Once in Murghab, C\u00e9dric and I decided to take a day off to rest from the week\u2019s ride. We had been cycling up from 900m in Osh to 4655m on the Akbaital-Pass, with multiple smaller passes and endless smaller ascents on unpaved roads (often more strenuous than the highest pass), so our bodies were calling for a full day of laziness. We enjoyed a slow morning sitting in the sunny front room and reading news and books. Around lunch time, we figured that it was time to go out and explore some of the town and pick up food supplies for the onward journey. For being located in such a remote area of Tajikistan, Murghab has a surprising number of residents (ca. 4000) and whitewashed homes filling the area between the two main streets. There is a feeling of being on the extreme edge of the planet, a town locked by borders with China and Afghanistan, surrounded by a few summits at 7000m on the horizon, countless mountains at over 5000m often unclimbed and even without any name, only reachable through passes at altitudes that would be the highest points of most of the countries around the world. But Murghab is basically the only town in a radius of over 100km, so also the only place where it is possible to get (or hope to get) anything not self-made, and thus creates a bit of activity. The proximity with China also brings some military activity and a bit of life in the town (although not having any phoneline or electricity, we were wondering what Tajikistan\u2019s plan would be to counter a Chinese invasion\u2026the solution appears to be immediately contacting the Russian army).<\/p>\n