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Stans June/July 2025

What she said. Great thread. :thumbup
 
Nice. The smiles are infectious.
 
8-Jul-25

So after a good night sleep we set out for Tajikistan. The goal was to ride to Dushanbe. We got on the road @ noon. The road was pretty flat and it was heating up. On one section some kids in a big 4x4 pick-up kept buzzing us. They’d pull over, wait for us to pass and buzz us again. Finally Moin waved them over and told them to cool it. We rode on and decided on a rest stop at a soda stand. Some guys were relaxing on a platform that was under the trees and over an irrigation ditch. Nice place to cool down. After a few minutes a guy sat next to me and made sure I was aware he was a former Taliban fighter. He showed pix of him in his camos with his AK-47, pix of the US evacuation, him with a captured M-16. I asked Moin, “Is this guy gonna shoot me?” He said,”Naw, he’s just making friends.” We got going again. It was about ½ hour to the border. We found out the border was closed for another hour so we found a soda stand where Simona made road lattes. We headed back to the border and presented all of our paperwork. They said our road permits we got in Kabul wouldn’t get us across the border. Moin asked where we can get the proper road permits, he was directed to the bank. A taxi ride, an hour or so, and $120 later we had the road permits. Ironically, these were the same road permits the consulate in Peshawar wouldn’t give us. While we were waiting we met a guy from Canada who was going the opposite direction on a 1200GS. It still took them a couple hours to get everything processed and then they needed to search the bikes. We finally were let go to cross the Panj River into Tajikistan. We got to the border station and started the whole passport control, customs, road permit process all over again. They had a water cooler in the station which we took advantage of. We got our passports stamped, and got photographed. The girl who was preparing our road permits was dividing her time between working & texting until Simona stood over her and gave encouragement. We rode to the customs area where they put the bikes through a giant CT scanner. We got the all clear from the guard and rode off. The whole border crossing ordeal took about six hours so Dushanbe was wishful thinking. We rode on until it got dark. Along the way just a few miles into Tajikistan the landscape made a profound change from desert to greenery. Also, the signs changed from Afghani to Cyrillic. We stopped at an outdoor resturant for dinner. There was an ATM by the restaurant that didn’t work so we paid the bill in dollars. Dinner was really good and the restaurant owner told us where to stay in the next town, Bokhtar. We checked into a nice hotel, got out of our gear and went looking for a liquor store. We bought several bottles of beer and took them back to the hotel. Beer never tasted so good! We drank most of the beer and went to sleep. The ride to Dushanbe the next day wouldn’t be very far. We needed to stop there and get road permits for the Pamir Highway.
 
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Afghan/ Tajikistan border.

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Canadian on a GS.

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Cheers!
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The next day we rode to Dushanbe. A short ride until we got into the city. The streets were so gridlocked we gave up trying to filter through it and found a soda stand. Apparently there was a presidential visit and several streets were shut down. The traffic loosened up after a while and we went to find a place to stay. We didn't pre-book a lot on this trip because we never knew where we'd wind up. We found a youth hostel which said they may or may not have space that night. Dragos and Simona opted to stick it out at the hostel. We found a nice Hotel a couple blocks away. After a shower Moin & I went for a walk around the city looking for a snack, beer, SIM cards, and road permits. We found all four. Later we reunited with Dragos & Simona and went to find dinner. Afterward we went shopping for supplies, I had cracked my French press in Peshawar and found a replacement in a supermarket. Walking back to the hotel I had my biggest crash of the trip. Walking down the sidewalk I failed to see a kid cross in front of me on a scooter and face planted on the sidewalk shattering the French press. We went back to the hotel and had a few beers, I licked my wounds, and we turned in. Tomorrow we'd enter the Pamir Highway.
 
Off to Dushanbe
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Welcome!
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Waiting out traffic.
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Gridlock'd
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Relaxing @ the Hostel
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Moon over Dushanbe
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Road permit.
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berth said:
What is with that little outrigger wheel on that GS?
Click to expand...
I was going to ask too. Only time I have seen them was for a disabled rider.

7 Hours for a border crossing?? :loco
 
The BMW rider had old leg injuries hence the landing gear.
Yes, close to 7 hrs for the border crossing. We crossed 7 borders. Each one had its own set of hoops to jump through. I realized the only land borders I'd crossed previously were Canada & Mexico. Crossing land borders with your own vehicle is a lot more involved than arriving by air.
 
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