All Around the World with the Most Travelled Indian
By Nitin Gairola
As soon as Richa and I stepped inside Tajikistan, our first experience was the military personnel at the border check point saying ‘Shah Rukh Khan’ with a smile. It was his way to connect through the one major topic that resonates with almost all Indians – and that is Bollywood. Of course, there is another thing that connects the world and that is the US Dollar. So promptly after saying SRK with a smile, he asked for 5 dollars (also with a smile). I knew this was a bribe but I have learnt that in such travels far away from your own turf, you can’t be an idealist. I have also heard stories of 100 dollar bribes being asked at this Samarkand-Panjakent land border between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. So in a way I was relieved that I was asked to fish out only 5 USD. I have had similar experiences in the small Mesoamerican nations of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras etc. In these places I wasn’t supposed to need a tourist visa since I already had my 10 year B1/B2 US visa, but they didn’t let me pass their remote land borders without further greasing their already greasy palms.
And with that, on a cold, rainy day in early November, we were across the border and found our place in a sharing car, which was a Toyota Prado SUV, no less. We started drying ourselves out while the driver was searching for other 4 passengers but there were really not that many at this border point. We were a bit damp as the entire border crossing was uncovered, other than the passport stamping office and we didn’t have any umbrellas with us. Luckily our jackets were waterproof and we quickly dried up and got moving soon after. I was sitting in the front seat so I started chatting up with the driver, Daler. It was quite a limited conversation since I knew no Russian or Tajik and he knew little English, but we did connect well on travel. I am glad he could manage to piece together some conversation in English and he started showing me some of his travel videos in remote Siberia. Turned out that Daler was a big vehicle enthusiast and besides owning the Prado, he also owned a Kawasaki racing bike and a proper mega truck (think large Lorries as you have in the States). Since he carried both Tajik and Russian passports, he had driven his truck all across Russia and that too in the Siberian winter and was in fact planning a visit to Kamchatka on the far eastern edge of this humongous land mass.
So our journey from the border to the capital, Dushanbe, was a fun ride and it was also very scenic. Due to the heavy rain that day, there was also a lot of rock fall on the mountain road but we reached our destination safe and sound. And it is at Green House Hostel (where we were staying) that our planning for the overland trip really started. Our aim was to go deep into the far east of the country and into an area known as Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region. Whenever you hear ‘autonomous’, you know there has been some breakaway efforts in the past. This area is just to the north of Afghanistan and the beautiful (at times bleak) Wakhan Corridor goes through the borderlands of these 2 countries on its way to Xinjiang province in China.
So upon reaching Dushanbe we had to make a few quick decisions. Winter was already there in the mountains in November and the travel season for the snow covered Pamir Mountains was fast closing. We had exactly 8 days with us after which we had to be back in Uzbekistan at the same land border crossing and so we were given the contact number of Ibrahim by the manager at the hostel, Murad. I met Ibrahim and with very little bargaining, settled on a price of 1,200 USD for a jeep and driver to take us to the Pamirs and to bring us back (in one piece hopefully). In Tajikistan the fuel is expensive, so this price tag felt a bit on the higher side considering that it didn’t include any food or stay. But in any case we really wanted to see the deserts and mountains there and so I swiftly handed over 12 greenbacks to the good man and in turn was given the assurance of a quality Toyota 4*4 next morning.
We were naturally super excited but a bit nervous too as this would be our last connection to the world for the next week or so, other than intermittent signals via hotspot. This is since the homestays there wouldn’t have any wi-fi. So we decided to make a video call to my parents in Dehradun. While I knew we were going to a sketchy part of the world (will reveal in my next feature) but I kept ‘mum’ about it during the video call. However I did assure my folks that we had booked the best possible vehicle and were in very safe hands (we actually were since I am not silly enough to take a life risk). But what I didn’t know then was that we would get the best driver that I have ever known in all my travels. He is a young man named, Anzur and he really could be a Formula 1 racing driver since during the entire journey he was on mission mode and was one with the car. While he drove fast, he seemed to know the vehicle’s limits all through the steep mountain roads (which in many parts were not roads at all). There were portions with a lot of fallen rock due to rains the day prior and it was proper off-roading, what with the 4*4 going through wet and muddy patches with a possible steep fall on the right. Oh, did I mention that on day-1 we drove 17 hours from Dushanbe to Khorog. I can’t think of anyone but Anzur who could drive this long and remain this alert with just 1 food break in between. He was literally ‘hands-on’ behind the wheel (better than hands-off) and seemed to be on an intravenous flow of caffeine. I was regularly checking his eyes in the rearview mirror and not once during the 17 hour ride did I see even a hint of drowsiness in his eyes. No less than 6 hours of those 17 were in pitch darkness (on the broken mountain roads) so our lives truly were in his hands and we felt really safe.
Another great help was that Anzur was ready with his loose change to pay at the various internal border check points, keeping in mind which part of the world we were in. We were stopped no less than 6 – 7 times and I believe at only 1 check point we were not expected to pay a bribe. We met an honest man at that control point and he even wished us ‘safe journey’ in English. We said ‘thank you’ with a genuine smile. We said thank you to Anzur many times as well.
As tired as we were when we finally reached Khorog at midnight (had started at 7 am from Dushanbe), we were also really excited about the next day. Khorog didn’t disappoint at all. It had some of the most stunning autumn foliage I have seen and bright sunshine greeted us that morning. We paid a visit to the local bazaar too, most importantly to stock up for our journey further in and further up. I converted some USD to local Tajik Somoni as well since there were no ATMs after Khorog and certainly no hotels or credit card machines. Cash was king and we were all geared up for the ride of our lives into an area also known as the Pamir Knot, the so-called meeting place of some of the world’s highest mountain ranges – The Pamirs, Hindu Kush, Karakoram and the Tien Shan. This area was of particular interest to us since we were to cross grasslands, deserts, tundra and ice biomes in these mountains and valleys. We awaited a sensory overload to hit us in the days to come.
Nitin Gairola is from Dehradun and has travelled the natural world more than almost any Indian ever. He has set world travel records certified by India Book of Records, has written for Lonely Planet, and holds National Geographic conservation certifications. He is also a senior corporate executive in an MNC and in his early days, used to be a published poet as well. More than anything else, he loves his Himalayan home. Reach him at: www.facebook.com/MostTravelledIndian/ ; www.instagram.com/MostTravelled_Indian/; nitin.gairola@gmail.com
