One day, nine stories: Baerbel and Johan in Tajikistan

One day, nine stories: Baerbel and Johan in Tajikistan

We have read Baerbel’s and Johan’s blog long before we ever met them. All throughout Southeast Asia we biked nearly parallel to each other without meeting even once. It was Melbourne, Australia, where we finally met in person. Baerbel and Johan left in September 2012 for their first big bike travel through Europe, Asia and Oceania. In August 2015 they left home again to cycle through Central Asia and the Middle East.

Their first blog has all their experiences and lots of statistics from their first long travel.

Here it is: Baerbel’s and Johan’s first long bike trip.

For this travel they started a new blog that you can find here:

Baerbel’s and Johan’s awesome cycling adventure.

Enjoy Baerbel’s and Johan’s September 5th 2015 in Tajikistan!

September 5, 2015: Langar – Ptup, Tajikistan, 46km, altitude gain 350m
Late start and never ending bad roads. Whoever told us that the roads would become better after Langar is a liar. Either we go through sand, over huge rocks, washboard or 20cm deep gravel. And yes, there is some asphalt as well, but that is melting, so once again no pleasure to ride on. By the evening our bottoms are sore and hours later we are still shaky from the bumpy roads. But enough ranting. The landscape has changed a lot. We are now at the river Panj – again marking the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan –which  is wide and full of huge sandbanks. The valley is semi-arid and apart from occasional clusters of shrubs or willow, birch and other small trees the landscape remains barren. The villages that can be found every few kilometers seem like small oases to us with all the trees, fields and vegetable gardens we haven’t seen since Osh two weeks ago.  Between two villages we see about 10 to 15 men far away at the river, a rubber boat trying to get to the Tajikistan shore and five big 4WD cars waiting next to the road. My first thought is that they are fishing, but Johan’s got a better idea: the men are smuggling drugs from Afghanistan to Tajikistan. It is estimated that as much as 50% of Tajikistan’s economic activity in the last decade was linked to Afghanistan’s narcotic trade. We try to get away from there as quickly as the road allows. We find a small homestay where they serve us fried potatoes swimming in fat, stale bread and cucumber salad. Today we meet a group of supported German cyclists, 1 truck and about 20 – 30 cars.

 

One day, nine stories is about empathizing with other travel cyclists: here’s the other eight stories!

Rachel and Patrick from the USA who follow the rather bumpy Congo Nile Trail in Rwanda: One day, nine stories: Rachel and Patrick in Rwanda

Heike from Germany who cycles through Japan and decides half way through to rather have a sick day: One day, nine stories: Heike in Japan

Astrid from Austria who enjoyed a rest day with new friends in Uruguay: One day, nine stories: Astrid in Uruguay

Claudia and Peter from Austria who spent their September 5th in British Columbia, Canada: One day, nine stories: Claudia and Peter in Canada

Gerd from Germany who is on his way around Australia: One day, nine stories: Gerd in Australia

Luzia and Denise from Germany who had an exhausting travel to a Canadian island: One day, nine stories: Luzia and Denise in Canada

Lisi and Torsten from Germany who biked through the harsh Australian sun: One day, nine stories: Lisi and Tosten in Australia

Annika and Roberto from Germany and Mexico who are biking through Canada: One day, nine stories: Annika and Roberto in Canada

Or click the link on the red marker

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