4017m summit on #super8 - Burned out from our 400km hike across the alps but not completely broken @allesnurtheorie and me joined up with @cpt.olf in Switzerland for one last mountain adventure before the winter season. Filmed this with weak knees, a sore stomach and two rolls of @kodak 50D #Super8film
Slowing down with the Kyrgyz of Afghanistan
After more than two weeks of bikepacking through central asias summer heat, battling repeated food poisoning, and hauling our bikes up onto the plateau, we finally reached the Kyrgyz summer settlement of Bechkonok, where @themountainjesus and I reunited with the family we had met the year before.
At 4,300 meters, this is life on the absolute edge of the habitable world.
Here, we could finally slow down. We dived into their world and daily routines, shaped by the extreme nature surrounding them.
We watched them herd their livestock, were invited into their personal yurts, passed down through generations, and shared stories through gestures and hand signs. By scrolling through our phone galleries, we were also able to share parts of our own world. While doing so, we drank endless cups of milk tea and ate yak yogurt and freshly baked flatbread.
Our bikes were met with great curiosity. After they took turns riding them, they invited me to join them on horseback. These were the moments we had come for.
#bikepacking #afghanistan #kyrgyz #pamir
We had finally reached the Big Pamir, a vast, high-altitude plateau sitting above 4,000 meters. The steep canyon behind us gave way to a more open and roadless terrain. Locals also call this region, together with the neighboring Small Pamir, “the Roof of the World.”
But soon we discovered a new obstacle.
Despite the elevation, the days were unusually hot. The sun blazed down and the heat caused snowmelt to surge. The rivers swelled so much that some crossings became sketchy and unpredictable.
At one point, we couldn’t pass a river at all in the afternoon. We had to set up camp on the bank and set the alarm for 4 a.m., hoping the freezing night temperatures would lower the water level enough to cross safely at dawn.
Waking up in the cold after a night of with slight altitude sickness, just to walk through an ice-cold river that instantly numbed your legs wasn’t the greatest experience but it worked.
We were now searching for the Kyrgyz family @themountainjesus and I had briefly met the year before, during our ride through the Tajik side of the Great Pamir. By asking other shepherds we met along the way, we eventually found them. They had moved to their summer pasture, tucked away in a remote side valley, far from everything.
#bikepacking #afghanistan #cyclingadventures
Ascending the Pamir
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We left the Wakhan Corridor behind and began the long ascent into the Big Pamir. The rather flat Wakhan valley gave way to a canyon-like landscape, carved deep between steep cliffs and the border river that still separated us from Tajikistan. The riding mostly became pushing from now on. The terrain was loose, and the heat hadn’t fully let go yet. To make things worse, @national.teographic was hit hard by food poisoning, in his own words, the worst night of his life.
As this was the beginning of venturing into the wilderness, our bikes were fully loaded, heavy with food and gear. It was a constant up and down, slowly gaining elevation towards 4,000 meters.
Somewhere along this stretch, we’ve made contact with one of the afghan Kyrgyz, a trader on a horseback carrying supplies up from the lower valleys. We couldn’t communicate much, but his surprise at seeing cyclists out here said enough.
After more than three days, the steep canyon opened up. And there it was, the Big Pamir plateau.
#afghanistan #bikepacking
Ascending the Pamir
-
We left the Wakhan Corridor behind and began the long ascent into the Big Pamir. The rather flat Wakhan valley gave way to a canyon-like landscape, carved deep between steep cliffs and the border river that still separated us from Tajikistan. The riding mostly became pushing from now on. The terrain was loose, and the heat hadn’t fully let go yet. To make things worse, @national.teographic was hit hard by food poisoning, in his own words, the worst night of his life.
As this was the beginning of venturing into the wilderness, our bikes were fully loaded, heavy with food and gear. It was a constant up and down, slowly gaining elevation towards 4,000 meters.
Somewhere along this stretch, we’ve made contact with one of the afghan Kyrgyz, a trader on a horseback carrying supplies up from the lower valleys. We couldn’t communicate much, but his surprise at seeing cyclists out here said enough.
After more than three days, the steep canyon opened up. And there it was, the Big Pamir plateau.
#afghanistan #gravelbike #bikepacking
Into the afghan Wakhan Corridor
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We arrived in the Afghan Wakhan Corridor. From Ishkashim, we began riding between the mighty Pamir and Hindukush mountain ranges, following the valley east toward the high-altitude plateau of the Big Pamir.
The temperatures had finally dropped to something bearable, with the altitude now around 3,000 meters. A steady tailwind pushed us nicely through the corridor, tracing the border river with Tajikistan, where I had cycled just a year before.
This region felt different immediately. Quieter, slower and a overall more relaxed atmosphere than inland Afghanistan.
As we moved further in, the scenery changed constantly, from green fields to dry, wide-open desert valleys. And towering above it all, we could see the snowcapped peaks of Pakistans Karakoram ranges, some rising over 7,000 meters.
Peace was only interrupted by the occasional T-checkpoint. Having seen the Wakhan before the government change, their presence felt like a foreign body. Locals spoke carefully, never too openly, but it was clear: A place once untouched by war now carries its shadow.
#bikepacking #gravelbike #afghanistan
We arrived in the Afghan Wakhan Corridor. From Ishkashim, we began riding between the mighty Pamir and Hindukush mountain ranges, following the valley east toward the high-altitude plateau of the Big Pamir.
The temperatures had finally dropped to something bearable, with the altitude now around 3,000 meters. A steady tailwind pushed us nicely through the corridor, tracing the border river with Tajikistan, where I had cycled just a year before.
This region felt different immediately. Quieter, slower and a overall more relaxed atmosphere than inland Afghanistan.
As we moved further in, the scenery changed constantly, from green fields to dry, wide-open desert valleys. And towering above it all, we could see the snowcapped peaks of Pakistans Karakoram ranges, some rising over 7,000 meters.
Peace was only interrupted by the occasional T-checkpoint. Having seen the Wakhan before the government change, their presence felt like a foreign body. Locals spoke carefully, never too openly, but it was clear: A place once untouched by war now carries its shadow.
#bikepacking #afghanistan #travel
Cycling through northern Afghanistan, from Shir Khan Bandar via Kunduz towards Fayzabad, with the remote afghan Pamir mountains slowly rising in the distance.
W/ @themountainjesus@national.teographic@cpt_olf
#bikepacking #afghanistan
Bikepacking Afghanistan
From Kunduz, we continued deeper into Afghanistan, heading toward Fayzabad and the distant Pamir mountains. The green fields around Kunduz slowly faded into a dry, mountainous landscape. The heat stayed brutal, well over 40°C, but unlike in Tajikistan, cycling in shorts wasn’t an option here. We had to wear long pants over our bibs the entire time.
We couldn’t wait to reach the high mountains, as temperatures would drop the higher we’d climb.
But the way there was slow and intense.
Every few kilometers, we were stopped at Taliban checkpoints. Passports out, permits checked, the same set of questions again and again: Where are you from? Where are you going? Between checkpoints, the roads were full of honking cars, waving hands, phones filming. People would pull over, jump out, take selfies with us, ask questions.
A lot of it was warm and curious, but it was relentless. Something random and unexpected seemed to happen every few minutes.
By the end of each day, my social battery was mostly empty. Fortunately, the remote Wakhan was getting closer every day.
Photos are a mix of iPhone snaps, 35mm shots from my Yashica T5, and medium format photos taken with my Mamiya 7.
@cinelli_official@brooksengland #bikepacking #gravelbike #afghanistan
Entering Afghanistan
In 2019, together with @themountainjesus , I visited the Afghan Wakhan and crossed the Small Pamir, a high-altitude plateau sitting above 4,000 meters, by foot. Last year, we cycled the Tajik side of the Wakhan and Big Pamir, always looking across the river, wondering if it would be possible to reach the Afghan side by bicycle.
This time we teamed up with @national.teographic and @cpt_olf and decided to try. The mission: Cycle from Dushanbe and cross into Afghanistan, ride through the Afghan Wakhan up to the Big Pamir, carry the bikes across a 4,900m mountain pass into the Small Pamir, and eventually exit again through the Wakhan.
That was the theory. Reality would be a little bit different. But first things first.
We started with scorching 40+°C days in Dushanbe, riding toward the border at Shir Khan Bandar. As we crossed, the scenery shifted instantly, the green fields of Tajikistan gave way to a dry, vast desert landscape.
After being stuck at the border for nearly two days and battling food poisoning from one of my first meals in Afghanistan, we crossed the desert stretch between the border and Kunduz in the evening, when the heat had finally eased a bit.
We reached Kunduz by nightfall, a city that felt chaotic, dusty, and slightly sketchy. Getting our permits turned into an odyssey involving a tuktuk, endless waiting, and a „helpful“ guy who mostly added to the stress.
But the real adventure had finally begun.
Supported by:
@cinelli_official@brooksengland@fulcrum_wheels@vittoriatires
#bikepacking #afghanistan #gravelbike
