And I only spent 16 hours there. On recommendation from the Quebecois cyclists we met earlier in the day, we stayed at the newly (4.2013) opened Pamir Hotel, in a nice yurt in front next to the main road. Generally I wouldn't stay next to a main road in a yurt, but near Murghab M41 has maybe 10 cars a day. So we gave up our passports after some negotiating, and had a nice place to sleep with warm showers for 20 TJS or 4$. Few people speak English in Murghab, and even fewer know what time the ATM closes. But we were able to change at a favorable rate at the hotel, and after 20 minutes struggle with knife, then safety pin, and finally needle, I had my megacom sim out of the iPhone and a TCell SIM card inside (finally mastered my SIM card cutting so this one went straight in).
We then got a map of Murghab and took a quick tour around town. Not expecting to find much, it was a relief to find a cafe in the city center serving lagman and Russian beer. The bazaar in Murghab is the center of the dust bowl, with a few dozen shipping containers providing shelter from the wind for the Pamir legal association, hundreds of cheap Chinese imports and a few fruits and veggies. There isn't much else other than META, a store or two selling stale candy, and a bank (one with ATM inside). Managed to send out an email or two before the power went way down, but productivity went way down around 8 pm when the lights dimmed to half dead Christmas lights. Luckily the shower water tank remained hot for a bit. Exchanged travel info with some French tourists, then called it a night, expecting to get up and have a taxi waiting to Murghab for 120 TJS.
What the hotel owner failed to tell me is that the taxi could wait an entire day for passengers. So I headed to the bazaar and asked every driver (a whopping 4 SUVs and 1 minibus) where they were going and found that the minibus had other passengers and would take my bike and I for 160 TJS. But when they saw my bike, and that the wheels took up their minuscule trunk, they tried to charge me twice what we agreed upon. I sent them away angry. These guys need money and I don't mind paying the going rate, but some taxi drivers are stubborn and will only take the stupidest of tourists.
After another 2 hours of waiting, I was ready to hire a private jeep again, this time for only $80 US, because I had to be in Khorog by 7am on the 14th. But as I was negotiating with the driver I found, a young man swing by in his fathers Pajero, and gladly took the 150 TJS I was offering for a ride. 30 minutes later we were on the road to Khorog with an entire Dushanbe-bound family. Despite being jammed next to two larger Tajik women, the ride was fine. Bike survived the ride on top, stomach survived several servings of yak butter, watermelon and chai that were offered at the 4 houses we stopped at. Even tried to go to some hot springs near Jalandy but the big pools were closed and really didn't appear to have been maintained since Soviet party retreat days so I wasn't too bummed. The driver was obviously a local taxi driver and not used to tourists, so it took a bit of iPhone navigation to get to Khorogs most popular digs at the Pamir Lodge. 4$ a night for a bed on the porch and some sort of banya. Had a late night chatting with some Israelis and two Norwegians, and went to bed promptly when I learned I was due at the university at 7am.
Some pictures. 1. The suburbs of Murghab. A hut or two. 2. The town of Murghab during a consistent cold wind. 3. Megaphon mobile cell tower. There's no way they make money on these, but locals certainly get good use out of their cheap Nokia phones. 4. LED lights powered by solar (allows TV as well) are the only source of light in Alichor 5. My ride with bike and haul bag on top
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