Etappe 104: From Jalal-Abad towards Kazarman

Unfortunately, today's stage only took us 'towards Kazarman'... After a restful night and with the best weather, we were full of optimism to cross the mountains today. After 30 kilometers with a slight uphill, we arrived in Taran-Bazar. There, the old road to Kazarman and the new highway, built by the Chinese, separate. Along the way, we met some locals who invited us for rhubarb and explained to us that they had just driven on the Chinese road yesterday. Perfect! That gave us the necessary confidence to go deeper into the mountains. Along the way, just to be safe, we asked a few more locals who unanimously told us that there was a tunnel, but it was passable for us.

The route was absolutely beautiful, but also challenging. In the afternoon, we boiled tea with water from a mountain stream. Towards evening, we asked another local about the Chinese tunnel. He was a bit more cautious, but mentioned that no one works there after 9 pm and that we might be able to pass through then. The stage continued for a while longer, and it was only in the darkness that we arrived at a barrier. Jaffar, the supervisor, told us that the tunnel was filled with water and that we could forget about it for today. Instead, he invited us into his container where we cooked together and later spent the night. Quite an experience to sleep in a construction container at an altitude of 2500 meters. However, Jaffar continued to give us hope that we could pass through the tunnel the next day, we just had to discuss it with the Chinese bosses. So it was still exciting!