On our second day towards the Pamirs, we passed in the morning through beautiful green hills and descended from our sleeping place around 600 m to a wide plain. At only 500 m above sea level it got quite hot today, definitely more than 30 °C. In the evening we arrived at the foot of the Shuroobad Pass near Kulob.
Getting up at sunrise
Because we slept with farmers the last night, this also meant we will get up when the farmers get up – and this is at 5:00. It was shortly before sunrise, and because we were close to the beautiful Norak Reservoir, we had a beautiful scenery right at sunrise. After a short breakfast, we left the farm at around 7:00 in order to avoid the hottest time of the day.
Scenic ride in the morning
Having spent the night on 1100 m, the first thing in the morning was to descend from the high plateau down to the flatlands through wonderful green hills. It was a 600 m descent, and the first 20 km we did in only 40 minutes. After that, we were cycling through less attractive sceneries, mostly fields and villages.
Long lunch break
Shortly before 12 we started our lunch break which lasted 3 hours. Not because we ate for that long, but we just did not feel like cycling in the heat outside. And besides, we already did 75 km so far, and our goal for the day was 110 km. In the late afternoon we then continued cycling and stopped shorty before Kulob, at the foot of the Shuroobad Pass. From here we will climb almost 2000 m tomorrow and descent to the Afghan border. No worries, we will NOT cross to Afghanistan, but only follow the valley for the next 400 km. On the other side of the river will always be Afghanistan and we should be able to see the peaks of the Hindukush.
Detailed Track
Max elevation: 1197 m
Min elevation: 507 m
Total climbing: 2097 m
Total descent: -2693 m
Total time: 10:18:13
