TravellingtheSilkRoadreallyislikesteppinginto
thepast.I metfamilieslivinga semi-nomadic
existenceinthemiddleofnowhere.Thetownsand
villagesweresmall,withnobuildingshigherthan
onestorey.Everythingcentredonthevillagemarkets
whichwerejustasyouwouldimagine:peopleselling
rugs,camelswanderingby,andmensittingsmoking
andplayingchess.CyclingtheSilkRoadthewayI did
- sleepingina tent,washinginrivers,cookingover
! +. 0#1 !-+.#2#7'++#01#17-3', 2&# * ,"1! .#
andencouragesyoutoconnectwiththelocals.
I neverthoughtofmyselfasa cyclist,butwhen
friendsintroducedmetocycletouringona tripto
Albania,I realisedhowmuchautonomyit givesyou.
Fora yearandsevenmonths,I bikedfromIndiato
Germany.I sharedmostofthejourneywithNicole
Heker,a cyclistI metina hostelinChina.Yougetto
knowsomeonequicklyontheroad.Thissectionof
thetrip– Mongolia,KyrgyzstanandTajikistan–
wasbyfarthewildest.Insomeplaceswe’dgodays
withoutseeinga car.Butit’sa popularroutewith
cycletourers,particularlythePamirHighway,
a stretchatanaltitudeabove4,000metresthat
windsthroughsnow-cappedmountains.It’sonly
possibletobikesomethreemonthsoftheyear.
I’dseepeoplecyclinginfrontofmefordaysbut
neveractuallymeetthemifI wasgoingatthesame
speed.Ifwepassedcyclistscomingintheother
direction,we’daskthemaboutwhatlayahead.
The‘road’inthesecountriestakesmanyforms:
dustpaths,gravelyou’dsinkinto,sandsothickyou’d
getoffyourbikeandpush,and,sometimes,just
brokenpiecesofasphaltpepperingthelandscape.
InKyrgyzstanthemainroadswereprettygood,
butweavoidedthembecausethereweretoomany
oldSovietcarsandmonstroustrucks,ladenwith
agriculturalproduce,pumpingoutfumes,and
barelyswervingtoavoidyou.
Howfarwetravelledeachdaydependedonthe
roadconditions,theweatherandgradient.Ona
goodstretchI couldcover 50 milesineighthours,
butsometimesI barelymadeit aroundthecorner.
ThePamirHighwayhasanamazingdownhill
stretchthatlasts 124 miles.Butasthetripwenton,
I cravedgoinguphillasyouseesomuchmore.
Downhill,you’realmostasfastasa car.CYCLING THE SILK ROAD
The Pamir Highway in south-central
Tajikistan, with Afghanistan across
the river on the le . Previous pages:
Nicole Heker cycles the Pamir
Highway in eastern Tajikistan
Murghab, capital of the
Murghob region of Tajikistan.
Right: Karakul village,
on Karakul Lake, Tajikistan