Tajikistan	Before Murghab	N 38.28278°	E 74.04653°	Again tonight our camping spot was just a spot about 100 meters off the road.
Tajikistan	Wakhan Road	N 37.61834°	E 73.07743°	With our explorations over we headed ack to the main road and looked for a camping spot near some salt lakes visible from the highway but we were not scessful. So we decided to go to the turnoff to the Wakhan Valley and find a camping spot a few kilometers along the Wakhan Road. No sooner had we turned onto the road than we spotted two backpackers hitch hiking. WE relaxed our normal rule of "no hitch hikers" as on this road rides a scarce. So we picked up Alexander (from Belarus) and Anna (from Russia). After pacing them and their gear in the camper we drove about 1 km to an abandoned herders camp nestled up against a stone bluff and with some buiding ruins to offer or passengers a protected spot for their tent.
Tajikistan	Zong	N 37.01212°	E 72.58414°	We could have parked for the night near the shops in Langar but it did not seem suitable for Alex's and Anna's tent so we continued past Langar down the valley through a couple of other villages with their narrow, tree lined main streets. However we did not find a suitable tent site so at the village of Zong (I think) we simply pulled off the road onto a small patch of ground. Alex and Anna found a home-stay in the local village. Nina and I spent some time chatting to the local kids and playing frizbee with some of them. When our bed time arrived we had a ittle trouble convincing the bolder of the young boys that the games and treats were over.
Tajikistan	Ishkashim	N 36.72710°	E 71.61140°	Ishkashim (ишкошим) is a somehwat larger village than the other we had passed through today, but it still feels like a village rather than a town. Also it has the tree lined main street, mud brick houses and stone fences, though to be fair there are some substantial concrete buildings. After some checking around we found Hauni's Guest House in the main street next door to the police station. It has a large yard in which we could park our truck. It already had 6 or 7 Toyota Land Cruisers (tourist agency vehicles) a motocycle and a couple of tents (for guests that were too late for rooms or beds). It is a great place. Vali, the young man that owns the place speaks good English and is very willing to help guests find whatever they need in the village. And most important of all the showers have a very good supply of really hot water.
Tajikistan	Khorog	N 37.48733°	E 71.55915°	We got to the town of Khorog around 4:00 pm, dropped Alex and Anna at the main bridge and then went looking for the Pamir Lodge, which according to the Lonley Planet is the place where all overlanders congregate in Khorog. We eventually found a small side street off the main thoroughfare where we were supposed to turn, but the narrowness of the street gave us pause. However a local man came up an assured us that this was indeed the way to the Pamir Lodge and it was "OK" for us to go. So we crawled up this incredibly bumpy, narrow street past men painting a fence (who had to get out of our way), over broken drains, around piles of rocks (another man was building a fence) until we came to a straight narrow section of street at the end of which we could see the gate to the Lodge. The only problem was that between us and that gate was a canal with a concrete cover and the cover was not quite wide enough for us - with some encouragement from another volunteer guide I drove over the canal with a piece of each tire hanging off the side of our little "bridge". That however was not the end of the delicate manouvering as getting into the lodge's yard was another exercise in "squeezing" our truck into a place that was honestly too small for it. Once parked we did not take long to realize that getting out tomorrow would be even more interesting as there was nowhere nearby to turn around, so we would have to reverse out and back down that straight street over the canal - however that was a problem for another day. At the lodge the showers where good, the wifi did not work most of the time, and the people managing the place were a little reserved. They seemed friendly but we know that other people have found their reserved nature to come across as unhelpful. This is not a place for 4 wheeled vehicles like ours. Anything bigger than a Landcruiser would find this place a squeeze.
Tajikistan	Gunt River	N 37.71388°	E 71.93674°	So once on the main road we headed out of town on to the Pamir Highway and up the valley of the River Gunt. Our plan was, that over the next couple of days we would drive the Pamir Highway maybe as far as where we turned off into the Wakhan Road thereby completing a circuit. By all accounts we had read the part of the highway that travels through the Gunt River Valley is spectacular. But tonight we drove only 20 or so km before finding a spot by the river and off the road for our nights camp.
Tajikistan	Wakhan Road	N 37.61834°	E 73.07743°	In any case we eventually bumped and shuddered our way to the Wakhan road turn off and drove a couple of km down that road to the campsite we used almost a week ago. By the time we got there the wind was howling and it was cold but we were snug in our camper cooking dinner.
Tajikistan	Gunt river	N 37.71388°	E 71.93674°	Once underway again we got some good mountains views. There are some really spectacular peaks bordering the Gunt River. Again for our camping spot we picked a patch of flatish ground some distance off the road near the river.
Tajikistan	Khorog	N 37.52521°	E 71.50588°	Rather than return to the Pamir Lodge and its tight entrance we decided to try the Serena Inn Hotel for our nights camping. This is (according to the Lonely Planet) the best hotel in town. We had heard from some German overlanders that one could park at the Serena for only 20 Somoni's per night - which seemed a bit unbelievable for a "high class" hotel - so we decided to try it. Sure enough they allowed us to park on their premises, it was unfortunately another tight fit, but a very pleasant environment. Big lawns and gardens and right by the river. Just after we arrived at the Serena a wedding party turned up for a celebration. It was the same wedding car we saw earlier in the day. Nina could not resist and got into the act as the second photographer and as you can see the wedding party welcomed her. Later in the evening the German couple that told us about the place also arrived.
Tajikistan	M41	N 38.27985°	E 71.33652°	Towards the end of the afternoon we found a place on a high bluff with space for us to pull off the road and with a good breeze blowing so we stopped thinking this would be a good camping place, and it was for a few hours. But about 8:00pm a Tajik border patrol knocked on our door and through the usual sign language told us that "we could not park here" and that 3 km down the road was a place we could park. Indeed 3 km down the road we found a police check point, and a truck stop. The officer manning the checkpoint clearly knew we were coming because he pointed us to the "parking lot" almost before I asked him where it was.
Tajikistan	Kalaikhum	N 38.35278°	E 70.63801°	About 20 km south of Kalaikhum at about the time that I was getting tired of driving and tired of the roads we happened to see the Swiss couple (Peter and Barbara) in their litte motorhome parked in a nice spot between two fields. So we pulled in behind them pleased to have the bumping finished for the day.
Tajikistan	Kalaikhum	N 38.30131°	E 69.25612°	Around 6:00pm the road climbed to pass beside the south western end of Nurek Resevoir, towards the top of the climb we found a parking lot big enough for us and far enough off the road to be safe from crazy Tajik drivers. As a bonus the place had a breeze and the outside temp was down to 85°F. The temperature alone made this a good camping spot.
Tajikistan	Yanghnob River	N 39.24096°	E 68.54380°	After a bit more spectacular mountain scenery and roadway we found a good piece of ground, well off the road, next to the Yanghnob River and pulled over for the night. I spent some time fixing one of the latches on a kitchen drawer while Nina did some cooking. After chores were completed we were visited by a group (maybe 8) young Tajik guys who spotted us as they drove past. They stayed for a little while wanting to get photos in every possible arrangement of us, them and our vehicle. About 5 minutes after they left, they returned to present us with a small highly decorated knife as a gift.
Tajikistan	Urmetan	N 39.44859°	E 68.38097°	We drove only about 20 miles along the Panajakent road (until the canyon widened out) before returning a bit to a nice flat area for our nights camp. We occupied some of the evening by defrosting the refrigerator; as you can see in the not-too-flatering photograph of me above.
Tajikistan	Buston	N 40.42929°	E 69.58329°	We eventually camped about 30 km short of Buston in the desert a good distance off the road and spent the last half of the afternoon cooking. Also contrary to our expectations and fears the day was only hot, not blazing, and the outside temperature did not even get above 87°F.