My Dream to travel on Pamir Highway turned into a Nightmare S8 EP.24|Pakistan to Japan Motorcycle
I have lost my interest in Pamir Highway. Seeing all these big trucks scares me. It's a matter of getting a bit closer; and you will fall.
Assalam-O-Alaikum everyone and welcome back to the channel. From a place that I don't even know the name of. Yesterday, we were on our way to Kalaikhum from Dushanbe. We spent the night at petrol station about 100 km before Kalaikhum. As you know, we lost our mobile phone.
It was night, by the time we found it. But I found my mobile phone. If I hadn't found it, things would have been a lot more complex.
We would have wasted 3 to 4 days. We would have faced a lot of difficulties. But they say, whatever happens, happens for the best.
Maybe it was God's will that I had to spend the night here. Anyway, we will leave from here today. Our Rangeeli is ready. I have packed my luggage. It will take us about 2.5 to 3 hours to reach Kalaikhum from here. May be half an hour less than that.
After that, we have to go to Rushon. Rushon is also about 170 to 180 km from Kalaikhum. It may take about 5.5 to 6 hours to reach there. Since, construction is being done on the way.
So, they have certain timings. They block the road in between. Because they are blasting. So, let's see.
First, we will reach Kalaikhum. After that, we will ride to Rushon. If we reach Rushon by night, it will be great. If we don't, we will spend the night wherever we reach. We have this kind of cake for breakfast. I bought it from the shop over there.
We have tea with it. Let's drink this, eat and leave. Someone is calling from here. This is Bukhtar. I stayed with him last night. Let me introduce him to you.
Pakistan Assalam-O-Alaikum Waalaikum Ussalam This is Bukhtar. Thank you very much. We had tea with him. Let's leave now. This was our bedroom for the last night.
We have some stuff here and put the rest on the motorcycle. Bismillah... In the name of Allah (prayer for journey) May Allah bless us with a good day.
May it be a good one. May we reach our destination safely. We don't want to repeat yesterday's adventure. I think that's a mosque. Look at these beautiful and unique pillars.
Most of the people in this region are Muslims. It was a small village. It's almost over now.
I have paid him 60 Som. $6. I have paid him $1 for the last night's food. He asked for 50 Som for the stay. It's too dusty here. You get completely covered with dust on these roads.
It's almost 7 am here. Today, we have the earliest start of this tour. We usually start around 8:30 or 9 am. We might have started around 8 am once or twice. The advantage is that we will try to reach Rushon by 10 pm. But if the pass is beautiful, we will have to fly a drone there.
I forgot my mobile while flying it yesterday. The same thing happened in Afghanistan. The place where I was flying the drone. My mobile phone disappeared right around that place. I placed it somewhere and then forgot to pick it.
I think we should go from this side. It was quite deep. These crossings are unpredictable; very easy to cross. And when you get stuck, you have to go through a lot of holes and stones.
And then you get stuck. This is nothing. We have to go through a lot in Bartang.
This is just warm-up. I think we are moving towards the pass. We are slowly gaining altitude. We are passing through small villages. In some sections, the road is quite good; not so good in some others. In some areas, you have to see which way you are going.
You may end up going to some village, drifting away from the main road. Wow. What an amazing road. For the first time in this tour, we are getting good off-road sections. The gravel here is amazing. You can go at a speed of 50-55 kmph. There are beautiful mountains along the road.
The ride is actually getting better now. This is the road towards the pass. We will get down from there.
To Kalaikhum. Hi. How are you? I am good. And you?
I am good. Thank you. Where are you from? From Pakistan. Pakistan. Nice. Yes. You? From France. France. Okay. You are going to...? Kalaikhum
Yes. And maybe to Rushon today. Do you need anything? No, that's fine. Do you need water? Everything is there. Thank you very much.
See you there. Thank you. You too. We have reached very close to the pass. We have a cool breeze here; and a cool weather. Not the dust and heat anymore. It's as if we had such a fun ride.
The road is good here. And the scenery is also good. There is a cyclist ahead as well. I salute their courage. I swear I get worried when I see them.
It's still okay here. But it's difficult to go to an altitude. They have covered the same road that I did. I think they are a couple. One has stopped back there. Taking a break.
Hello The color of this river is so beautiful. Fresh glacier water. There is a check post here. I will have to share my details with them. Assalam-O-Alaikum Passport Thank you Yes. Where are you going? Pamir. Kyrgyzstan.
Thank you. I think this is the end of our off-road journey. We will reach Kalaikhum shortly. I think there are similar roads ahead. Let's see.
I'll have to find out about the ongoing construction work. I don't want to get stuck there all day. Finally. Welcome to Kalaikhum. This will be our first stop of the day.
Let's see if there are any cafes or restaurants here. It's a relatively big city. I can see some sign boards about cafes and restaurants here. It's beautiful. This is the river that was flowing along.
The river is merging in river Panj. Look how dirty it's water is compared to this river. I think this is a hotel. We do have mobile coverage here. So our internet must be working here.
I can see some banks. There's that 'I love Tajikistan' sign. Where are all the cafes? It's a big and beautiful city. The city road is quite beautiful. I don't see any cafes here.
If not then I would have some yogurt from the supermarket. To drink and move ahead. Let's go ahead and have a look.
Assalam-O-Alaikum We have almost everything here. We have got something to drink from here. It's kiwi flavored.
I think it will be good. We also got yogurt. Our next ride will be about 170-180 km from here. Google estimates 6 hours travel time. That is, if there is no construction work happening on the way. It is quite possible as it is Sunday today.
So they might not be working. That means we can continue with only short breaks on our way. Restaurants are on our way, I have checked. We will be coming across small cities and towns.
We will eat and leave. They didn't have a spoon. I've got some ice cream sticks instead.
That works for me. I hope I have not forgotten anything here. I think we are good to go.
Go Rangely. We have to get the motorcycle refueled. I saw a petrol station outside the city.
On Google. I will get it refueled from there. This is the main highway. There must be a fuel station here for sure. Our journey for Pamir Highway has just begun.
We will cover some sections of Pamir Highway. And will plan the rest differently. As you know, the main highways are always boring. If we want to enjoy the beauty of Pamir, Then we will have to take a route other than the highway. Let me show you something. That village and the whole area is Afghanistan.
We are in Tajikistan. So close yet so far. This river is the border line between Afghanistan and Tajikistan. We will get very close to the village at certain places and a little far at some others.
We are lucky that there is no construction work today. Because it's Sunday. Otherwise, the road is closed for 3 to 4 hours during the blasting procedure. That's why the machines are parked here.
The bridge connects Afghanistan with Tajikistan. But it is not an active bridge. It's closed. There is a fuel station down there. I think it is also closed. Let's check it out. And we do need fuel.
We have only half a tank. There will be some other fuel station, even if this one is closed. This is also closed. There is no one here. Disastrous potholes.
Look at the beautiful little river flowing in. It's white in color. It's merging into the river Panj.
There are a lot of such springs in this area. There must be huge mountains and glaciers in the background. If I am not mistaken, this is the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. There are a couple of Tajik soldiers sitting here. There is some military presence in this area. As you can see, this is the main Pamir highway.
All the goods from China are imported through this busy road. Oh my God! When a car comes in front of you at full speed, you can't see anything for a while due to dust. Now, won't be able to see anything. The road condition is worse. It should be named as Dirt Highway. Dirt and Dust Highway It's in front of me and I have to cross it.
How to cross it? This is also a problem. You can hardly see the cars coming from the front. Oh my God! I am done with Pamir Highway.
There is a lot of traffic on this highway. All these trucks are carrying goods from China. I found a section to cross. There are more trucks coming from there. 4x4 vehicles and trucks. The road is full of them.
Let's see if we can find a place. There should be enough space. Unless...
There's a smart guy trying to get in front of me. Stop there. Everyone's waiting behind you.
There is always a guy who creates nuisance for all. A beautiful section after so long. On the other side, you can see the traditional houses of Afghanistan.
You won't find a single such house on this side. But there were such houses all over Afghanistan. There is a lot of population along the river Panj. There are so many trucks from the same company.
I think they are driving the trucks all the way from China and will sell them here. I have seen this in Africa as well. Vehicles were brought to Kenya and Mombasa by boat.
After that, people would drive them to Uganda and Nairobi. I can't see anything. A little mistake and you will be down there in the river. This is Pamir Highway.
I should be patient. I can't see a thing. It's really awful. The construction work is so messy; lot of dust.
I can't even control the motorcycle. I think this road is gonna be a great once it is finished. It will be a great ride. Not at the moment though. Look at these new vehicles coming. New vehicles from China on this road.
As I said earlier, they look like new vehicles. They are coming from this side. Who knows in what condition they will reach their destination.
It's scary to see these big trucks coming. Even a little carelessness can be dangerous. Hello. Yes.
Assalam-O-Alaikum All the truck drivers are sitting here. Assalam-O-Alaikum So probably there won't be any relaxing day in our tour. The road is still a factor. The biggest issue is of fuel.
Our destination is 80 km from here. And that's the biggest city. We will get fuel there. I think we should have got fuel on the way.
2-3 fuel stations I located on the map were closed. I am not sure what we will do now. I have 1 liter of dirty Afghan fuel in my bottle. I don't want to use it. But of course, it's 1 liter. It should be enough for 15-20 km.
It's 0.75. Anyway, I will ask around. Maybe there is a shop nearby. We might get fuel from there. We have chicken here.
There was no pulao here. We just have this. But I am more worried about the fuel. We should get fuel.
Otherwise, it will be very difficult for us. Is there anyone inside? Someone to talk to. There is no one inside.
Normally, there are so many villagers here. But today, when we are in need of them, there is no one. And this is the main highway. The road I took yesterday was full of people.
I could have got fuel from somewhere. Assalam-O-Alaikum Petrol? No? Rayon? Here? Fuel? Yes. What is the name of this place? He told me that there is a village called Rayon ahead. I explored it online. It's about 15 km away. I don't see any other option on the other side.
Otherwise, I would have taken the main road. Let's go this way. Let's see if there is a big village ahead. Will definitely appear along the valleys. At least our ride is not bad.
It's beautiful compared to that road. The traffic and construction back there just messed up everything. This is the big city.
I am sure I will find the fuel here. This looks like a totally different world. It's a big city. I mean the main town. Rayon. There are good roads here.
There is a lot of population here. Petrol? Yes Pamir Kyrgyzstan Pakistan Muslim? Alhamdulillah Tajiki... No. We have covered about 15 to 16 km so far. Let's go back. Let's hit the main highway and continue our journey.
We still have 105 km to cover. Or maybe a little more. We need to cover these 16 km. It's a very dangerous section. The rocks seem to be hanging. Come on Rangeeli, let's get out of here.
Thank God Look at the cars being imported from China. Look at the mountains. They are standing in front of us like a wall. All these mountains are on the Afghanistan side.
There is a river in between. Welcome to the city of lights. Rushon.
It's 8:15 pm. And we have reached here after a 13.5 hour ride. It's an almost never-ending journey. I have explored a couple of guest houses on the internet.
Let's see if we can find them on this main road. Let's go there. Hopefully, they have enough space. There are lights in front of us. Maybe it's the guest house.
There seems hustle bustle inside. Let's park here and see. What a day we had.
We have finally reached the hotel. Let me show you the room. This is our room. It's a very clean and beautiful room. There is a balcony at the back, but there is no light. I was very tired and hungry.
That's why I went out to eat first. Everything closed before 9 pm. There was only a small shop open.
I requested the lady to make something for me. She gave me eggs and bread. I ate that happily.
Let me tell you about this room. They charged me $30 rent. Including breakfast. We will do that in the morning and leave. That's all for now.
I hope you liked this vlog. If you did, please Like, Subscribe and Share. Remember me in prayers. See you in the next one. Allah Hafiz
2024-11-09 04:27
