Cycling the Pamirs - Tajikistan 2018 : Day 1 - Darmadar

It was a chaotic assembly of well rested and well fed adventure riders that waited in the hotels car park ready to get the day (already hot) and our Tajikistan cycling adventure under way !

Sadly our numbers were already depleted with Jacoline one of our Dutch contingent, the first casualty of the soon to be well known "Tajiky Trots" !

Thoughts of the reported tough days ahead disappeared as we climbed out of Khorog and continued to cycle along a valley on reasonable bitumen surface right beside the raging Panj river

If there were any reservations about our proximity to Afghanistan they were soon left behind as our valley road provided for fabulous mountainside views as it wound its way through sparsely populated villages.

Our joy though was short to last as we soon found ourselves on rough corrugated dirt surfaces that continued with us all the way to a welcome lunch stop. Here Simon suffered some early afternoon madness mistaking the ice cold Panj river for his local (heated) Edinburgh swimming pool ! His senses returned long before his missing testicles did !

Our remaining 7kms to our accommodation at Gharm Chasma were damned tough. A steep uphill, rocky road !

The "Tajiky Trots" list was growing hourly ! Christine, Neil, Pete, Simon and Annie were soon all struggling in the afternoon heat !

Finally we crashed into our Tajik Hotel Spa style accommodation which was so out of tune for the surrounding moonscape geography

Our choices were twofold 1) to relax or 2) go to the nearby Hot Springs to watch local men openly washing their genitals ! Most (me excluded) surprisingly opted for the latter ! Needless to say the Genital Washing theme continued to dominate discussion at the evening dinner table !

There was a moving interaction during the evening when a Tajik woman on holiday at the Spa with her family came up and sincerely apologised on behalf of Tajikistan for the recent terror incident !!

Despite the short distance this was a tough first day in the extreme heat. By 9.30 most of the group had already hit the sack to recover in time for day 2 !