You have probably read by now my likes and dislikes of Osh. None of those continue on to the high Pamirs, though travel to the Pamirs is not easy. The cheaper shared taxis (maybe $50 pp) tend to be undiscoverable and full without stopping by the taxi stand in Osh, and they won't stop overnight or for pictures. Private cars from tour companies run over 300 for the trip. So what did I do when I couldn't find a shared taxi? I started bargaining, then through in another person. The drivers need money, and will eventually come down to just a bit more than the petrol cost and some wear and tear on their Russian Uaz. I got the price down to 170 USD for two people with an overnight in Sary Tash, and then showed up with 3 people and threw in $10 extra.
We started the drive around 7pm after filling up 3 fuel tanks for the 840 km round trip journey (Tajik gas is terrible if it even exists) and loading the jeep with a watermelon, several kilos of cherries, a bag of lemons, 10 kilos of apricots, a bike, 35 kilos of my gear, and two huge trekking packs. The drive out of Osh quickly went from fertile valleys to slightly less fertile pastures dotted with yurts. The German social worker I was sharing the jeep with had never had Kumiz, or fermented horse milk. So we stopped and paid about 40 cents to split a pint.
More beautiful alpine valleys with intermittent rainstorms followed. We arrived Sary Tash after a torrential downpour, several stops to cool the Russian jeep, and some photos. On arrival, we went hunting for a meal and bed. The cheapest spot, Ieda hotel cafe, suggested food on the sign but it didn't exist. Other home stays wanted around US 15$ per person and we were tired, so we paid $3 per person for a nice cold pile of blankets on the floor. I had a great sleep in just boxers, but our driver and the other two passengers had a bit of a miserable sleep due to the 3000 meter altitude and such.
Everyone survived though, and by 9 we were rolling. A quick stop at the store for snickers, water, and wafer cookies then onwards to the border. Three record books for each country took a bit of time, and a 1.5 liter bottle of beer at each stop prevented searches. Kizil Art truly is the middle of nowhere, at 4200 meters, and the Tajik guards stay all winter. Mental state must be changed by booze.
The drive kept getting more and more beautiful: colored river valleys, glaciated peaks, ribbons of water. We saw a few yaks, then a couple Quebecois bike tourists looking beat with really beat Dahons. Lunch at Karakul, the highest navigable lake in the world, was an outstanding introduction to yak steak and high altitude salted bread. This high up the jeep sputtered out every 45 minutes, so we got a photo break and some snacks, arriving in Murghab in late afternoon.
Some pictures. 1. Getting petrol in Osh took 15 mins 2. Leaving Osh 3. View of Sary Tash 4. Herds right before Kyrgyz border post 5. Welcome to Gorno Badakshan with a concrete yurt at kiZil art 6. Creating dust with the Uaz. 7. Repair stop #20
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