The Pamir Highway - or M41 as it is also known - is a highway varying considerably in state that runs through most of the “Stans” in Central Asia. It is part of what was once the ancient Silk Road, and today it is, unfortunately, one of the main arteries in the world for heroin smuggling from Afghanistan.

Back to our “guide” Wolfgang. Apart from the fact that he had never been to these places before and we were to rely on him, we quickly found out there was an even bigger problem. Wolfgang had decided to bring two brand new motorcycles on a trailer to some of the most bumpy and uncomfortable roads. The bikes had to be brought out of Kyrgyzstan for some bureaucratic reason. Because of the motorcycles, the Jeep we were driving alongside was only able to drive 15-20 km/h much of the way. I think it goes without saying, but this gets extremely frustrating in the long run. Good thing was that Jakob and I had an ATV to ourselves that we could play around on as much as we wanted. After a few days, the motorcycles were dropped off so we could pick up speed.

Below and above, you see our first camp spot in the Pamirs. It was an absolutely stunning place to camp for the night, and Jakob and I went up early next morning for sunrise. After sunrise, we took the ATV away from the road through a gorge. In the end, we found a few houses where the family you see below lived. I think it was the first time they saw Westerners.

And a detour to Italy

August 10th, 2017

Invited by the European Parliament

August 10^th, 2017