19th of September:
We are in the Pamir Valley and approaching the Kyrgyz check point, which is located in a great landscape. There are no problems at the Kyrgyz side. There are still some kilometres to the Tajik check point. We are driving in a wide valley where in front of us a wall of ice builds up. I see my first Jacks which look like a mix of goat and cow. They are the only animals domesticated in this height by humans, same as in Nepal. We go up to our first pass with more than 4000 m, the Kyzyl Art pass with 4280 m. We are drinking a lot to avoid altitude sickness, but still we can feel the height in our head. Also the car “feels” the height; it seems he got like a cough, less power and black clouds behind us. Just some meters after the pass we are welcomed to Tajikistan from a soldier. The usual procedure starts. Passport check, custom .... The custom declaration is made inside a dark container on the bed of the custom officer. After custom we go to the next container and some people custom, police, private people .... no idea fill out some documents. They say we need to have them when driving in Tajikistan and we should never pay again somewhere else. Again different money. This time Someni. Some 80+50 Someni to pay and we go on to the Karakul lake. One more pass with 4000 plus and we are at the lake at around 4000 m. Clear Sky, the lake is surrounded by high mountains and the grass at its shores is covered with the salt of the lake. If I said that we experienced a total silence in Kazakhstan in the mountains, then I was wrong. Here at the Karakul there was really no sound. Even the sound due to a soft wind; Noooooooothing ..... the head feels like numb, actually all the body and just the gravitation let me feel not to be on the moon. There is no sign of life around; just us and surreal impressing scenery.
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