Murgab- Karakul, Tajikistan 06 June 2011

I should stop talking about records and highest point. We have a new Kyrgyz driver, Soyoun, with a Pajero driving us to Osh. The previous one is driving is Niva back to Khorog. Short trip through the high Akbajtal pass at 4665m down to Lake Karakul. The drive is all along the barbed wires Chinese border for km. It was apparently built by the Russians and is about 20 km inside Tajikistan.

Karakul lake means Big Black Lake is a huge spectacular lake at 3914m altitude. Salty but frozen until May every year. Lifeless. No a single fish or any form of life. No wonder the whole village looks at the mountain instead. This region is in fact populated by Kyrgyz and very few Tajik, but the political arrangements in drawing up the borders; it ended up to be in Tajikistan. It has the same time as Kyrgyzstan ie one hour ahead of the rest of Tajikistan.

We are only 63 km from the official Kyrgyz border, but life here is already Kyrgyz.