May 18, 2014
Feeling very tired, we left the lodge at 8: 30.
With no energy in our legs, we kept riding on a very steep road. Fausto had a
lot of problems with his panniers. At one point, his rear pannier fell off the
bike! So strange! We were not having a good morning at all.
We were registered by the first checkpoint at
the beginning of Pamir Highway. Then we went to a small grocery shop and the
only edible thing we could find was a loaf of bread and a Fanta (soft drink).
There were no restaurants or cafes anywhere. The bread and Fanta tasted OK (I
remembered that Coca Cola and bread was the only thing many poor construction
workers in Tehran could afford to have on their lunch break). Feeling hungry,
we stopped at another shop to get some biscuits and yoghurt. The guy then
brought us some bread from home for free. From then, the good Karma
started--people on the way being Tajik again and offering us tea by showing
their mouths and their houses.
It was about two o'clock when an old lady
gestured "tea" to me. I asked her if she had some vegetables to spare
for our dinner. She had been talking to her friend when I asked her. She said
goodbye to her friend and went to her house to bring me some veggies. Fausto
and I were waiting outside her house when two young girls came out to invite us
in. We first didn't want to, but then we decided to experience a Tajik house.
They took us inside the building, into the
living room. Their mother and the girls waited at us with such hospitality I
had never seen before; they brought us anything they had: Tea, food, butter,
cookies, etc! I was speechless. I was thinking about my neighbour who would sue
me if I stepped on his grass. What has modernity done to us? The concept of
"my property" in Canada or in any modern society is destroying our
humanity.
For about an hour, we were waited at with tea
and food. And who were we? Total strangers! Some guys on their bikes who would
never be seen again.
We said goodbye to the family with a plastic bag
full of carrots and onions. We kept riding in beautiful mountains on a
relatively good road, gaining altitude little by little. At the end, at 5:30,
we were at 3000 meters above the sea level, 1000 meters more than Khorough.
We are now camping in a beautiful spot
surrounded by snow-covered mountains. We had dinner: boiled chopped carrots,
onions, and potatoes.
My Achilles' tendon was not hurting as much
today. I guess the pain is very much related to the condition of the road.
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