… it’s been really, really, hard.
I’m not sure if I could ever find the right words for Murgab, but spending 6 days there really tested everything from our patience to our sanity. Having flies wake us up, being swept by dust storms, being unable to shower, and not having enough air to breathe (Murgab’s altitude is about 4,600m) had all become part of our lifestyles.
The Pamir Highway was definitely the most remote part of our trip which made it really hard to escape when our car broke down. We spent about a week there trying to repair our motor.
Fixing the motor
We hit our sump really hard at some point, which broke the oil pickup, which caused poor oil distribution in the motor, which caused 4 thrustwashers in 2 cylinders to completely strip. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t worry, we didn’t either (a week ago).
Finding a mechanic in the town was a hassle, but we managed to end up with a really nice fellow. Their “shop” was really a backyard full of mechanical parts and lots of dirt. After a quick search for our parts in the only two “car parts stores” (they were really train containers acting as stores) in town, we were told that the parts needed to be fetched from Khorog. We paid the mechanic’s cousin to make the trip with the promise that he would return the next day. And the next day arrived, and the cousin was nowhere to be found. With a constant promise that “he was on his way back”, we waited for about 5 days. The excuses? These are the ones I remember off the top of my head:
- He couldn’t find a taxi
- The President of Tajikistan was in Khorog and all the shops were closed
- No, really, he’s on his way back
A real nightmare of just sitting around, looking at time pass by.
The first couple of nights we stayed at a guesthouse, but the mechanic kept insisting we stay at his place. First we politely refused saying we had already paid for the night, but as the days passed by, we were kind of forced to take his offer, which was both a blessing and a curse.
The opportunity of spending time at a Pamiri House was incredible. We got to experience firsthand the Kyrgyz culture (although we were in Tajikistan, the family considered themselves Kyrgyz and blamed Stalin for the stupid border he had drawn). We ate authentic dishes from the region, jammed with the Uncle who wanted to throw a concert in Murgab, and were tucked in our beds by Solaika, the mother. We all commented that we hadn’t been tucked in by anyone in many years and that it felt really nice.
We were forced to play endless amounts of Pictionary because we don’t speak Russian, Kyrgyz, Tajik, or Pamiri and they didn’t speak English. I think we can probably be world champions by now. This was very testing and frustrating at times, specially when dealing with timelines for getting the car up and running again.
At some points we felt really welcomed and honored as guests, but our inability to take our frustration elsewhere seemed to annoy Abidin sometimes, which made us feel less welcomed. This constant duality required a lot of delicacy and we finally learned to deal with it.
Finally the cousin came back with some Opel thrustwashers that had to be sawed off in one spot,flattened out in another, and finally dented in one last place. The steel piece that sucks oil in from the sump had been glued together with “China Clay”. Not exactly what you can call Precision Engineering.
When the car was ready, the engine once again had a nice steady sound to it, we were all smiles. After hugging and thanking the entire family, we set off to Osh (400km), where we planned on doing some further work on the car.
After Murgab
After a bit more than 3 hours of driving (160 km), the oil light came on. We stopped as soon as practical and starting disassembling the engine. Soon it got dark and cold, so we put things away, went inside the car, pulled our sleeping bags, and endured a really cold night.
I speak only for myself here, but I really missed Murgab during that cold night. The previous days I had thought we had hit rock bottom, with the lack of hygiene and the overall situation, but for me this was way worse – being out in one of the most remote areas of the world, having seen only one car go by during the entire night, was way more scary than Murgab.
In the morning we resumed our duties and kept repairing the car, finding the same piece the sucks in the oil broken. We patiently stitched it back together, this time using krazy glue, wire, and china clay. Re-assembled the car, and started it. The oil light was off. We cheered with utter happiness and congratulated each other for having done such a daunting task (disassembling, repairing, and putting back together a motor mid Pamir Highway). And then a horrible noise started. We had spent nearly 20 hours fixing the car and our reward was a horrible clinking sound?!
With no desire of disassembling the car again, and even less desire of spending another night in the Pamir Highway, we kept driving. Slowly. Very, very slowly. Rarely going past 2,500 RPM. And the noise grew, and it grew, and we were worried, and then the engine stopped. All warning lights came on. We stepped out of the car, and saw oil, water, and anti-freeze frantically hurrying out of the engine. We’re about 20 km from the border
No cellphone reception. Anywhere.
Splitting Up
A car approached with a tourist and two locals. The tourist was on his way to Osh and spoke enough Russian to help us out. After a lot of very quick decisions, we decided to split up. I would ride with Joseph and the locals to Osh and make sure the driver pulled through with his promise of sending a truck (lorry) to pick up Enrique, Andres, and the Puntito. Their only way of communication with me was the SpotGPS (the device that sends the tweet updates).
3:30PM
I say good bye to the team and the Puntito
4:00PM
Make it to the Tajikistan Border where a guard laughs at my story and screams to my face “Goodbye Pamir, Goodbye Tajikistan, hahaha”
5:00PM
Cellphone has reception, locals arrange for a truck to be sent from Murgab to pick them up.
5:25PM
Cellphone loses reception
7:17PM
Cellphone gains reception and I receive the following SpotGPS message sent at 6:27PM: “Puntito’s last dance. Encore?” I’m still 3 hours away from Osh.
7:30PM
Cellphone loses reception
8:15PM
I notice I have the only copy of the car’s key. I get extremely worried, ask around for opinions, and all I get is: “Well, they couldn’t turn the car on anyways, so whatever.” What if the car’s steering wheel locks (and needs the key to be unlocked? How are they going to mount the car into the truck? What if they want to move the car to the side of the road? I feel like throwing up.
9:18PM
Cellphone gains reception, I see a new SpotGPS sent at 8:45PM: “Puntito hotel once again. Que onda Vogel?” I ask the locals about the truck and they assured me it left Murgab at 7PM, and that it would make it to my friends in 2 hours at the most.
9:32PM
I receive a phone call from Andres. He’s using a satellite phone from someone who was driving past them. I can barely hear him, but confirm he has got my message: “A truck will be there in about 2 hours”
9:35PM
I receive a second call from Andres. He’s asking about the keys to the car…. I tell him they’re in my pocket.
10:50PM
Make it to the Hotel in Osh. Before saying goodbye to the driver, I get his cellphone number, and ask him one last time about the truck. He assures me that my friends will be in Osh early in the morning and that the truck to pick them up left Murgab at 7pm.
The hotel doesn’t have any available rooms. But this is our only meeting point in Osh, so I plead my way into a couch in the living/dining room. After the nice lady agrees, I start looking for a place to fix the Punto.
12:30AM
I haven’t heard from them and convince myself that no news is good news. I finally take a shower, but without any clean clothes, I just hit my couch wrapped in a towel. I set a timer for 30 minutes to monitor the situation.
1:00AM
No messages, all is looking good in my head.
1:30AM
All my fears come true. The rest of the team is still waiting for the truck to arrive. The SpotGPS says it all: “No lorry in sight. Puntito suite tonight”. I wake up, put on my dirty clothes and start putting a plan together.
With no one to help in the hotel, I set foot on the streets of Osh. I ask a Taxi to take me to the University, where I walk around and find empty room after empty room. Finally, at the computer lab I find a couple of students and ask them for help. First they seem disturbed since they have a project due, but they agree to help out when I offer my help in return (never thought I’d be programming while in Kyrgyzstan).
First we talk to the driver who arranged for the truck who now tells us that my friends will be picked up in the morning. I confirm for the tenth time that people in Murgab have a very distinct sense of time than what I’m used to. I try to extract an exact time but all I get is a number for the truck driver, and a time estimate of “early in the morning”.
We then try calling the truck driver and get a message saying that the phone is either turned off or outside of service areas. Great.
Finally, we manage to contact a taxi driver in Sary Tash who agrees to go fetch them (minus the car) if I request so at 5:30AM.
I call the US Embassy in Dushanbe and let them know of the situation. I clearly stated I didn’t expect an emergency to take place, but that I wanted them to be aware of the problem in case there was any.
3:00AM
One of the students gives me his phone number and I head back to the hotel.
3:30AM
Silence.
4:00AM
Silence.
4:30AM
Silence.
5:00AM
Silence.
5:30AM
Silence.
I get up to call the student who gave me his number and stumble upon the security guard at the hotel (no idea where he was before). After a lot of pictionary, he starts making some phone calls and finds a driver who could take me to the border with Tajikistan (I only have a single entry visa to Tajikistan) where I would wait for him to pick up my friends and the Punto and then drive us back to Osh. He says the driver could come to the hotel to discuss prices at about 6:30AM.
I finally call the student, but we can’t reach the taxi driver in Sary Tash.
I try calling the mechanic whose house we stayed in Murgab to ask him to send a taxi for them but I can’t get through. Instead I send a text message hoping he gets it soon.
I meet up with the American tourist who is being taken to the airport by the same local who drove me to Osh and that supposedly arranged the pickup. The local tells me the border was closed and that they couldn’t go through but that I should expect them in the afternoon in Osh for sure.
I call my father and ask for advice. I need someone to bounce ideas with and work out a solution – he’s fantastic at that sort of thing. We agree to send the truck to pick them up but that I would stay in Osh in case Andres and Enrique are already on their way to Osh without a way of communicating it (SpotGPS sometimes failed to send messages and could potentially run out of batteries). The fact that I can’t physically enter Tajikistan again due to the lack of a Visa also complicated matters.
I get a call from the mechanic in Murgab who agrees to send a Taxi. I also get in touch with the truck driver from Osh and with the help of the student, we work out a complicated paying structure (in case we need to cancel the operation halfway through) and sent the truck on its way.
With a taxi driver and two trucks on their way to the middle of nowhere, a place where roads mean absolutely nothing, with fallen bridges, and practically no tarmac, I sit and feel a horrible wave of responsibility fall upon me. I really hope they’re already on a lorry with no means of communication.
9:26AM
“Puntito on lorry, on our way to Osh!” I’m relieved and literally jump with tremendous happiness. I call the second truck driver and cancel the operation. I also call the US Embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan who are also relieved.
9:26am – NOW
Too excited to sleep I set off to find a place to fix the car. The first stop was a bookstore, where I bought a couple of phrasebooks and a Russian-English dictionary. I’ve located a suitable mechanic who has agreed to take a look at the car tonight.
Now I’m just waiting for the team to arrive. I’ve gotten confirmation that they’ve successfully crossed into Kyrgyzstan with the car. Team Basic Cruising finally escaped the Pamir Highway!
What happens now?
I don’t know what the next steps are. We’ve made it really far and endured a horrible setback we didn’t have planned.
Furthermore, I’m not sure how or if the Puntito’s motor is repairable and how long it would take to fix. Add to that our deadlines to be back in the US and we have a very interesting set of conflicting factors to take into consideration. For the time being, I have secured rooms for Andres and Enrique at a nice hotel with hot showers and will have beers waiting for them.