GlobalTraces

The Pamir Highway run right alongside Afghanistan for several hundred kilometres. This is one of the wider sections and it’s still this close. Close enough to see people in the other side. To see the wave. To see them smile. To know they’re people too. To remember that people are nice. But people in power are pricks. Travel. It broadens your horizons. Literally and metaphorically. There is no us and them. We are one people. #overlanding #travel #onepeople #borderless

We’re in Tajikistan. That guy on the motorbike the other side of the river…. Is in Afghanistan! #overlanding #borderzone #pamirhighway https://blossom.primal.net/efc1e0126d11056518ec818ebb93beb01872c6325f01d9c488502d96076d5cc9.mov

We’re still on the Pamir Highway (it is 1200km long after all!) and while we didn’t drive yesterday (admin and work day for us as I spent all day building a new website for print sales of my photography… more on that when it launches… and doing some admin around the truck - like cleaning the solar panels!) But the day before was stunning. And hard. We spent all day driving right alongside the Afghanistan border. I don’t think we got more than 500m away from it at any point along about 190km. We even waved to Afghanistanis and they waved back across the river! There will be pictures, but nothing from the drone… for obvious reasons!! Also, we’re starting to get a bit more involved in this world and have updated our lightning address to something more meaningful: globaltraces@rizful.com (for anyone that feels the urge to zap!) Using nostr:nprofile1qqsf07zg4hxyccnkdp07fppxmetpfzru3fg6mgzx3nk8r7af8qnjjygpr3mhxue69uhkummnw3ezucnfw33k76twv4ezuum0vd5kzmqpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfdu9zut35 👊 #photography #pamirhighway #overlandlife

So the Pamir Highway may be brutal in places, but it’s also beautiful. Especially as you get a bit lower and the trees start to appear. We drove along imagining we could be in Switzerland (with much worse roads!) This is in the last 100km towards Khorough, where we are now, that makes about the halfway point of the Pamir. Just 650km to go from Khorough to Dushanbe. #photography #overlanding #pamirhighway #drone

Epic scenery ✅ High altitude ✅ Glorious mountains ✅ Deep blue skies ✅ The Pamir Highway ticks all the boxes. And then shakes the 💩 out of them with the bumps, potholes, tramtracks…and frankly non-existent road surface. #photography #overlanding #pamirhighway #tajikistan https://blossom.primal.net/d6c301b813a07e83c685d07a1aa85888683b15cc8974d336e75944412fb07419.mov

Postcards from Tajikistan Something you might not realise about the Pamir Highway environment is that it is still highly active with tectonic activity. The Pamir mountains were formed by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates and that continuing collision creates geothermal heat deep within the earth. Combined with groundwater circulation, the area is dotted with hot springs - perfect for soothing bones and brains after a long day of travel through the harsh and unforgiving landscape. #photography #travelfacts #overlanding #pamirhighway #tajikistan

Today was as beautiful as it was brutal. The first 45km took 3hrs. I’d love to say it got faster, but after 7hrs of driving we’d completed 115km. But we started the day, as we did the day before, at Lake Bulunkul. One of the coldest inhabited spots of the former Soviet Union, with -63C having been recorded there in the summer. It’s a stunning location though, and the mountains provide a natural wind block so it’s breathless in the morning and the water is like a mirror. #overlanding #photography #pamirhighway #tajikistan

GM Nostr 🌅 Live from the Pamir Highway… this is one section we’re on right now. And no, this is not an off road track but the actual “highway”. So far today we’ve managed to cover a grand total of 45km. In 3hrs. 🤯 Also, this is why you do the Pamir in a solid off road vehicle, not a motorhome or converted van. #overlanding #overlandlife #pamirhighway #tajikistan https://blossom.primal.net/9339688cdafcd7dbc91d567edfef844624b73e406da7916c9631ecd256bd9048.mov

Postcards from Tajikistan #2 We’ve been a bit lax on the Tajikistan postcards so far. Not because the scenery is bad - far from it - but in comparison to Kyrgyzstan it just hasn’t quite grabbed us in the same way. Sure the (93% of the country) mountains are incredible and the peaks are spectacular, but perhaps there’s just so much of it, that it’s almost overwhelming. #photography #overlandlife #tajikistan #pamirhighway

How big are the potholes on the Pamir Highway? Yes. To be clear, this is the highway. With trucks going back and forth. It is not an off road track. 🤯 Also, I’m 6’4”, if that helps give you a scale 🤣 #overlanding #pamirhighway #tajikistan

Just a fun little edit of some delightful tracks recently. #overlanding #expeditiontruck #tajikistan https://blossom.primal.net/48e3443ded82b202dd169d243182397866f1931e2ce5c15d55469aff1e93f33b.mov

We’re often asked how we cope with travelling with a dog and whether he’s happy. If he has space to run (chasing thrown stones), smells to sniff and the sofa to cuddle on, he’s happy. And if he has a river or lake to run through or swim in, then even more so! #photography #dogstr #overlandlife

Friends in the desert! One of the great joys of travelling is meeting other travellers. Each with their own stories and reasons for travelling. It took us a while to realise, but in the early days we kept meeting people…and getting on really well with them. Eventually we realised that people that travel all have similar mind sets, drives and desires, so it stands to reason we’d get on well. And continued meetings reaffirms this. The hardest part of meeting people? Saying goodbye to people you’ve only known briefly but have a connection with, knowing you may not see them again. #photography #overlanding #friendsontheroad

On the move today - the three vehicles were all heading off today in different directions, but we decided to convoy out through the high altitude desert together before heading our separate ways. Australian. Toyota Troopy in the lead, Canadian Toyota Tundra in the middle and us with Bebe following on behind. Made for quite a fun sight as we travelled down the track. #photography #aerial #overlanding #rigchoice

Last nights lunar eclipse blood moon, from 4300m up in Tajikistan. Just about 10mins before totality. The biggest downside? It was about -4degC so as soon as it hit totality, we all went to bed! #photography #eclipse #overlanding

Fresh baked bread at 4300m. With the birthday to celebrate yesterday for one of our travelling companions, I cracked out my (non-existent) baking skills and rustled up this Garlic and Rosemary bread for lunch. Certainly made for a unique setting for fresh bread. And yes, we then settled down for some lunar watching with the blood moon and eclipse giving us a great show… just a shame it was about -2 outside by the time it got to totality! #baking #overlandlife

It doesn’t happen very often, but today we’d decided to stay put with the friends we’ve been in convoy with for the last week or so. Then by chance we dropped a message to another couple who we knew were in Tajikistan and it turns out they were less than 100km away. So they came over to meet us! They’re Canadian and this is the 6th country we’ve met them in since early last year - Morocco, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Georgia and now Tajikistan. Quite amazing since we’ve taken totally different routes! Finally a Belgian guy on a bike came by and although he thought about continuing on, the spectre of fresh bread baking and a BBQ this evening proved too much of a draw. Also, he’s a baker by trade and since there’s a birthday in the group today, he’s baked a cake! So four overland vehicles at 4300m camped up on a high altitude plateau surrounded by mountains. Perfect. This is overlanding. The people you meet and stories you hear. #overlandlife #photography #tajikistan

Tajikistan 🤯 Yesterday we had a bit of a moment. A slide slope nearly collected us as we slipped off the track, buried in the left hand side and got very close to rolling. Again. More on that later. But today was much better! Glorious scenery, great light and now parked up at a high altitude dried lake plateau at 4300m surrounded by towering peaks. Travel fact: Tajikistan is a mountainous, landlocked country of around 10million people. The average height of the country is 3186m with mountains covering a little over 90% of the land. #photography #overlanding #tajikistan