日本語要約：体が弱っている。楽しみにしていたバザールには、期待していたヨーグルトなどの食べやすいものは置いていなかった。宿泊が安い。一泊150円。

Even though Warang is only 30km from Langar, I knew I was only going to do that distance right from the start today. If this was anywhere but the Wakhan Valley, I probably could have stayed in Langar, but my craving for some variation in my diet drove me here.

I was motivated by the fact that there was a ‘big’ bazaar here in Warang. That ‘big’ bazaar turned out to be no more than a few shops selling the same stuff as anywhere else along the road so far. No dairy products or fresh fruit. That is, easy to eat food. The food here very hard to stomach. Today for lunch I was fed the staple potato, carrot, and mutton soup, of course with the compulsory 1cm thick layer of vegetable oil on top. Not good when you’re feeling as weak as I am.

The guesthouse I am staying in tonight is just across from the bazaar in Warang, and is one of the cheapest places I have stayed in so far on this trip. Only 5 Tajik Somoni a night (US$1.30). The meals (aforementioned vegetable oil soup) are only US$1.

As per usual, the Tajik people have been wonderfully friendly. As I rolled into Warang, the chain on my bike got caught between the spokes and the gear cluster on the rear wheel. Nothing serious, but enough to require getting very oily hands as you get things sorted.

So here I am wrestling with the chain, when four or five guys wander over, and begin to ‘help’. Basically, everyone had an opinion on how to get the chain out, and at most of the time for the 30 minutes it took to fix the problem, there were at least three pairs of hands tugging and fiddling with the chain at the same time. I was convinced it would be much faster if they just left me to it, but the situation was quite out of my hands…

Distance / 距離： 26.68km
Time / 時間： 2h 28m
Average speed / 平均速度： 10.8km/h
Distance to date / 今日までの積算距離： 3584.6km

日本語要約:夕べ、激しくもどしました。何を食べたんだろう。とにかく食べ物もはいらないし、水も微妙なので、現在の調子は最悪でございます。

I don’t know what I ate, but I spewed harder than I can ever remember last night. In three separate ‘movements’, my body produced a symphony of agony. The first bout emptied my stomach of the big meal of pasta and potatoes that I had cooked in the evening. It was here that I started to drink plenty of water to keep myself hydrated. However, the following two bouts emptied any water that I had taken.

By morning, I was out of water, with most of it on the ground, and very little in my system. Of course unable to stomach breakfast, I had to start pedalling with very tired legs and no energy. My situation worsened the further I pedalled. For 15km there was no water flowing in the streams that had at some stage gouged stream beds into the hillside.

Finally, after resigning to the fact that I would have to plod on without water, I came across a small spring trickling water out of a crack in a rock. Here I filtered a litre, added some sweet drink mix, and skulled the lot. It was no miracle cure, and I still felt weak, needing to push the bike at a snail’s pace up the otherwise hardly noticable short uphills where the road would follow the ridges and gullies of the hillside.

I rolled into Langar just before lunchtime and checked into the first guesthouse I could find. At US$17 a day (including meals), it was rediculously overpriced, but I was in no condition to shop around.

I gobbled down the fried potato and onion dish they served me for lunch and promptly passed out until evening. At 6pm, my temperature was 38.0 degrees celcius. I could only stomach the soup for dinner. After my previous experiences with central Asian pasta, I had to try hard not to throw up at the sight of the potato and pasta salad…

Distance / 距離： 47.27km
Time / 時間： 4h 26m
Average speed / 平均速度： 10.6km/h
Distance to date / 今日までの積算距離： 3557.9km

ほとんど眠れませんでした。夕べの小屋のなかの空気はくさくて、ねずみの音がうるさくて、そして標高4200mにあったので、寝れてもすぐに酸素不足で、からだが空気を求めて起きちゃう。テントの中で寝ればよかったです。

今日の道も昨日と同じように、砂に大きな石でした。かなり走りにくいです。何回も自転車を押さなければなりませんでした。そしてハーグシュ峠から下りたところに軍隊のチェックポイントがありますが、そこに荷物の中身を全部出させられて検査させられました。ちゃんとした職務の検査のようだったので、問題ありませんでした。

ワカン谷はアフガニスタンに面するので、川をわたればアフガニスタンに入るわけです。変な感じです・・・

谷は最初は広かったですけど、現在は狭くなって、道路は200mほど登って、山の上にあります。

Distance / 距離： 40.30km
Time / 時間： 4h 3m
Average speed / 平均速度： 10km/h
Distance to date / 今日までの積算距離： 3510.6km

日本語要約：標高4000m、さようなら。ハーグシュ峠（標高4335m）から下りたら、パミール高原も終わりです。ちょっとさびしいです。

I woke from a good sleep despite the creepy ruins. I think you’d get used to them. As I was eating breakfast, a local from over the hill wandered over cautiously, and we had a chat. I can’t imagine he has seen too many foreigners camped out in this compound.

This compound has a pipe with running water by the way. The local that came over this morning was coming to get water from it. Sasikol lake is a salt lake, as are the smaller ponds around this area. Therefore it appears that this compound may be the only place to get good water in this area.

As for the climb up to Khargush Pass, this has been the hardest day of climbing I have ever had! Sandy, corrugated, rocky, steep roads For the first time I have had to push the bike up some of the steeper sections due to lack of traction.

From the top I felt sad to start biking down the pass. I am essentially coming down off the roof of the world, and I can’t imagine that I’ll be back. Life at 4000m plus is an interesting and challenging experience that I have enjoyed, albiet acompanied by some tough challenges.

Tonight I am sleeping in a deserted nomads hut. They have obviously left to move further down the valley for summer. It is a bit of a treat however - there is plenty of dry dung around, so I have started a fire, and baked some potatoes in the embers, Rather nice…

Distance / 距離： 59.95km
Time / 時間： 4h 44m
Average speed / 平均速度： 12.6km/h
Distance to date / 今日までの積算距離： 3419.5km

やった！湖まで来れました！一日強い向かい風が吹いていましたから、ここまではできないと思っていました。しかしアリチュール村(Alichur)から登ったとっころで湖が見えました。湖のすぐそばにテントを張ることにしていましたが、昔のソ連の遺跡がありますので、ここに野宿をしてます。妙な雰囲気なので、ちょっとだけ怖い・・・

さて、今日はなんと4人の外国人と出逢いました。一人目はアヤさん（女性）でした。もともと日系ハワイ人で、現在はタジキスタンで伝統的なパミール高原音楽を研究しています。2人目はブラジル人の女性で、プロのトラベル・レポーターです（http://www.saojosedoscampos.com.br/diario/mensagens.php)。3，4人目はスイス人の男性の2人。バイクで世界一週しています（http://www.letsgoexplore.com/)。

今のところ、自転車ツーリングの一番難しいところは、自分のペースを測るころです。ようするに、自分はよく走っているのか、遅いのか、もっと早く走っているはずなのか・・・一人で走っているので、ほかの人と比べられないわけです。

Distance / 距離： 56.40km
Time / 時間： 5h 08m
Average speed / 平均速度： 11.1km/h
Distance to date / 今日までの積算距離： 3409.6km

日本語要約：この2日間ゆっくりできましたのでリフレッシュした気分で走りました。夕方から強い風が吹いていますのでテントを張るのが困難でした。

My homestay host for the last two days had given me rice pudding for breakfast. Great cycing breakfast. But today for some reason she made eggs. Three fried eggs dripping in oil. Not the greatest start to the day…

I left Murghab late at 10:30am, and it felt good to be on the road after the two days of rest. Remembering that there was no water for the 60km or so leading up to Murghab, I filled about three litres into my water bag just in case there was none out of Murghab also. Two kids appeared while I was filtering the water, and they helpfully suggested that I simply dip the bag into the water rather than use ‘that silly pump’. Obviously they were not aware that ‘the silly pump’ was getting rid of nasties as it worked…

At present I am camped just past Nayzatash Pass right next to the road. The wind had picked up in the evening (of course a headwind) so putting the tent up required some effort, especially considering that I needed to pitch it cross to the wind.

I am looking forward to the downhill tomorrow!

この2日間、いったい何をしていただろう・・・本当に何もしませんでした。一日目は寝ていました。今日は、明日からの準備をしていました。

準備といっても、バザールへ行って食料を買うだけです。結局次のものを買いました：

- インスタントラーメン　25パケット
- ジャガイモ　7個
- 人参　7本
- 玉ねぎ 5個
- 缶詰魚（250g） 4つ
- 卵　10個
- raisins 500g
- peanuts 500g

5日間分の食料です。ここから、次に食料が買えるところまで、5日間がかかる予定ですから。もともと、ムルガブ村から直接にパミール道でハログ町（Kharugh)まで行く予定でした。しかし、いくつかのほかの旅行者の話によると、もっと南にあるワカン谷(Wakhan Valley)のほうがもっと面白いですから、ワカン谷に行くことにしました。

ワカン谷の中心はパンジ川（Panj River)です。この川はアフガニスタンとタジキスタンの国境にもなっていますので、今度走る道路はアフガニスタンからわずか200mにあるところになります。

ムルガブ村の観光案内所によるとワカン谷の道路の状況は砂利道だけど状況は良いらしいです。

Distance / 距離： 59.91km
Time / 時間： 3h 12m
Average speed / 平均速度： 18.6km/h
Distance to date / 今日までの積算距離： 3353.1km

朝がたずねると頭の痛みがすっきり直れて、ムルガブ町までの下り坂を楽しみにしていました。

寒かったですが！

テントの中は氷点下4度。外は何度だっただろう。ま、標高4100mはそんなもんでしょう。

昨日の痛みも、苦しさも今日一切ありませんでした。回りの景色はパミール高原の初日と同様で、圧倒的にきれいでした。そして止ると、その美しいslience。音がありません。感動です。

しかし完全に問題のない日ではありませんでした。昨日の夜に最後の最後の食べ物を食べきって、今日はムルガブまで食い物なしでしました。昼1時にムルガブに着いたら、おなかが減っていましたとです。

ムルガブではエコツーリズムが盛んです。META（Murghab Eco Tourism Association - ムルガブ エコツーリズム 協会）があって、そこに行けば、町の中のホームステー（民宿みたいなもん）のところを紹介してくれます。僕が紹介されたのはきれいな民宿で、一泊700円低度(US$6)、食事は別（晩ご飯300円、朝食180円）。残念ながら水道も、シャワーもなし。土曜日か日曜日だったら町の銭湯みたいなところがあいているようですが、僕にとって、この6日間の汗はそのまま残るみたい。

夜の食事です。電球が切れていたので、油の光で食べていました。

Distance / 距離： 78.65km
Time / 時間： 5h 49m
Average speed / 平均速度： 13.5km/h
Distance to date / 今日までの積算距離： 3293.2km

日本語要約：高山病で割れそうになったくらい頭が痛くなりました。なぜなら、標高4655mの峠を越えたからです。峠を越えることができたことは嬉しかったが、越えるまでのマイナス思考の考えはつらかったです。「自転車ツーリングにあってないって、おまえ」とか、「ほかの人だったらもっと早く漕げるだろう」とか。

This daily report is being written in Murghab, after the actual day. The reason being that a headache all but disabled my every function towards the end of day 70.

As with the day before, the day began with sore legs. Maybe it was the altitude, perhaps lack of proper rest, could be due to not enough food, or the wrong food? I think it was more due to a lack of a rest day (the day in Osh was too busy with getting food, updating website etc) than anything else.

The road up until a non-existant town called Muzkol was the best I have ridden on, perhaps ever. A thick layer of tar meant that the road was smooth and silky. After this however, the road deteriorated into non-avoidable corrugations that just kept on going and going and going, right up until a small plateau half way up the pass at 4300m. This stretch of road was perhaps the lowest time of the trip so far.

The scenery was blank and cold, and not even one car passed in those whole two hours. The situation was not helped by the fact that I was out of snack food. Nothing to eat to give me energy…

Just let anyone else take over right now, and they’d do such a better job than me. The average speed would be better, their photos would be better, they’d be able to get up this pass without having to stop. I’m not built for this. My condition right now proves it. I’m not a cyclist. What the hang am I doing here?!

These negative thoughts continued with me all the way up to that small plateau. It was at this plateau however that the wind died all of a sudden. I was huffing and puffing, and my head was achy, but all of a sudden I was stoked. I was doing this. I was making it.

I saw this old door on the side of the road, and it reminded me of a true story:

There was an Englishman, Irishman, and Scotsman in the middle of the desert. Their jeep had broken down, and they realised that in order to survive in the heat, they had to start walking to the next oasis. In order to be able to walk fast, they decided that each one of them could take only one item from the jeep. The Englishman chose first. A bottle of water. “Why did you choose that?” the other two asked. “If I get thirsty I can drink the water.” the Englishman replied.

Next was the Irishman. He chose an umbrella. “Why did you choose that?” asked the other two. “Well, if I get hot, I can put the umbrella up for some shade.” he replied.

Lastly the Scotsman grabbed the jeep door and ripped it off its hinges and started carrying it. “Why did you choose that?” the other two cried. “Well, if I get hot, I can wind down the window.” he replied.

Looks like that Scotsman carried the door for a long way before giving up.

And did you ever hear the one about a New Zealander who rode his recumbent bicycle up a 4655m pass in Tajikistan and got a really, really sore headache?

Yeah, I laughed too.