that this was our last shared jeep journey on this trip. James and I were squeezed into the two seats at the back of the jeep with a third person. Various other bits of luggage were wedged in around us and a budgie in a cage was passed in for us to hold. We bounced along in the back of the jeep through the Fann Mountains. At one point the road dived into the side of a mountain. The tunnel was unlit and thick with fumes. It was several inches deep in water which concealed crater sized potholes. The air was so bad and the tunnel so long that I began to develop a headache. We began to wonder whether we were transporting a budgie for a reason. Luckily we all made it out the other side alive - including the budgie.

In Khujand we checked in to a rather politically incorrect hotel called the Leninabad Hotel. It was a crumbling Soviet building with bathrooms which were sure to be a breeding ground for Legionnaires' Disease. A more appropriate name would have been the Lenina 'Very' bad Hotel. Morten, the Danish motor biker we had met outside the Turkmen embassy in Dushanbe was also staying here.

After settling in we met with Azamov a NGO worker who James had met in Kyrgyzstan. He gave us a whistle stop tour of Khujand. Many new buildings had been opened to mark the 20th year of independence celebrations including a swimming pool. Azamov managed to get the museum opened for us. It was great to have the place to ourselves as, although small, the artefacts were much more imaginatively exhibited than the other Central Asia museums we had been to. Azamov won't let us pay for anything including the museum and an ice cream in the park, we were his guests he kept insisting.

Khujand was yet another Tajik town which resembled no other in Tajikistan. It is affluent with several universities and is located in the fertile Fergana valley. Azamov, a highly educated professional, had only been to the Tajik capital once, by train through Uzbekistan when the Uzbeks had allowed this. Now it was difficult for Tajiks to travel through Uzbekistan and the only way from the north of Tajikistan to the capital was via the potholed road we had taken.

After our whistle tour of Khujand, Azamov drove us back to his family home where we met his mother, children, wife, brother and brother's children. His mother spoke excellent English and enjoyed practising, whilst her grandchildren ran about giggling. We ate dinner together and then were introduced to the rest of the family via various DVD's filmed at family events.

Princess Diana and Dentists in Dushanbe

James peered into my mouth as the dentist was explaining something to him in Russian, as soon as he saw my tooth he reeled in horror. This is not the reassurance that is needed when you are having to have some major dental work on the other side of the world.

The tooth ache had started a week ago when a filling had fallen out and I had been trying to ignore it. Each day the pain would gradually build until it was too painfully to sleep and I had to resort to strong pain killers. I was going to have to see a dentist. I phoned my insurance company to find out what I would need to claim for the treatment. As I explained the situation to the person at the other end of the phone I could hear an audible gulp when I mentioned I was in Tajikistan. "Are you in...........the capital?" he replied "Yes, in Dushanbe" I said helping him out.

We had arrived in Dushanbe from Khorog which was a gruelling jeep ride through the Pamirs. We'd heard horror stories of it taking 22 hours, so were expecting the worst. For the first four hours or so the road (read dirty track at best) follows the Afghan border, through a gorge and beside the Oxus River. At one point we noticed a crane parked at the side of the road. In the river two back wheels of an upturned car were all that could be seen of the wreckage. The scenery changed suddenly as we crossed the pass to Dushanbe and we cruised into town after only 13 hours on the road. We had shared the jeep with a Tajik family who had done the trip from Murghab in a oner (2 days on the road) and a Belgium backpacker, Mio, who we had met in the homestay in Khorog. One of the Tajik women spent the entire journey discretely vomiting into a plastic bag and then throwing it out of the jeep window. On arrival in Dushanbe we celebrated with Mio in 'beer square', a collection of make shift outdoor bars around a fountain outside the Opera House, busy with locals. We soon discovered the local beer SimSim and, with two Australian backpackers, Ned and Morgan, we became regulars there.

Dushanbe with the huge Tajik flag dominating the skyline

I ended up needing 3 dental appointments over a week for a root canal and filling and was a little worried about the final bill, however it ended up totalling $60, so therefore didn't curtail the SimSim drinking. In between dental work James and I spent our time filling out forms in various embassies for the next round of visa applications.

Unfortunately accommodation wasn't as cheap as dentistry in Dushanbe but a local couchsurfer came to the rescue. Despite going on holiday the evening we arrived, Ryan, gave us the keys to his flat. It was wonderful to have a homely little place to go back to after several hours in the dentist's chair.

Whilst hanging around in Dushanbe I also thought I would get my haircut. I was very tempted by the Princess Diana Salon but decided that I didn't actually want a Princess Diana cut so headed to a less fancy place. Life in Dushanbe is beyond laid back so it was very easy to slip into a routine of doing not a lot. The impending expiry of our Tajik visas got us moving again.

 Me with local Tajik women in Dushanbe. The women are wearing the typical 'nightdress' and featuring 'strong' eyebrows

Across the Oxus

With two weeks of camping food bought in Khorog bazaar we headed south along the Oxus. We drove south, in a taxi, for about 10 minutes until we realised that we had forgotten all our money, having left it by accident at our homestay with the remainder of our belongs which we wouldn't need during the next 3 weeks. The now bad tempered taxi driver sped back and we collected several bundles of 50 dollar notes. We were heading to a place without a bank, post office or electricity beyond what generators could supply - so we really needed that cash.

We had got our visas in London within a week and without too much trouble. There wasn't a queue at the embassy for tourist visas. Afghanistan is not top on most people's holiday destination list.

The drive south follows the Oxus which acts as the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan in this region. For 3 hours we gazed across the river, which looked wadable in parts, at a place where time had stood still for centuries. There were no vehicles on the other side of the river only men walking with donkeys and women in burqas. Half of Tajikistan's GDP (which is the equivalent of the average Hollywood film budget) is spent on security along its long border with Afghanistan and we passed several Tajik patrols on our drive.

 Afghan/Tajik border post - looking into Afghanistan

The border crossing at Ishkashim is simply made up of the Tajik and Afghan border posts either side of a small bridge. Entering the other side was like stepping out of Central Asia into a different world. A world a lot more Afghan than we were expecting. All of a sudden we were in a world of bearded men wearing shalwar kameez, turbans and women in blue burqas. Now  no one spoke Russian but a surprising amount of people knew some English. Empty shells of Russian armoured personnel carriers lay rusting around town and many people carried small arms. But with a smile and a 'A-salaam Aleykum' we quickly turned the cold stares into warm smiles. The women only seemed to wear their burqas when walking down the one dusty street which was the centre of town. Away from this road the face veil would be pushed up and the burqa balanced to cover only the head.

Typical scene in Ishkashim

We had prearranged being picked up from the border as it was a bit of a walk into town. Two young Afghans came to meet us; Adab who would become very usual indeed and the driver of the car, who was also a guide. He became very excited when we told him that we were English explaining that he had just guided an English man on a trek, his name was Mr John and did we know him? We did happen to meet Mr John later in Ishkashim and managed a brief chat where we did establish that we were in fact from the same home town.

 Dinner at our homestay

 James with a local man and his motorbike

 James meets the locals

 New and old modes of transport in Ishkashim - a donkey tethered to a Russian Armoured Personnel Carrier

Khorog, the Pamirs

Khorog is now a sleepy town in the Pamirs, however this was not the case just over a decade ago. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, civil war broke out in Tajikistan in May 1992. The Pamirs, including Murghab and Khorog, underrepresented in the government, began protests which spilled over into violence and civil war. The Pamirs were cut off from Dushanbe. Khorog ran out of money and was reduced to barter. The town park was dug up to grow vegetables and the population was kept alive by donations from the Agha Khan Foundation. In Dushanbe, anyone found with an ID card from the Pamirs could be shot on the spot. The war ended in 1997 claiming somewhere in the region of 50,000 to 100,000 lives, a huge toll for a country with a population of 6 million.

There is no evidence of the civil war today but in these remote parts of the world commerce is difficult and Khorog today only flourishes due to the massive investment from the Agha Khan Foundation who have restored the park - complete with concert venue, and built and funded an entire university, amongst other things. Although President Rahmon's face is on posters all around town, it it the Agha Khan's picture who adorns family homes and the dashboards of taxis.

The town is incredibly laid back, to the point that it gets frustrating when, for example, you wait in a cafe to be served and then just give up and leave. Being Ismaili Muslims, Islam is interpreted in its most liberal form, women wear long, colourful dresses with short sleeves and may only sometimes wear a headscarf. The dresses are pretty unique reaching almost the ankles and looking more like nighties. The ankles are then concealed with a matching pair of trousers. The most fashionable women wear big shoulder pads and traditional women go in for big eyebrows, pencilling in thick black brows which can meet in the middle, making a striking mono-brow. The tranquillity and liberal atmosphere of Khorog is all the more astonishing considering that it sits on the Afghan border. Across the Oxus river women are wearing blue burqas.

We stayed in Lalmo's Homestay when in Khorog and sampled her excellent cooking as well as watching the various travellers coming and going. The main traffic was, of course, cyclists who were generally recouping from some sort of gut rot. There were also motor bikers, one of which was a Parsian women who, when not biking around the world, testing bikes for Honda and writing a blog for a motorbike magazine was a theatre costume designer. There was also Constance and Joff who would have looked more at home at Cowes but, despite appearances, Constance worked for the British Museum and had just curated the 'Treasures of Afghanistan' exhibition. Finally there was Alex, another Brit, who was partially sighted having been injured in Iraq, but now studying for a PhD in Material Anthropology at Cambridge and had just walked the Tajik Wakhan valley alone.

Eating was one of our priorities and a particular favourite restaurant close to our homestay was called Varka. It was wonderfully Russian with an interior like a strip joint, complete with dark red velvet furnishings and very low lighting. The menu included mains called Perfume of Love and Varka Surprise. Obviously, we couldn't resist ordering this and just about managed to keep a straight face. We can report that both of these dishes are very good and can recommend them.

After recouping from mountaineering in the Pamirs it was time to prepare for our next mountaineering trip further south. We bought 2 weeks worth of food in the market and repacked our rucksacks.

 Khorog's leafy park

 Khorog

 Steak delivery

The last unclimbed 6000 m peak in the Muzkol

Records of mountaineering exploration in the Muzkol range are limited. The highest peak called Soviet Officers' Peak and a handful of others were climbed by the Russians pre-civil war. Since then there seemed to be little activity until a series of British expeditions from 1996 to 2001, organised by the company EWP. In 2001 a participant was tragically killed whilst climbing Zartosh Peak after which the EWP did not return. It was not until last year that a MEF funded expedition returned and climbed that peak. I did not know any of this when I selected the Muzkol as a mountaineering destination for our expedition. I had started my research by looking on google earth for suitable locations which would tie in with our overall trip. It was only after this, when researching the region to find unclimbed peaks, that I discovered the strong British mountaineering link to the area.

Base camp

Mark takes a shower in the wilderness!

Whilst acclimatising we spent some time reccing the river which we would be required to cross to access the tributary valley which would take us to the base of the mountain we wanted to climb. Visiting the river during different times of the day we soon established that it would only be fordable at first light, even an hour later and it would be too high due to snow melt. This meant a pre-dawn start the next day. With enough food for 6 days James and I braved the freezing water. Mark had come with us to see us off and could hear our yells of agony from the other side of the river, he would be looking after the base camp whilst we were away.

An early start

Marco polo sheep skull and horns

After the river the next obstacle of unknown difficulty was the huge lateral moraine the glacier had created. These huge piles of rocks can be very unstable, however it turned out that there was a passable route between the moraine and valley wall and we made steady progress. All the time the mountain loomed above us imposingly. By mid-afternoon it was possible to cross the moraine onto the ice and continue up the glacier to a high camp near the base of the mountain.

Heading up the moraines with our target summit on the horizon

The glacier towards the first high camp

A recce the following morning showed that the route to the summit from the glacier was exposed to dangerous serac fall and therefore was not viable. We immediately return to the camp to pack up and move it to a site on a tributary glacier which we had spotted on the walk in. Settling into this new high camp it was obvious that the ridge from the col was too technically difficult for are abilities but it would be possible to cross the col and investigate routes from the other side.

High camp #1 with the tributary glacier in the background

Another recce revealed that on the other side of the col a ridge led to the summit. To gain this ridge, however, a glacier needed to be crossed and a steep snow slope overcome. Returning to the high camp we hatched a plan to attempt this the following day. We set the alarm for an alpine start and had an early night.

During the night the wind pummelled the tent and when the alarm went off there was no improvement and we decided to wait to see if it died down a little. By dawn it had improved and we set off up to the col at 5500 m. We negotiated crevasses to gain a steep section which once overcome would lead to the summit ridge. On the more technical ground we started to pitch the climbing. Initially the snow conditions were good and we thought the route would be viable but on the second pitch they deteriorated to a hard crust and it was at this point we decided to turn back. On the descent James slipped and slide quite a way but the snow stake held and rope came tight onto me. He was a little wide eyed by the time he'd righted himself and made it to my stance. This left no doubt in my mind that I had made the right decision to turn back and I had no regrets.

Heading up to the 5500 m col

Me looking up to the summit from the col

We packed up the high camp and made it down the moraines as far as we could before it got dark. Knowing that the river was only fordable before 6 am, the following morning we got up at 2 am to try to reach it in time so we could make it back to Mark at Base Camp. We made the crossing point in the nick of time and sloshed through the river in our boots, not caring if they got soaked. It was a freezing morning and by the time we'd got to Base Camp our trouser legs, which had got wet in the river, were solid ice.

Needing time to recover from our attempt as well as 3 days to extract ourselves from base camp to the road head, left us with only had one spare day to attempt another peak. Together we scrambled up a rocky peak near to our base camp, which we believed was unclimbed, but the quality of the rock proved an impassable barrier close to the summit so we descended disappointed. Looking over the range from this view point revealed the beauty of the valley and many much easier unclimbed peaks presented themselves but we were out of time. With extreme frustration we packed up Base Camp and started the slog back to the road. Leaving the last 6000 m unclimbed peak in the Muzkol unclimbed.

Muzkol Expedition - donkey issues part 2

Within about 2 minutes of setting off the donkey carrying the food, packed in two rice sacks, managed to shed it's load and make a bid for freedom. Recaptured, the load was again balanced precariously on the poor animal and we tried again. Unfortunately for our 'mountaineers on epic adventure' image this was all being filmed by a Basque couple cycling the Pamir Highway.

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We followed the route we had recced the previous day which used the river valley to access the high pass. The river was lower than the previous day due to it being earlier and therefore snowmelt not having peaked yet. Despite this the donkey-men jumped on the already overloaded animals so they wouldn't get their feet wet. We found some grazing for the donkeys at lunchtime so they could have some lunch as well. The donkey-men ate and then fell asleep by a stream. We sent Mark to wake them up so we could get going again. They had umm-ed and ahh-ed about the next part of the route so we carried the heaviest bags, lightening the donkey's load.

About an hour into our post lunch hike it was obvious that the donkey-men's heart wasn't in it. They lagged behind and dragged their heels and then finally decided to unload the donkeys and head home. This was despite us having an understanding that the trip would take two days. They got annoyed when we only paid them for one day. They were insisting that the donkeys were altitude sick. Now, I'm not entirely sure what an altitude sick donkey looks like, but I would guess they might be at least out of breath. Wayne and Rooney, as we had called them, did not seem to show any symptoms, and instead continued to try and hump each other. Although we had covered much of the distance, we had only made a gentle 400 m of ascent, not a great increase in height to inflict altitude sickness. When asked if the men would help us get the kit over the pass, as they had pursued us to employ them both on the understanding that they would help us carry the bags if needed, but when when asked they quickly made excuses and before we knew it had turned around and headed back down the valley.

We were left with a pile of bags, late in the day, well below a 5100 m pass. Quickly rearranging the kit we packed a bag each and headed on up to the pass. Progress was slow but I made it to the top at 5 pm. Dumping my pack I then returned back down to help poor Mark who, in the last week, had gone from his desk in London via 3 full days travelling to trekking over a 5100 m pass with a full pack in the middle of nowhere. In contrast, after spending 3 weeks on Peak Lenin, I was well acclimatised and as fit as a fiddle. And the amusing thing was that the donkey-men had been commenting on how 'the girl' would be tired (translated by Mark). I gave James some encouragement as I steamed passed on my second trip.

Once we'd all made it to the top we took a breather and admired the view. We could see the mountain we wanted to climb which looked, well, hard. I headed down from the pass, following the river until it turned into a gorge. Concerned that this would prevent us from reaching the bottom of the valley, I dumped my pack and recced a different route. I was relieved to find that the valley was accessible by descending the left-hand slopes. The light was now fading and, on returning to my pack, I made the decision to camp there. I retraced my steps up the valley to find Mark and James, and this time helped James carry his pack as he had sore feet from wet boots. By the time the boys joined me I had the tent up and dinner on the go.

Unfortunately there was no let up the following day, as we needed to go back over the pass to pick up the rest of the kit and return to our intermediary camp. This was another exhausting day. It wasn't until the third day that we managed to get all the kit (in two shuttles) into a suitable base camp. We were then finally established and had a well earned rest day.

Taking a rest in the dry river bed, by the afternoon this is a fast flowing river.

Sans donkeys heading up to the pass

Views from the pass

Mark and James on the pass

In base camp - Mark is finally allowed a break.

Muzkol Expedition - donkey issues part 1

Prior to leaving on this extended holiday we had broken the trip down into shorter stages and invited friends to join us. Only one brave soul took up the offer - Mark Redhead. Mark had been camping before, at a couple of music festivals, so was the perfect candidate for an exploratory mountaineering expedition to the remote Muzkol Range in the Eastern Pamirs about 100km from Murghab.

Mark met us in Murghab and came bearing precious gifts - a Saturday Guardian, the Economist, a resupply of paperbacks and a very good single malt. In his 2 days in Tajikistan he had also managed to pick up a rather violent stomach bug.

The team united, we got a jeep out to the where we would leave the Pamir Highway and head into the mountains on foot. Conveniently, at this exact point, a yurt stay had been established, enabling us to have a couple of comfortable nights whilst acclimatising and organising logistics. The yurt was at 4200 m so we needed to spend a day resting at this height before doing a recce of the approach route. Speaking to the owner of the yurt we managed to ascertain that it would be possible to hire 3 donkeys for 2 days to get all our supplies into base camp. Everything was going incredibly smoothly and that evening we settled down to a good meal and comfortable bed. Sleep was only interrupted once by Mark violently vomiting in the corner of the yurt when he failed to locate the door (not that yurts have corners as they are round but you know what I mean).

Predictably there was some confusion regarding the donkeys the following morning and things weren't quite what we had thought we'd arranged the previous day. We renegotiated and were assured that the donkeys would arrive for our inspection by midday, so we delayed our recce and waited. At 2pm 4 donkeys had arrived, one sitting in the back of a Uza (Russian jeep), which was quite comical. Despite 4 donkeys being brought to the yurt it turned out that 2 of them were just for show, leaving only 2 that were able to carry loads the following day. We had no other option but to accept this and hurried out on our recce.

Following the river bed on foot we successfully located the pass which would give us access into the adjacent valley from where we would be able to set up a base camp. With evening drawing in we hurried back to the yurt for a final packing session and check of supplies for an early start the following day. After we had settled down for the night we were visited by a rather drunk policeman who checked our documents and angled for a bribe but he soon got bored, or forgot what he'd asked us, and drove off into the darkness.

The start wasn't quite as early as we would have liked the following day but the donkeys were loaded, obligatory photos taken and we were ready to leave.

Recceing the approach route. Xmena (climbed by an EWP expedition in 1996) in the background.

Loading the donkeys

 Ready to go

Сycling near Murgab

Inspired by all the cyclists we had met pedalling the Pamir Highway on some epic overland trip, we decided to hire bikes for the day and head out ourselves. Instead of the Pamir Highway we took a side road which followed the Aksu river. This river heads east towards China before doubling back on itself to enter the far eastern border of Afghanistan.

Taking a break by the Aksu River

Although this road provides the only link between Tajikistan and China we saw just 3 vehicles during the day, one of which had broken down. We stopped at some tiny villages to have a look around before carrying on along the desolate road. Although it was cloudy the sun was strong at this altitude (3500 m), and James paid the price for not applying enough suncream, getting very badly burnt.

James at the village of Konye Kurgan

Me by the tombs at Konye Kurgan

We'd not planned the trip that well and hadn't taken any lunch with us so we were relieved to see a Stolvaya on our return. After some confusion we were invited into the house. We ordered some food not really knowing what would appear and were given the standard Kygryz meal of yogurt, bread and jam. The children crowded around the door to watch us. When it came to paying there was much whispering and the children were sent in to tell us the price. We initially thought we had misheard as it was an extortionate amount but the children insisted that it was correct. We asked to speak to their parents and although the mother did eventually appear, the father remained in the other room from which he cowardly gave instructions to his wife and children. We bargained them down but it was an unfortunate incident.

Luckily when we got back to Murgab our faith was restored as when we returned the bikes the family invited us in for tea but presented us with a full meal of plov, bread and sweets. Of course, we weren't hungry at all having just had a very late lunch, but James did his best not to offend.

 Heading back to Murgab

Murgab, Tajikistan - the ends of the earth

The Eastern Pamir town of Murgab  truly feels like the ends of the earth. As a modern gauge to its remoteness not even the usual soft drink brands have made it out here, although if you bring petrol from the petrol station for the generator, it is possible to use the internet, giving contact to the outside world. The wind whips up the dust and throws it at the low buildings cowering into the hillside. Every second tourist is a cyclist doing battle with the wind. There's not much to do and, like in the Great Game days, we swap information on the road ahead, change money with people about to head to Kyrgyzstan and get tips on good places to stay and eat. There are the usual random collection of people who find themselves in a town like Murgab. The British ex-banker turned fantasy novelist travelling around the world on a motorbike, the Swiss cyclist who has been pedalling for 4 years, people heading to London, Amsterdam or Sydney by bicycle, jeep or motorbike. We try to grab a late lunch in one of the 3 cafes in town and can't work out why the waitresses are ignoring us. Even the other customers try to get their attention to no avail. When James walks into the kitchen to ask to order all becomes clear. They had run out of food but were too embarrassed to tell us.

Bikers in Murgab

Murgab is ethnically split between Kyrgyz and Tajik people. Tajiks look far more Persian and their language is also similar. Again this is the cause of some tension. The town sits on the Pamir Highway built by the Russian military back in 1934. And Murgab was an important military town even in Great Game days. It was here in 1890 that the British Army Officer, Younghusband, makes a reappearance in history, famously being expelled by the Russians soon after visiting.

A collection of ISO containers make up the market in Murgab. From above it looks like an illegal arms fair but actually they are just selling water melons and out of date chocolate bars.

Tajik/Kyrgyz  Friendship monument

Erali our cosy guest house and friendly hosts

Crossing the Kyzyl-Art Pass into Tajikistan

So, just as I had mastered the spelling of Kyrgyzstan we were on our way south to Tajikistan. We spent the day before the journey trying to source a suitable vehicle. Luckily we had become wise to making sure we viewed the vehicle before agreeing on the journey. James rejected one vehicle which was so old that it looked like it should be in a museum. It was a 40 year old Russian jeep known as a Uza and required a handle in the front grill to be turned rapidly to start it. Even then it needed more tweaking under the bonnet before the engine spluttered into life. Eventually, after waiting 4 hours for a jeep driver to show up, we found a suitable vehicle even if time keeping wasn't the drivers strong point.

The following day, after the driver was only an hour late, we headed south towards the Kyzyl-Art Pass. If international reports are to be believed this was the border crossing of choice for heroin smugglers. It didn't seem like a particularly busy heroin smuggling day when we crossed, however. We saw 3 other jeeps and a truck in total. Despite the lack of vehicles, and the absence of any searches, it still managed to take 2 1/2 hrs to have our passport passed from one office to the next (owner need not be present) and then drive the several kilometers of no man's land. I hate to think how long it would take had they had a rush on. On the Kyrgyz side a well bred spaniel ran ferral around the port-a-cabins. I imagined that it had once been a highly trained sniffer dog, donated by some western government. Now, like the wilded eyed border guards wearing a mix of army uniform, trainers and Kangol caps, the dog had returned to its pre-trained self. But both were harmless enough and we made it into Tajikistan without a problem.

Our jeep at the remote Kyzyl-Art Pass border crossing (still in Kyrgyzstan)

Made it to Tajikistan!