Heading into the Pamir mountains we came across our first dodgy looking bridge. There were big holes in it and the support beams were all bent. Still, if the trucks can come this way....

You see that across the river? That's Afghanistan that is, we followed the road long the border for quite a way. The Afghan side looked all peace and tranquility, but on our side the Tajik military are best avoided if possible.

Enjoying dinner Tajik style at our "guesthouse". A floor to sleep on and a hole in the ground to s**t in isn't my idea of luxury, but it kept us out of harms way for the evening.

The scenery kept on getting better and better...

But beware stepping off the road, this area is land mined, there are warning signs and evidence of clearance attempts all over, also some old russian hardware.

There are major problems on this road for bikes. There are some deep water crossings, one of which I charged through too fast and drew water into the engine. Thankfully it started back up after a few nervous attempts and revving it it blasted the water out of the exhaust. Then there was this fresh landslide, we helped get 2 cars across before digging a path for the bikes and hauling them through. I got very covered in mud, and had to get under a waterfall to clean up!

Eventually we got into the Pamir highway proper, and the scenery got BIG!

Strange place to meet up with Tiffany and Annie on a BMW R80. Thanks for the curry!

Proof, itf it were needed that these mountains are high, soon going over passes that are higher than those we had done in the Alps became an everyday occurance!

You would think that we would be pretty unique getting this far, but alas, when we were heading for the border with Kyrgyzistan we bumped into Tim & co on their BMW GS bikes, complete with support 4X4???