With our German companion Johannes on board, we left Karakul and headed for the border. It was near the top of Kyzyl-Art Pass(4282m) and probably the most remote border I have ever crossed. The border admin on both sides takes a while, we had to wait in line while Daniyar took our passports and permits into the Tajik office, then onto quarantine and customs. In Kyrgyzstan, only one car enters the zone at a time, and then the soldiers asked to open our bags. Except they didn’t open mine, as the guard said “My wife packs lots of clothes, toiletries and cosmetics…you are probably the same!” Not quite!

The Highway surface improves slightly after the border, and Daniyar was tearing along, screeching round hairpin bends and overtaking trucks on curves. I just gripped the handle in the Toyota tightly and hoped for the best! I’ve included a map of Tajikistan, but some of the places are not where we stayed, it was just the general area and gives an idea of our route.

We are now in Osh, relaxing in a small apartment, ready to move on to Kashgar in China on Friday. Not sure about sharing the blog in China, so if you are still interested you might just have to go straight to chrisgodman.wordpress.com as Facebook, Google and gmail are problematic!

Admin building at the border

Closest we got to a Marco Polo Sheep

Thanks Daniyar, you have been a fantastic driver!

Looking back into Tajikistan

The route from Uzbekistan to Osh (blue dot)