Negotiating my way into Tajikistan

Good bye Sary Tash!

I head to the Kyrgyrz border and enter the no man’s land between Kyrgyrsztan and Tajikistan.

A beautiful and quiet place, inhabited by hundreds of marmottes.

Upon reaching the Tajik border patrol, a few noticeable differences are observed with the Kyrgyz border patrol:

1. Unlike Kyrgyzstan, you need a visa, which costs 70$.

2. There is a “disinfection” process whereby a man sprays yellow fluid only on the wheels of the car. This costs 900 soms. (Later learnt that you could ask not to have this service)

3. There is also a 1200 som fee to pass customs.

4. It was mentioned that I was lucky to have a Kyrgyz car as otherwise a 120$ fee would apply.

In conclusion, Tajikistan has figured out how to solve any country’s immigration problem.

(Waiting in the cold with 2 motorcyclists from Switzerland and Holland)

(For some reason there were animal skulls on top of the customs office)

Crossing the Tajik border is time-consuming and I quickly drove off to Murghab via the Pamir Highway (M41, same road that I took from Osh).

The road starts off close to the border with China (on the left).

Above is when I crossed the Akbaital pass, 4655m altitude.

The road is very arid, with little vegetation, and although it’s well-known, I concluded that Kyrgyzstan was more interesting.

Arriving at Murghab, I passed a rather run down Gazprom petrol station

Murghab is a large town but desperately poor. I had a moment of worry when it appeared that there might not be any diesel supply in town and I might be stuck here forever.