We have been on the road with our bikes for just over two weeks. We have been riding the road on our bikes for about 8 of those 17 days (the other 9 spent getting here from southern China via train, bus, and van), the most recent 8 consecutive days (or 6, if you don’t count rest days). It is July 5th, we are in the town of Karakol, a high elevation winter settlement sitting snug as a tick next to the giant Lake Karakul of Tajikistan’s Pamir Mountains. It is currently near-deserted as most of its inhabitants have taken their herds (mostly yak and goat) to the nearby Bartang Valley for summer grazing.
