Through the Fan mts. to Dushanbe

I've now arrived in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, after stopping in Samarkand for a few days at the famous Bahodirs B and B. Samarkand is a pleasant city with tree lined streets and some really beautiful buildings such as the centre piece, the Registan, which must be seen to be believed.

I met some very interesting people in Bahodirs including a french girl cycling around the world and many motorcyclists. Trudy and Gaia, the two coolest motorcyclists around, arrived from Bukara and stayed for a few days before heading towards Kyrgystan. A few guys had come from Afghanistan and to hear their accounts of the country was very interesting. At Bahodirs the chai is free and the charpoys very comfortable, meaning its very easy to become lazy and not feel like moving on. Unfortunately my Uzbek visa was coming to an end so I had to get back on my bike and head east towards the Tajik Border.

After 10km I had a puncture but after fixing it I made the border in good time and sat and had a late breakfast with the border guards and watched a bad action film on their small tv. I was welcomed into Tajikistan and from the first minute met extremely kind and friendly people. One guy called me over to where he stood amongst his grape vines, and loaded me up with 5 bunches of very sweet grapes. After a short chat about football I went on my way. All the people gave a polite nod or hello as I passed and many offered some chai. When I did stop for chai I was given fried eggs and water-melon before being sent on my way. One evening I saw a lovely house on top of a hill around a 1km from the road. A few minutes later I stopped and talked to some women who insisted on having their photos taken. I asked where I could sleep for the night and they told me to follow two kids on a motorcycle...back up the road I went to the house I had seen, where I was fed plov, water-melon and sweet chai while savouring the lovely view over the lush valley.

The next day I had to climb the Anzob pass. Everyone told me about the new tunnel so I decided to take this shortcut and save 20km. By this time I had had a few more punctures and was starting to get a little frustrated. I could find no cause and every time I patched a hole, 10km later the tyre would go flat again. I reached the tunnel after having to put my bike in the back of some guy's car, as he assured me I could not get up the last few kms of road. After throwing water on his engine and tweaking a few bits he pushed his car down the hill, before pumping the accelerator like crazy until the engine burst into life. We reached the tunnel and found that it was closed to the public.

No matter, the workers first gave me lunch and then loaded my bike and me onto a crane and drove me through. For over half the 5km a river a foot deep was gushing down to the entrance which would have made cycling a tad tricky!! We drove through the water slowly and passed tunnel boring machines and a few guys wearing thick dirty clothes, themselves coated in dirt and mud. Every so often a plaque on the wall emerged out of the gloom signifying where a worker had died. This really sent a chill down my spine. Half way down we stopped and loaded up a big generator on to the back of the crane, meaning there was no space for my bike. One of the guys jumped on and cycled the last 2km while we slowly passed under the concrete forms where guys were coating the inside of the tunnel with concrete. The fumes were thick and by the time we reached the far side I felt quite faint. I don't know how guys work in there all day with hardly any light and no clean air. Really incredible.

At the far side it was all down hill to Dushanbe but at this point the punctures really started coming thick and fast which really put a dampner on the beautiful scenery. By the time I was 25km from the city I had had 21 flats and was getting severely hacked off. Down to my last patch and with no explanation for why the holes kept coming, I stopped a car and took a lift into the city. All the holes came on the rim side of the tube so I can only imagine its the edge of the rim tape that caused them as it had become dry and a little sharp. With no new tape no solution seemed possible until Dushanbe. I couldn't believe my luck as I had not had a flat all the way from UK to Uzbekistan. I put new tyres on in Samarkand so maybe this helped cause the holes...who knows though as they are marathon xrs and should not be a problem!

I met a Fnnish guy, Illka in Dushanbe, and together, after a very interesting search round the city, we managed to find a cheap apartment to stay in, with a russian lady. Illka speaks Russian and together we should be able to find some new tubes for my bike and sort everything out. I'm thinking about giving the Pamir Highway a miss and heading straight for China, where I can spend a while in Kashgar getting into condition for the Tibet crossing. I know I will regret not seeing the Highway but there's always next time and after the last few days I fancy getting to a good bike shop (in China) and making sure everything is sweet with my bike.

Adios, Scott

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