Cycling the Pamirs - Tajikistan 2018 : Day 3 / 4

There's nothing like getting thrown into the deep end !After two honest but not overly tough days we were truly hit with the "kitchen sink" on Day 3 when our route after lunch took us across hills on roads that resembled poorly maintained Bridleways - dirt, washboards, loose stones and roads covered by wind swept sand !

We'd actually started the day in good spirits until someone pointed out that their map which had showed the previous days road condition as being good (???) was now showing the coming days road conditions as ranging from terrible to really really terrible !!!

We sure weren't disappointed with our high energy efforts after lunch resulting in lots of sideways sliding but little forward progress !

In the midst of the enduring pain though what really stood out was the incredible isolation of this place - this really is one of the least populated areas on the planet!

Some distant views of primitive Afghan building structures across the river and a massive border being patrolled by the odd group of young soldiers entirely on foot, gave real sense to our feeling of incredible remoteness !

The last 7kms to the hilltop village of Yamchun were incredibly tough with a whopping 8-10% gradient (just what you need after a long day in the saddle !) Big John lead the way while quite few of us decided that there was no shame in waking while taking in the amazing views ! Summiting we were rewarded with the the image of the beautifully located 3rd Century Yamchun fortress dominating the hillside landscape !

A few kms on we finally arrived at our 3200 metre high accommodation with a queue fast forming to take advantage of the limited hot water supply and cold beers !

While some had the energy to stay up at night for a drink or two and some local Tajiky disco dancing most including self feel easily into a comatose sleep despite our narrow hard beds and our developing high altitude racking coughs !

Rest Day -

Sadly the beaut vista of the previous day had disappeared behind cloud as windswept conditions were the go during the groups morning walk to the Yamchun Fortress

While most lounged around afterwards reading and acclimatising to the altitude some keen adventurers journeyed to the nearby hot water spa for ... you guessed it some more genital washing viewing !

Despite a late dinner at 8.00p.m. it was an early night as we welcomed the thought of heading back down the hill in the morning !