#21:

trip dates 26.6.2008 - 5.8.2008
distance cycled 3187 km
repairs 2x


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Central Asia ... for the last time?

This tour was a revelation. I discovered many things that I thought I liked, that I dislike now. I don't really care about mountain peaks, gravel roads, mud hut villages, culinaric peculiarities, over-curious people and the dirt that comes with low price. I am willing to excange it with a peacefull and good dinner in a modest priced hotel in French Alps after a day of fantastic cycling on smooth roads. So, in a way, this tour might well be a farewell tour from the 3rd world.
General information
ROUTE: I started from Dushanbe, Tajikistan, going eastward on the main road M41 to Khorog and through Pamir highway to Murgab, crossing into Kyrgystan at Kyzyl Art pass, and into China at Irkeshtam, then on #309 to Kashi and on #314 (the Chinese part of the Karakoram highway - KKH) to Tashkorgan. There I took a bus across Khunjerab pass to Sost in Pakistan and followed KKH to Gilgit. From KKH I took a detour eastward to Skardu, then crossed hight altitude Deosai plains to the Astore river valley and followed it back to KKH. Back on the KKH, I rode to Islamabad, Lahore and into India, where I took a bus to Amritsar and Delhi.

ROADS: Rough gravel roads are mostly in Tajikistan, in Kyrgyzstan and on the Deosai plains loop in Pakistan. More specifically, gravel parts are: about 150 km from Obigarm to Kalaikum, 50 km of gravel sections intersperced with asphalt form Kalaikum to Khorog, 40 km of gravel between Koy Tezek pass and Alichur, 20 km around Akbaytal pass, the road down the Kyzyl Art pass and 50 km from Sary Tash to Irkeshtam ridge. There is about 90 km of gravel between Skardu and the juction of Astore road and KKH, and few gravel patches on KKH, mostly between Chilas and Dasu. All in all it's about 400 km of gravel. The rest 2700 km is asphalt, which is surprizingly the worst on the Pakistan part of KKH (bumps, cracks), not so much on Pamir HWY. The roads in China are perfect.

MAPS: I planned the trip by the Freitag & Berndt Central Asia map (1:1,700,000) and Nelles map of Northern India (1:1,500,000). I didn't carry the maps with me - just a card with riding directions: see it here. For details see my digital map approach.

TRAFFIC: The traffic is dense near Dushanbe in Tajikistan, and from Abottabad to Lahore in Pakistan, not so much around Kashi in China. Apart from that there's little traffic. In the parts of Pakistan with heavy traffic, the drivers are relatively well behaved toward the cyclists. I haven't cycled in India much this time, but my memories from previous trips suggest that riding in Indian traffic is worse then in Pakistan.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT: Buses will take bicycles on the roof. Sometimes (in India e.g.) you will have to take it up there and secure it yourself - bring a rope or a bungee cord.

ACCOMMODATION: I wild-camped 13 times and slept in hotels about 25 times.

FOOD AND WATER: The food was a problem on this trip. In Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan you will soon be fed up with ubiquitous bread and tea. After a short food luxury in China I came to Pakistan to find equaly dull combination of bread, sauce and milk tea. The persistant diarrhea that I got in Pakistan was just a top of this culinaric catastrophy. Water was not a problem all along this route, despite high temperatures. Frequently I took it from streams. I didn't treat it, which was a mistake. Be careful with the food and water.

COSTS: I paid 5 and 20 somons for a room in Tajikistan, 80 yuan for a hotel in China and from 100 to 1200 rupees (500 on average) for a room in Pakistan. A meal was 10 somons, 20 yuan and 50 Rupees. Soft drink was 30 rupees. Excange: for 1 US$ I got 3.4 somon, 6.7 yuan, 70 PAK Rupees and 43 IND rupees. I spent a bit less then 10 EUR/day.

VISAS: I got Indian and Chinese visa at embassies in my home town (Ljubljana). Tajik and Pakistan visa through local Slovenian travel agencies, who arranged everything. It was not cheap. I didn't need the Kyrgyzstan visa at the beggining of the trip, but just after I started, Kyrgyzstan introduced visas for Slovenian citizens too. However, I didn't have much problems to enter into Kyrgyzstan without the visa.

WEATHER: It was hot. I should have gone there a month later. The temperatures were above 30 degrees C, maximum 41 C at a particulary hot region between Gilgit and Dasu. Lowest night temperature was -3 C (at 4200 m). There were just three 1 or 2-hour rain showers. Daylight from 6:00 to 20:00.

SITES: Great landscape, unbelievable (not always in a pleasant way) sights.

ANNOYANCES: There was nothing serious, except the digestion problems in Pakistan which shortened my cyling for almost a week and prevented me to finish this tour in a champion style, by cycling through Sach La and Rhotang La passes in Indian Himalaya. The constant curiosity from the children and the people in the villages in Tajikistan and Pakistan grew to be annyoing after a while. Kids in Kohistan were a bit more agressive then otherwise, but even that was not threathening - just a couple of stones thrown under my wheels obviously not aiming to hit me. Dogs in Tajikistan can be nasty at times.

EQUIPMENT: Road bike and very little more. Click the bike icon above for details.

REPAIRS: 2 punctures. Both were from the thorns of Puncture Vine and both occured in 20 km. I had problems with front shifter.

LINKS: Peter Gostelow's blog is a great resouse for much of this route (and many others). Tracey Maund and Colin Champion's site has their experience and further links for the C.A. region.

Srednja Azija ... mogoče zadnjič?

Splošne informacije
Tale tura je bila v neki meri odločilna. Ugotovil sem, da stvari, ki se mi od daleč zdijo privlačne imajo svojo slabo stran. Ugotovil sem, da mi ni več toliko do zasneženih vršacev, rodea po gramoznih cestah, kulinaričnih posebnosti, do preveč radovednih ljudi in nesnage, ki pride z nizko ceno. Vedno bolj sem pripravljen to zamenjati z mirno in okusno večerjo nekje v nižjerazrednem hotelu v francoskih Alpah, prijetno utrujen od fantastičnega dneva kolesarjenja po gladkih cestah. Zato tale tura kaj lahko pomeni slovo od držav tretjega sveta.

POT: Štartal sem iz Dušanbeja v Tadžikistanu, proti vzhodu po glavni cesti M41, skozi Pamirsko cesto do Murgaba, prestopil v Kirgizstan pri prelazu Kyzyl Art, in v Kitajsko pri prelazu Irkeštam. Nato po cesti #309 do Kashija in po #314 (Kitajski del Karakoramske cesta - KKH) do mesta Tashkurgan. Tam sem dal kolo na avtobus in se zapeljal do Pakistanskega mesta Sost (ker Kitajci ne dovolijo kolesarnjena v obmejnem pasu). Nato sem sledil KKH do Gilgita, kmalu za tem pa zapustil KKH na levo in naredil dolg ovinek skozi Skardu, visoko planoto Deosai in dolino reke Astore nazaj na KKH. Sledila je vožnja po KKH do Islamabada, nadaljevanje po ravnini do Lahoreja in Indijske meje, kmalu po tem pa sem - izmučen od driske in vročine - vzel avobus do Amritsarja in nato do Delhija.

CESTE: Makadamske ceste so v glavnem v Tajikistanu in Kirgizistanu in skozi planjavo Deosai v Pakistanu. Če navedem bolj podrobno, makadam je: okoli 150 km med Obigarmom in Kalaikumom, 50 km makadamskih odsekov pomešanih z asfaltnimi vložki med Kalaikumom in Khorogom, 40 km med prelazom Koy Tezek in Alichurjem, 20 km okoli prelaza Akbaytal, cesta navzdol od prelaza Kyzyl Art in 50 km od Sary Tasha do grebena Irkeshtam. Razen tega je skupaj okoli 90 km makadama med Skardujem in križiščem KKH s cesto skozi dolino Astore. Vsega skupaj je okoli 400 km makadama. Ostalih 2700 km je asfalt, ki je presenetljivo najbolj grob na KKH (grbine, zakrpe), ne toliko na Pamirski cesti. Kitajske ceste so brezhibne.

ZEMLJEVID: Pot sem načrtoval po karti srednje Azije Freitag & Berndt (1:1,700,000) in po Nellesovi karti Severne Indije (1:1,500,000). Kart nisem imel s seboj, pač pa samo kartico s razdaljami. Oglej si jo na tej strani. Za bolj detajlno razlago pa preberi kaj o digitalizaciji karte.

PROMET: Promet je gost v okolici Dušanbeja v Tadžikistanu in med Abottabadom in Lahorejem v Pakistanu, ne toliko okoli Kashija na Kitajskem. Drugje je bolj malo prometa. V delu Pakistana kjer je promet hud sem imel občutek, da so vozniki kar uvidevni. Po Indiji tokrat nisem veliko vozil, zato nimam direktne primerjave, a če me sponim s prejšnje ture ne vara, je tam hujši kot v Pakistanu.

JAVNI TRANSPORT: Avtobusi bodo vzeli bicikl na vrh strehe, vendar go boš v Indiji moral sam dati gor in ga privezati. Vzemi vrv ali elastiko. Za prevoz bicikla se tudi plača, okoli 1/2 cene vozovnice.

PRENOČIŠČA: Kampiral sem na divje 13 krat, in okoli 25 krat spal v hotelih oz. restavracijah.

HRANA IN VODA: Hrana je bila problem na tej turi. V Tadžikistanu in Kirgizistanu sem se kmalu naveličal kruha (lepinje) in čaja. Po kratkem obilju na Kitajskem sem prišel v Pakistan, kjer sem našel prav tako skromno ponudbo temelječo na lepinjah, mesni ali zelenjavni omaki in čaju (res da tokrat z mlekom). Z vodo ni bilo problemov nikjer, kljub hudi vročini večino časa. Pogosto sem vodo jemal iz potokov, brez kakršne koli obdelave, kar je bila napaka. Bodi previden s hrano in vodo.

STROŠKI: Plačal sem 5 in 20 somonov za prenočišče v Tadžikistanu, 80 yuanov na Kitajskem, od 100 do 1200 rupij v Pakistanu (povprečje 500) in v povprečju 400 rupij v Indiji. Kosilo je bilo 10 somonov, 20 yuanov in 50 P rupij. Gazirana pijača je 30 P rupij. Menjava: za 1 US$ sem dobil 3.4 somona, 6.7 yuanov, 70 pakistanskih rupij in 43 Indijskih rupij. Porabil sem nekaj manj kot 10 EUR/dan.

VIZE: Vizi za Kitajsko in Indijo sem dobil brez težav v Ljubljani. Tadžikistansko vizo preko Kompasa (mogoče bi lahko prišparal kakih 20 EUR, če bi sam poslal vlogo na Dunaj), Pakistansko vizo (hudo drago!) pa preko agencije Oskar. Vizo za Kirgizstan sedaj tudi Slovenci rabijo - to se je spremenilo ravno ko sem bil na poti. Moj prijatelj jo je dobil ob pristanku v Biškeku. Jaz sem pa malo zablefiral in šel skozi Kirgizstan brez vize (kar sicer ne priporočam).

VREME: Bilo je vroče. Moral bi iti kak mesec kasneje. Temperature so bile nad 30 C, največ sem nameril 41 C (lahko da je bilo tudi kako stopinjo več) v predelu med Gilgitom in Dasu-jem, ki je znan po hudi vročini. Ponoči sem nameril najmanj -3 C (na višini 4200 m). Dežja je bilo le za 3 krat po urico ali dve. Dan je bil med 6:00 in 20:00.

KRAJI: Izjemna pokrajina, neverjetni prizori (ne vedno v prijetnem smislu).

NEVŠEČNOSTI: NI se zgodilo nič resnejšega, razen hudih problemov s prebavo v Pakistanu, ki je skrajšala moje kolesarjenje najmanj za teden in onemogočila, da bi zaključil turo na spektakularen način z vožnjo čez prelaza Sach La in Rhotang La v Indijski Himalaji. Konstantna radovednost otrok in starejših v vseh vaseh v Tadžikistanu in Pakistanu je hitro začela postajati nadležna. Otroki v Kohistanu (v delu KKH) so še nekoliko bolj agresivni kot drugje, toda ne preveč ogrožajoči - nekaj kamnov, ki so jih zalučali pod moja kolesa očitno niso imeli namen da me zadenejo. Psi v Tadžikistanu so lahko nadležni.

OPREMA: Cestno kolo in le malo kaj več. Glej detajle na zdaj že znameniti strani "weight" in pod ikono kolesa zgoraj.

POPRAVKI: 2 predrti zračnici. Obe zaradi trna rastline Tribulus_terrestris. Obe sta se zgodili v 20 km. Imel sem težave tudi s sprednjim menjalnikom.

POVEZAVE: Blog Petera Gostelowa je odličen vir informacij za planiranje take (in tudi drugih) poti. Stran Tracey Maund in Colina Championa ima nadaljne povezave v zvezi s srednjo Azijo. Med slovenskimi stranmi poznam le Gogijevo.

Stuff

Aluminium road bike with carbon fork, triple chainring (52/42/30), 8 speed cassette (12-26) and tyres 700x32c on front, 700x25c at the back. Ultralight, as always, 6.7 kg of stuff, and 19.8 kg of everything: including bike, food, water and all of the rest, down to shoe laces (see the list). The tent and the stuff bag with most of things wrapped in bubble wrap was on the rear rack, digital camera and few other things in a saddlebag attached to the handlebar. Note that this was not a 'credit card' trip - I had a tent and sleeping bag, and used them 1/3 of the nights.
The only thing I didn't need was a fleece cap - it was never cold enough to use it.

Stvari

Cestno kolo št. 8, ki je sedaj moje standardno potovalno kolo. Ima aluminijasti okvir, karbonsko vilico, trojno šajbo (52/42/30) in 8-prestavno kaseto (12-26). Gume so bile 700x32c spredaj in 700x25c zadaj. Ultralahko, kot vedno, 6.7 kg stvari in 19.8 kg vsega: vključujoč kolo, hrano, vodo in vse ostalo dol do vezalk (glej seznam). Šotor in pakirna vreča z večino stvari zavitih v "bubble-wrap" folijo sta bila na zadnjem prtljažniku, digitalni fotoaparat in nekaj pogosto rabljenih stvari pa v majhni torbici na balanci. Pozor: to ni bila "credit-card" tura; imel sem šotor in spalno vrečo, in ju rabil 1/3 noči.

Route profile

Cycling data


Day Date Trip Time   Speed   Alti Total Accom Notes (daily end-stop) ***
                    Avr Max            
    d/m   km  h:m  km/h km/h    m    km
0  25/6    0  0:0   0.0  0.0  826     0   a   Ljubljana-Dushanbe
1  26/6  130  7:47 16.7 59.3 1108   130   w   Obigarm
2  27/6  100  8:46 11.5 35.3 1569   230   w   Tavildara +10km
3  28/6   89  8:16 10.7 37.8    -   319   w   Kalaikhum +10km
4  29/6   67  5:38 11.9 39.8    -   386   w   Baravintar -8km
5  30/6  152  9:52 15.4 44.0    -   538   h   Khorog
6   1/7   53  3:31 15.1 48.1 2623   591   w   Khorog +50km
7   2/7  102  7:43 13.1 47.7 4060   693   w   Koy-Tezek pass +1km
8   3/7  123  7:29 16.4 47.7 3823   816   w   Nayzatash pass +8km
9   4/7  115  7:47 14.8 44.5 4126   931   w   Akbaytal pass +2km
10  5/7   76  5:43 13.3 46.0 4040  1007   w   Kyzyl-Art pass -25km
11  6/7   71  5:15 13.5 37.8 3081  1078   h   Sary Tash
12  7/7   86  7:26 11.6 54.5 2831  1164   w   KYR/CHI border + 8km
13  8/7  224 10:13 21.7 55.0 1308  1388   h   Kashi
14  9/7    0  0:0   0.0  0.0 1308  1388   h   Kashi
15 10/7  125  6:43 18.6 52.4 2267  1513   h   Check poin of road #314
16 11/7  165  9:08 18.1 58.2 3023  1678   h   Tashkorgan
17 12/7   38  1:58 19.2 43.6 2521  1716   h   Pasu
18 13/7  154  8:34 17.9 46.0 1578  1870   h   Gilgit
19 14/7  101  6:28 15.6 47.2 1792  1971   w   Skardu -100km
20 15/7  101  6:57 14.5 45.4 2246  2072   w   Skardu -20km
21 16/7   37  2:45 13.4 39.4 2666  2109   h   Sadpara
22 17/7   44  5:45  7.6 23.8 3800  2153   w   Deosai plains
23 18/7   34  3:34  9.5 29.6 3289  2187   h   Chilim
24 19/7  119  6:59 17.0 43.2 1377  2306   w   Chilas -40 km
25 20/7   63  4:06 15.4 38.4 1174  2369   h   Chilas
26 21/7  122  8:08 14.9 38.1  884  2491   h   Dasu
27 22/7    0  0:0   0.0  0.0  884  2491   h   Dasu
28 23/7   74  5:36 13.1 36.3  735  2565   h   Besham
29 24/7  126  8:08 15.5 46.4 1145  2691   h   Manserha
30 25/7  124  6:38 18.8 47.3  654  2815   h   Islamabad
31 26/7  151  7:22 20.5 44.9  410  2966   h   Jehlum
32 27/7  108  6:08 17.6 37.8  305  3074   h   Gujranwalla
33 28/7   77  4:49 15.9 28.0  300  3151   h   Lahore
34 29/7   36  2:42 13.1 23.4  300  3187   h   Amritsar
35 30/7    0  0:0   0.0  0.0    -  3187   h   Amritsar
36 31/7    0  0:0   0.0  0.0    -  3187   b   Amritsar to Delhi by bus
37  1/8    0  0:0   0.0  0.0    -  3187   h   Delhi
38  2/8    0  0:0   0.0  0.0    -  3187   h   Delhi
39  3/8    0  0:0   0.0  0.0    -  3187   h   Delhi
40  4/8    0  0:0   0.0  0.0    -  3187   h   Delhi
41  5/8    0  0:0   0.0  0.0    -  3187   h   Delhi to Ljubljana


Days   Trip   Time   Speed  Climb Alti
                    Avr Max
         km   h:m  km/h km/h    m    m    
42     3187 207:54   -   -      -    -    Sum
32     3187 207:54   -   -      -    -    Sum, cycling days
 -      224  10:13 21.7 59.3    - 4650    MAX, cycling days
 -       34   1:58  7.6 23.4    -  300    min, cycling days
42       76   4:57   -   -      -    -    average per day
32      100   6:30 15.3 43.7    -    -    average per cycling day


*** Legend
12 17/8 - cycling day
13 18/8 - non cycling or rest day
Trip    - daily cycling distance
Time    - daily cycling time (while in motion)
Speed   - daily cycling speed (while in motion): Avr - average; Max - maximal.
Climb   - daily cumulative altitude gain (registered manually)
Alti    - altitude at the end of the day
Total   - cumulative distance
Accom   - accommodation: a: airplane; b: bus; h: ho(s)tel; f: at a family; c: camp; w: wild camping

Travelogue

I wrote a blog about this trip, it's here: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/d2d.

Potopis

Blog v angleščini lahko vidiš na: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/d2d.