Our hardest climb | Bike touring a CLOSED mountain pass #36
Welcome back to our Amazing World Bike Tour from Tajikistan in Central Asia. We are on our way to the capital to reach the starting point of the legendary M41 road, the Pamir Highway. However, there is still one notable obstacle ahead of us! We want to avoid the infamous 5 km long, barely ventilated, pretty much unlit, and narrow ‘Tunnel of Death’. It connects the north western part of the country with the capital Dushanbe.
Usually cyclists hitch a ride through the tunnel on the back of a lorry, but as Arev speaks Russian she makes some inquiries with the locals about the only alternative. Either way, there are some challenges ahead. You want to go over the pass? Yes, through the Anzob pass. Very difficult. But is it possible? Yes, yes…it’s possible.
It is possible to go, but there are many rocks… It’s bumpy… The road has not been maintained for a long time. We don’t know for sure, maybe there are wolves… But there are people living in the Anzob village. Yes, yes, people live there.
The 3372 m high Anzob pass used to be the only and fairly unreliable road. Heavy snowfall and landslides usually interrupted it for several months per year, and in 1997 an avalanche killed 46 people, burying 15 vehicles. This unfortunate event was probably the final straw and in 2006 they finished the construction of the tunnel that soon got that reassuring nickname. Today the old pass road is marked as closed and almost certainly impassable for cars due to the landslides and rockfall that has accumulated for nearly two decades. However, we would be very surprised if it wasn't possible at all on our bicycles. Hello! Ask how much more ascend there is to the village.
The elevation gain to Anzob village is small. Will there be rain? It has already rained. Yes, it passed. Maybe we can make it to the village. Yes, you can make it. Where are you from, guys? Looking at what we’ve seen since the turn-off to the tunnel, it seems reasonable to assume that the road further up is not very good.
We did not make it to Anzob, the last village before the pass. Instead we end up 12 km and 200 m ascent short of our minimal goal for the day. When the sun is about to set this high spirited man invites us to sleep in his apricot garden. Now we are at about 2000 metres and will have to climb another 1400 m in about 20 kms. We cannot sleep at the top because of the altitude. So we should climb up and descend. I hope we can make it today.
We already did 10 kms and a couple of hundred metres of climbing. We've just visited the last little shop before the mountain pass. Unfortunately they were out of bread, but that nice guy gave us some of his bread. That was very kind of him.
Very soon the really difficult part will start, where we will climb about 1200 metres on gravel. We should make it all the way over the pass and down again to 2700 m above sea-level or below on the same day. That is because our bodies are not acclimatised to high altitude at all. While every person reacts differently, the general advice is to sleep at most 400 metres higher than the night before, starting at around 2500 metres. Not following this rule drastically increases the risk of altitude sickness. It starts with headaches, dizziness and nausea, and can end fatal if not treated, the by far best treatment being immediate descent.
I am not sure how many kilometres we did by now, but I think we still have a lot ahead of us. Our energy is very limited. I think both of us are already very tired. The altimeter says we are at 2400-ish metres, that means almost another 1000 km to go. I am concerned that we might not make it energywise and daytime-wise all the way over the top and down the other side. So we might need to make a decision to stay below 2700 metres. So, we’ll check how we feel in 300 metres.
Maybe that would be more sensible. We can see the mountain pass. It is 11 kms and with 800 metres of climb it’s roughly 7 to 8 % average, all gravel. We feel pretty tired already, but we hope we can do it. Oh, ****! Arev! We are at 2600 metres.
That means we did 400 metres since… What was the name… Anzob. It’s 12:10 o’clock. So it took us 2,5 hours for 400 metres.
It’s 800 more metres, so that's a minimum 5 hours to climb up. Probably 6. Ok… It’s so hard! It’s pushing more than cycling really.
It’s getting cold and I am sweating at the same time. What the hell?! Ok, let’s go! By now I am absolutely certain that this is too much for us to chew in one day. There are countless beautiful camp spots and water sources all over the place. However, Arev insists on continuing. I am fuming, as she has not taken my concern seriously all morning.
Oh, man! It’s a little after 2pm. Still 8 kms and 650 metres or something like this to go. I feel like I'm completely done. I proposed that we camp here… I can't… We’ve cycled up mountain passes with similar altitudes before, but that was on active roads and on asphalt most of the time. The problem with climbing on this loose gravel is that a large part of the energy you put in is lost, due to the lack of traction.
It is particularly hard to get going from a standstill. Plenty of scattered rocks and the overall bad surface make us come to a grinding halt very often. For the protocol: I’m absolutely done, my muscles are burning, my knees hurt, I’m so tired. There is water, there is a flat surface, there is a shepherd down there with a lot of sheep and dogs, but someone does not want to stay the night here, because we are going to be eaten by the dogs… Come on! Why? Earlier in the day I did not want to stop, because I wanted to stick to our plan to make it over the pass today.
That Mathias had snapped at me out of the blue did not help at all. How is he not concerned about the wild predators at this altitude? Please tell me that this is solid and not soft snow. Ok, seems to be pretty solid. Let’s see. I love you! Come on! 200 metres more! I am using every mental exercise I can to get a little more strength and motivation.
We are at about 3100 metres. More… Or more… probably more. 3200 maybe, hopefully. One can feel that the air is thinner here. We push the bikes for maybe 50 metres at a time, then we need a break for at least a minute. It’s crazy!
I am furious. I said about 15 kms ago that maybe we shouldn’t try to go all the way up today. It’s really really bad, it’s too hard, we can’t do it, we will have to go down in the darkness and we will be too tired anyways. And… What's the reality? Just that! It’s soon 6 pm when we go around this corner. After the corner there are still 2 more kms to go. But the moment we reach the descent, we will be in the shadow of the mountain, so it will be dark immediately basically.
We don’t even have enough power in our hands to brake properly. With this road the last 10 kms have been f***** harrowing… but ok, that’s what we do. Tea! *Russian Tea? *Russian Thank you! *Russian Do you want tea, Mathias? We want... This kind woman invited us to sleep in her house, which, judging the temperatures, would probably not be a bad idea.
We are so exhausted. I think it’s better if we sleep inside. Let’s see what Arev decides. I feel terrible. I’m freezing. I think my body went way beyond its limit. Every muscle feels is going to cramp immediately. Still a little cold.
At night, I know, we will have 7 to 8 degrees, because currently we are at the local meteorologist’s place, at the weather station. We are very exhausted. My back is hurting. Mathias is in a lot of pain. I think after this terrible day we need some rest.
So I hope Pamir will not be like this every day. It was very difficult. Now at an altitude of 3372 metres above sea-level Mathias suffers from altitude sickness. He has a crushing headache, feels dizzy, and is very short of breath. Almost immediately after reaching the top, he got chills and high fever.
Additionally diarrhoea forced him to make the arduous journey to the outhouse 50 metres away every hour or two. The next morning I don't feel great either, but strong enough to go on a little hike. The meteorologist wants to check his beaver traps.
Can you see? The noose tightens and that's it. There are two left. Let’s go check. You see? There are two more left. Let's go check. Nothing? No, no, they didn’t come out. They know about the trap.
Yeah, they are very intelligent. On our return it is time to take the readings of the weather stations instruments. He has to take them every three hours, day and night. Make a picture from there.
Life is tough at this altitude. To get by, they have some livestock. During summer and early autumn they look after the animals of some villagers as well. As the beaver traps did not have any success, with no meat left, the time of this young goat has come. Getting supplies up here is difficult. Only once per year they get a delivery by helicopter from the government. Shelf-stable dry products, rice, flour, oil, and so on.
If they need anything else they have to carry it up themselves from the village 1500 metres below. What will you do with the pelt? Nothing. It got hit by a rock. The leg broke.
The owner said he wouldn't carry it, so I should take and eat it. He gave it to you as a gift? Oh, no, 300 Rubles. So you bought it. Who would just give it away?! How much is a small goat like this one? This one costs 500 or 600 Somoni. (40-50 €) They built a cistern that collects the melting snow, to have enough water all year. The cows get everywhere! Bless you! Thanks! See that you don’t catch a cold yourself.
It’s some kind of virus. Virus? How would there be a virus here? It happens…wind… The wind carries a virus into the mountains? What? Into the mountains?! Yeah… Did you have Covid? What is that? Corona? No, no, never! That’s what I was saying… What would happen if they got really sick. Can they get help by a helicopter or something? Yes they will send a helicopter. Did it ever happen? Yes. For you? When? No.
For your wife? Because of the blood pressure? Two years ago. Her blood pressure got so high, she couldn’t stand. There is no road here. The road is very bad. Exactly. That’s why I wondered how it works. And the doctors arrived via helicopter and took her to hospital? Yes. How is it in Tajikistan? Do you pay for the hospital or the government? What government? You pay for everything? Of course! It is now two nights later than when we arrived here at the top of Anzob pass.
My fever has dropped now. My temperature is almost normal. 37 degrees. It’s slightly higher than it should be. I still have diarrhoea. I feel pretty weak. A couple of steps and I am out of breath already and need to rest. But today we feel good enough that I think we can go down, descend for about 2000 metres to the next village, where we will rest for another day or another night and then head to Dushanbe. The meteorologist and his wife have lived here for 30 years now.
But they want to leave as well. Partly I guess because she has high blood pressure and that’s not very good at 3400 metres altitude. But they are remarkably fit whereas we can barely move. Together they lived on top of the world for over three decades, a majority of that time virtually cut off from the rest of the world. Of course there has been no phone, no television, no internet, and not even a proper road for the last 20 years. He has to use an old radio to transmit the weather station's readings.
How fortunate that this impressive couple has been here to help us. We are so grateful for all the wonderful people we meet, and the help we receive, be it by chance on the road, or from our fantastic audience, especially our amazing contributors on buymeacoffee and paypal! Our journey and sharing it wouldn’t be possible without you! This experience clearly showed us our limits, teaching us a valuable lesson. As a couple as well as a team, clear and effective communication is paramount, especially when the situation gets tough. The last two days felt horrendous a lot of the time which was not necessary at all. We only got into that mess, because our communication was off on day one.
Both of us failed to make clear what was driving our decision making. Mathias for example did not know that the villagers had warned me not to camp up there because of wolves and bears, as he doesn’t understand Russian. Driven by the major concern of getting eaten, Arev was not very concerned about us reaching the pass over exhausted at sunset. Her plan was to make it up and down no matter what. Had we both articulated our needs adequately and tried to figure out our partners' needs at the same time, we could have saved ourselves quite some pain and suffering, by camping one extra night close to the village of Anzob.
Anyway, after descending to 2300 metres, I quickly feel a lot better. When the sun sets we learn that the wind gets very strong around here. Our tent gets pushed flat to the ground a few times, and so Mathias has to hold the tent poles up for about an hour, while I hold the camera.
The locals are busy bringing in hay. They drive their donkeys up and down the steep slopes at a staggering pace. Wow! That is perfect! May I try? How much is it? We avoided the Tunnel of Death, but as it turns out, it is just the longest of a series of about 20 tunnels. Most of them are so short that they are no problem at all, with one exception. This is horrible. We avoided the Tunnel of Death, I nearly died on the Anzob pass, and, of course, there are more tunnels. The air is horrible inside! I thought we had some face masks, but I don't know where they are… This was horrible.
My eyes are full of dust. They are hurting. Terrible. I am happy that we took the Anzob pass.
This was a nightmare. And this was maybe just 1km. The air is terrible, a lot of traffic, a lot of dust, the road is not perfectly paved. Pretty scary! I don’t want to do this again. Number 5! OK, we are almost done with the tunnels! Unbelievable! Finally we are closing in on the capital of Tajikistan and western tip of the Pamir Highway. Like for so many cyclists from around the world this has been one of our longing places for quite some time now.
Eventually we reach our accommodation for the coming days, the Green House Hostel Dushanbe. It is the number one stay for all sorts of adventurers taking on the legendary Pamir Highway, which is exactly what we’ll do next, so please join us again when we cycle the first leg of the M41, the classic northern route. Green House Hostel! Woohoo! Thank you so much for taking part in our journey and watching our video till the end.
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2024-12-05 07:31
