TO BE PAMIRTED......OR NOT PAMIRTED

Johnson County Sheriff painted on the side
just shot a coat of primer then looked inside
Well he and my uncle pulled the engine down
Still remember that rumblin sound
Steve Earle

Precious has a lie down.
On the last day in Uzbekistan 'Precious' the DR developed a serious clutch rattle. There were zero options except for carrying on, zero. As it was still operating OK we carried on through one of the toughest days we have had. When we hit Dushanbe we were pretty done in so picked an upmarket hotel 'The Mercury', hoping for a car park where we could work on the bike. I disassembled the clutch side and found the primary gear nut hanging loose, easy to fix but on taking the clutch off found it had eaten into the clutch housing and there was serious alloy swarf throughout the engine.....bummer. There were no choices but to repair and try and flush out what I could. I needed a thirty mil socket, a twenty seven mil socket and a torque wrench.....hmmm. I asked reception at the hotel about repair places and the young taxi driver agreed to take us to a market where we could get anything......he was right! The place was unreal, acres of stalls selling everything tools and automotive, forty five minutes later I had two sockets, a dodgey torque wrench, four litres of oil for two flushes and some gasket sealer all for under fifty bucks. I spent the rest of the day and into the night getting it all back together in the heat and was totally knackered. Unfortunately both flushes threw out large quantities of swarf with more inside but with no more flushing oil that was it......just pray to the god of oil filters and crossed fingers I guess ....not a happy outcome with such a long way to go......  

We stayed at the Mercury which is absolutely spotless and reasonably priced. The staff were bemused by crazy Australians performing heart surgery on the DR in their carport and getting oil everywhere.

Rattles removed, no job too small! Side affects maybe increased !@#$% while working. 

The nut on the little gear in front of the clutch was loose causing the gear to come in contact with the clutch housing....

The primary gear has worn into the clutch housing creating lots of alloy particles.....
just wonderful.....

The Pamirs... if we may be permitted!
Monday morning we head down to the OVIR (office of visa and registration) office about four 'k' from the hotel to try and obtain GBAO (Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast) permits. These allow people to move about the Pamir region through police road blocks as there is a bit of civil unrest now and again. Unfortunately about a month ago there was an incident and the issuing of permits to tourists since is hit and miss. We wait our turn only to be told "no no road is closed no permits" with no explanations or advice which is a major kick in the guts. I know for a fact that the road is open and some people get permits and some don't.  I hit the net and phone back at the hotel and don't have any success but find a lead to a nearby travel agency who might be able to help. Hmmm. It seems  only way to work and get stuff done in his neck of the woods is to get lucky, know someone, or pay someone. Well, our luck's not running well (we've both got crook stomachs) and I certainly don't know anyone so off we go to the travel agency. They take our passports, take a fee, smilingly tell us no guarantees and maybe come back in three or four days. The next morning the phone rings, it's the agent and my heart jumps (my stomach has been jumping for days!), "sorry we can not process your application as the OVIR office will not look at any applications at the moment. Please come and pick up your passports and money". !@#$% wonderful and here's the fun bit, we can only enter Kyrgyzstan from here and that is the main route.....we're stuck.   Hmmm more time at the Mercury while we beat this.

The tax man's taken all my dough
And left me in my stately home
Lazin on a sunny afternoon
The Kinks

If you visit Dushanbe the first fact the locals will proudly tell you is they have the worlds biggest flag. Ron stood under it after being told multiple times and uttered the following graphic observance.......
" it's big isn't it......."

With time on our hands we hit the historical Museum with the thirteen metre reclining Buddha. Once more Ron blew me away with.....
"there's lots of old stuff in here!"

Dushanbe is an odd mix of emerging western influence,tempered by being reasonably poor, a bit of old Russian mixed with Tajik culture, and more opel astras than anywhere on the planet . The Tajik people we came in contact with in Dushanbe, although many were poor, were mostly upbeat, friendly, dressed well and carried an air of self respect.

Who needs friends....we all do!
We had met Beth and Shalom on the street coming back from the travel agent on the first day. They were travelling by motorcycle as well, Beth on a BMW eight hundred, Shalom on a BMW GS1150, and had the same agenda as us and were experiencing the same knock backs. We had a cool drink together and exchanged notes in their hotel lobby. The next night after we had all been knocked back by the travel agent, they came around to our hotel for a chat. They had made contact with a local guy who said he could help and arranged for him to come to our hotel as well. After an hour or so a flash black BMW arrives and we we meet Farhkad, a truly great guy with way too much energy. Farkhad owns a HD Vrod and helps out visiting bikers with advice on anything in Dushanbe and is the key for resolving many problems. He brought maps, notes, ideas and unbounded enthusiasm which lifted everybody back into the game. He suggested we try for a permit in Kulob about two hundred k's south of Dushanbe so after spending a day getting the old off road tyres put back on and hearing Beth and Shalom had success, off we went.

 Our co-conspirators and friends, Shalom on the left, Beth in the middle and our local mine of information and enthusiasm Farhkad.

 Dushanbe go to man Farhkad. This man's enthusiasm and knowledge helped us over some bumps. He speaks excellent English  and what he cant get out in English he makes up for in...erm... hand gestures.Thanks mate.

Just call on me, brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem, that you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on
Bill Withers

Kulob to Osh....up on to the roof and back down.
When we reach Kulob it's about forty degrees. I leave Ron with the gear and literally fight (way too much body contact for me!) my way through a scrum of locals getting passports with me yelling 'tourist tourist'.  After getting in, going back out and paying at the local bank, and then lining up in the scrum again in the forty degrees, getting back in again, having an older uniformed lady fill in the forms (who appeared to fancy Ron!) we are in possession of the permits.........and off we go.....into the heat and dust!

Well there it is, Pamirted and done!

The Road to Kulob was pretty good passing by these lakes but hot, really hot.

After getting the permits we followed the road from Kulob to Qual ai Khumb which follows the river and Afghan border as does the M41 after Qual ai Khumb. It changed from total crap to seventy odd K's of racetrack in the middle to total crap again. We had never been so tired and filthy in the forty degree heat and after following trucks in the dust and ploughing through multiple K's of road works.

This is Qual ai khumb where we turned down the M41 to Khorugh. We were seriously spent when we got here and stayed at our first and best homestay.

We met a group of Swiss and German riders at the homestay on a Pamir ride with Peter (who Ron kept calling Max) from MuzToo Tours. They were all on XT600 Yamaha hire bikes. MuzToo are based in Osh and great guys who helped us out later. 

The M41 follows the river all the way to Khorugh with the Afghan border. The road was rough as guts and went through multiple little villages. Scenery like this was almost the same the whole way.

Scores of Chinese trucks use this road. Now this is seriously dangerous don't try this at home kiddies! Several times Ron and I had to stop on the edge of the thirty odd metre river bank  and lean out to clear the trucks. The drivers were good but on a mission...from China! 

At a police checkpoint on the way to Khorugh. These guys were so lazy they didn't even wear their uniforms so we asked to see their badge!

We stayed at the Hotel Lal in Khorugh which was pretty good but before we set off the next day I got seriously sick with food poisoning. The road from Khorugh to Murghab which rises to over four thousand metres was one of the toughest rides I've ever done. I was so dehydrated I had salt trails coming out my nose and around my mouth....seriously crook. 

The M41 through here is pretty bleak and gets cold. Kinda expected some more snow but probably good there wasn't.

The road alternated between good at the start from Khorugh to total crap in the middle to bearable and good near Murghab.

We met up with Beth and Shalom who took this shot....just starting to get cold.

This is the hotel we stayed at in Murghab. The lady and daughter combo running the place were lovely and of course sent up vodka and salt to make me feel better! (Which I promptly threw up!) We stayed here two nights as I was seriously crook and judging by the hiding the only toilet on the floor was getting so were a lot of tourists!  Lots of cyclists and hikers here from Europe....now they are crazy!

These guys were digging a well in the front yard of the hotel. There's a homemade ladder in there and a guy about twenty metres down filling up a bucket with dirt!

 The next leg from Murghab over the border into Kygystan and Sari Tash was one of our favourite rides, with a reasonable road (although don't do it in the wet)  and the best scenery.

This is for Ron's relatives in Aalborg in Denmark. He's wearing the local football scarf while standing at the highest pass in this leg at four thousand six hundred and fifty five metres. So nice to see him in something other than teal! At these altitudes the bikes ran out of breath as did their riders and fingers and toes got tingly.

Look at that.......now that's what you come for!

I think this is after the border. The border posts on both sides were hilarious with the Tajik one being seriously run down with the guy there being more interested in white pointer sharks than paperwork. On the Kyrg side everybody was asleep or at lunch so we had to stop, go inside the building and yell just to get stamped!

These plains are just before Sari Tash and are like beautiful green carpet. As soon as you get into Kyrgyzstan it gets much greener.

Yep Yaks, had to have a picture of these hairy bovines to complete the central asia feel!

This is where we stayed in Sari Tash. It says it's a hotel buut it's really a homestay and I'm not sure where the pictures on the sign came from . Great view of the Himalayas from the the front and worst toilet ever. Ron let us know he got as far as getting his pants down but lost the urge and aborted the mission......we all hung on till Osh! 

This is the meal we had at the Tatina and almost missed the shot as it took so long and we were starving! (Ron's bowl is on the left!) The potatoes they do are great but after you've been crook the meat is always sus. The bread is hard as rock and when we didn't eat it we saw it again at breakfast. Maybe it is their version of Victoria Bitter only Visitors Bread!

We were lucky enough to meet future super model Miss Sari Tash, who struck the appropriate pose.......

The road from Sari Tash to Osh is a ripper and except for donkeys, cows, rug cleaners, kids running out waving and throwing stuff, and drivers into the vodka would make a great sports bike road.

Ya gotta be happy when the government lays hundreds of K's of perfect bitumen for free so you can get those pesky jobs like rug cleaning out the way.  Sometimes trucks even squeeze out the water for you!

This is the hotel we found in Osh. A great place to stay. We went out to dinner the first night and my guts exploded all over again.....so it's water, imodium and yoghurt for a while....and no rough roads......wonderful.

This is Patrik from Muztoo Central Asian Motorcycle Tours. If you want too have a look around the Pamirs or Kyrgyzstan (which is arguably more beautiful) by hire motorcycle, need to work or have work done on your bike in Osh, speak to these people. Ron, Beth and I all changed our oil there and Shalom had a broken bottom shock bolt extracted on his Gs1150.

Know what you really need, but you can't get enough

Too many mouths to feed, brother aint life tough

Call this survival, dont pray for a sign

Reality Check

I'm jammed in the the only toilet on the first floor of  a seedy (by our standards) hotel in Murghab. The door's against my knees as it's made for little people, the Russian toilet paper is like eight hundred grade sand paper, knocks off the rough stuff but doesn't leave a shine (!), there's someone already waiting outside just as desperate, and I've given till it hurts from both ends! The showers are cold, I cant even look at the food, the bike's beat up and I've still ten odd thousand K's to go........... lucky the scenery's nice!