Riding the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan - Sydney to London EP 24
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- Tajikistan far exceeded our expectations! In this video we tackle the Pamir Highway and Zorkul National Park on our DR650 motorcycles.
Having just left Kyrgyzstan we had heard that Tajikistan was no where near as beautiful. Well, that is an absolute crock!! In this video we find a route that is without doubt one of the most beautiful we have ever experienced. As we entered the country from the Border of Kyrgyzstan we hit Lake Karakul, a stunning mountain lake sitting just shy of 4000m in altitude where we set up camp for the night. Not only is the scenery beautiful, but the people are as well - A local guy walked down and joined us for dinner and to just have a chat. Unfortunately, James wasn’t feeling all that great, so he retreated to his tent.
The next morning, we hit the Pamir highway. Some people say it is the greatest road trip in the world and it is easy to see why - Surrounded by snow cap mountains and along a sprawling desert this place is a motorcyclist’s dream.
We found our next campsite using iOverlander and once again we were blown away with the scenery and then 3 local guys showed up and gave us some home-made bread. Everyone in Tajikistan seem to be incredibly generous and friendly.
From there we had to go to Mughab to pick up some supplies before venturing into the Zorkul National Park. Talk about the road-less-travelled! It is days like these that make this trip so special and the whole reason we did it in the first place. You feel like you are on another planet, and you truly are in the middle of nowhere. Starting off in arid plains that resemble mars, you then hit green rolling hills weaving between soaring mountains. And once again we are waved down by some locals, and they invite us into their home and give us food and tea and then as we are leaving, they offer us some bread to take on the road with us. It honestly restores our faith in humanity. If only the rest of the world were as hospitable as the people of Tajikistan.
That night we camped just next to the Pamir River, right on the border of Afghanistan with beautiful views of the Wakhan Corridor only to wake up the next morning in a foot of snow. Over night a storm hit leaving us feeling like we were on the inside of a ping pong ball. But we had to jump back on the bikes and try get out of there which was an adventure all on its own.
This video spans just 4 days but it has enough adventure to last a lifetime. A part of this motorcycle tour that we will never forget.
______
In 2018 we set off from Australia on our Suzuki DR650 motorcycles riding overland to England. We hope to travel to remote areas riding dirt roads whilst camping and meeting local people along the adventure.
Facebook: / northandleftabit
Instagram: / northandleftabit
#motorcycle #Kyrgyzstan #dr650 #travel #adventure #motovlog #silkroad #overlanding #advmoto #suzuki #moto #adventure #OffRoadRiding #DirtRiding #camping #pamirhighway #zorkul #Murghab
Hey lads!! hope you're well.. just wanted to say that this is the best series on youtube and we are all desperate for more episodes!! I know they are heaps of work to edit but we all need to finish the journey you've taken us on!
No film crew no support team. You two are legends in my book.
Cheers mate, i must admit a mechanic in a support car would have been nice for some of those flat tyres and the the steering bearings haha. Saying that we enjoyed the challenges in hindsight. Hope you enjoyed the latest video, Tajikistan totally blew our minds
Yes malle moto!
@@inrptn haha love it
@@Northandleftabit Are you alive chaps?!
@@Northandleftabit Chaps?! Are you alive? I keep wondering about you and your trip
What is incredible is that these so-called undeveloped countries have people with so much decency, friendship and generosity. They’ve got (by our standards) nothing, but will give you food and what they have. Amazing and heartwarming. ❤
I dont think i have ever checked out a UA-cam channel so many times, to see if there is a new episode, 😄😂
'Wet gloves, wet boots, but still kind of fun...' I love that. True grit adventure riding!
Well, what do you have here? 🤔 oh that’s right, an awesome vlog from the 2 x best RTW motorcycle nomads on the internet! 👍👏🇦🇺
Cheers mate haha. A little video to kick off youre weekend. I hope you enjoy this one too.
Next morning 👀😳🤣
@@Chris-vq5vr it was bloody freezing. The ride that next morning was so cold we couldnt feel our fingers which nade changing gear fun haha.
Such great times though , that whole section was a great highlight
I am from Bulgaria, you probably know that the bacteria making the yogurt is Bulgarian, and we use yogurt as a healing remedy when we have stomach sickness, pain or vomiting. We give it to kids as well. It is a panacea. :)
Cannot wait for the rest of the videos :)
Guys - I stumbled across one of your videos somewhere in the middle and have been binge watching multiple episodes. What an incredible once in a lifetime adventure. Thank you so much for taking us along. I really like your immersive video style and the narration to provide context and additional information. The maps are also awesome- I will keep watching- greetings from Germany 🇩🇪 Oliver
By the way guys the bread that you are talking about is very famous for the region because it’s special bread. Considering the life conditions this bread needs to be storage for long time. So if take a piece home after weeks it will be still good. All you need to do is make it wet by hand and put it for couple minutes in the oven and it will be fresh again. I just love the vibes and no stereotypes or discrimination. Good stuff and enjoy your trips!
Guys, where are you? We need more!!
Another awesome video!
Please never feel like you need to apologize for long episodes. Seeing the beautiful countries you two get the opportunity to travel through is one of the best parts of your videos. Keep it up guys
Longer the better IMO
Good to see the binshield is going strong.
When’s the next episode guys? Loving it!
Fabulous video. Wet camping but, no flat tyres. Lovely campsites. Great bread and people. Sun, snow, sun. Perfect.
Well, the Mrs and me reckon that was one of the best in an already brilliant series. Everything there, mega filming and scenery to film together with great folks en route. Shame about James having the squits 🙂 See the bucket wind screen is holding up..so far ;-) Looking forward to the next.
Thats great, i know you have commented on quite a few of our videos so good to hear youre still enjoying them.
Yeah my toilet issue were not ideal but that yogurt stuff really did work wonders i think. Jays screen was a work of art haha.
Hope to have the pt 2 out next week
What I like about travel vids like this is that it shows you don’t need a 250 Kg, 160 HP “ adventure bike “ to travel the world, a 40 hp DR 650 will take you anywhere and they don’t cost a fortune to purchase and maintain.
$10 k spent on bike and gear with $20k spent on travel makes more sense than $30k just spent on the bike with no money left to travel.
👍👍👍👍
Yeah it really is the best bike for this trip. Youre also extremely accurate on the money, thats literally exactly whats we spend in Aud. But the 10k included bike, bike setup and camera gear.
WhiteDRguy 650 . So true!!!
Ballsy effort lads. Love your adventurous spirit. Unbelievable scenery. Words are inadequate. You could have been in real trouble if the snow had persisted for 36 - 48 hours. Really great footage and attitude.
CENTRAL ASIA IS INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL. CAN'T WAIT TO SEE MORE EPISODES FROM YOU TWO. WISH YOU BEST OF LUCK THROUGH YOUR JOURNEY.
How have you only got 11k subscribers?! Absolutely glued to your videos your living our dreams! Keep on keeping on
More Episodes Please! This series is the best!😀😀😀😀
Some comments read that they've either died or been murdered, I don't think so, they've just stopped updating, or they stopped their journey here in Tajikistan due to some unexpected reasons. They started out in DEC 2018 and they mentioned that the journey was supposed to finish in 9 months.
Considering Ramadan (generally in February) they mentioned during their tour crossing Pakistan, 3 days cost crossing China, etc. It means that their stay in Tajikistan should be in March or April 2019. Adding that there was footage in an episode indicated that one of them was editing the videos in his own working room, basically, they just took the videos and then edited these materials after the trip.
I myself did motorcycling and camping from time to time, I know that it would be a challenge to edit videos after a long day ride. Okay, back to my deduction, the last video was uploaded 10 months ago (DEC 2022 or JAN 2023) from this time (OCT. 2023) and they even replied. Therefore, they are rather good at this time. It is absolutely not possible for them to stay over there from March 2019 to October 2023. Now they are somewhere maybe in Australia. If they were murdered, they would be murdered or died in 2019, no chance for them to release videos in the year 2022 or at the beginning of 2023.
However, whether they finished their goal or not, would be a question. I think they just quit eventually. The environment was even harsher in the last two episodes, by looking at the size of their panniers, they've got drone, SLR camera, batteries, items of luggage...Clearly, they didn't fully prepare for the coldness, their sleep bags, their tents, their coat, their gloves, etc. were not suitable for weather like that. Adding James was sick of diarrhea, continuing the trip as such could be really changing and dangerous. At that time, their videos were not as hot as nowadays, no one knew them, keeping doing one thing all day long, and without any encouragement could be tough. James's bike always went into all kinds of problems in those no-man's areas, fixing bikes could be much much much more difficult than what they showed in those videos.
So, my conclusion is that they quit eventually. Or probably they had some disagreements that impeded the continuity of this series, this one is just my guess. However, I hope at this moment they are making preparations and restart their journey in the future to finish this task, if only my guess above is correct😁.
Probably a wrong guess, probably they've achieved this, probably because of a rather low efficiency in editing and uploading😂😂😂
What a great video. Now going back to the beginning to watch the rest. Hubby and I have subscribed.
Awwwww❤❤love this channel.
Your music...your stories....the scenery....very cool.
The more you get off the beaten path the more rewarding it is! Amazing scenery, how does this not have over a million subscribers like Itchy Boots?
I agree with more viewers these guys do great vids the boys need more support👍
Good day Fellas. I hope all is well. Have watched the entire series a couple of times now and am so looking forward to more content. Hopefully you are both healthy and happy and still at it. Watching from Vancouver Island BC
Wow, Thank you for update. Love the Stan countries. I love a lot of videos Tajikistan, beautiful country. Please work on the next episode, so we don't have to wait for long.
That shot at 24:38 felt like taken out of a movie. With the adequate narrative, I could watch a "no commentary" film of your adventures with only shots like these. Beautiful
We hope we can keep them coming for you. Luckily Tajikistan is so beutiful we might have a half decent chance
Congratulations, gentlemen. You have created the best ever adventure riding series. Well done.
Awesome, good to see you boys having fun. If your still on the road, wow what an adventure. If your back home posting, welcome home.
Bloody spitty bum ........its such an epic adventure lads
Yeah not great but i tell you what not many other places id be happy to ride with that issue. I could stop anywhere and there was no one around, India however would be hell, there is nowhere to hide there.
💕 Love you All from Pakistan enjoying your journey in beautiful country
Thats awesome. We LOVED Pakistan, definitely have to go back one day
Brilliant, what an adventure !
Well done guys 👍👍
Best motorcycle adventure channel 😍😍
Watched every episode so far lads. It’s incredible to watch. Everything from the challenge itself with no support, to the chemistry and banter you guys have and the fact you’re very likeable blokes makes this series unreal. You deserve a tv show backed by a big network. Can’t wait to see more.
Rewatched the entire series, glad I did. Now here's hoping it won't take another 8 months to release a new episode, haha. Love the production quality, from the first to the (currently) last episode it's a blast. And all that without a crew. Fantastic!
Just finnished watching from the start & loved the trip so far. I pressume you are having a break from editing. I know it's a lot of work so happy to wait for the next episode. Cheers Jeff
what a brilliant experience... truly awesome
Yeah it was fantasic, id love to go back.
Dang. What an adventure. Poor James, that is a rough spot to have those kind of issues. And you boys just can't get a break from that weather, it just keeps finding you. I can't wait for the next one. Knowing where you are going it should be incredible.
What i leearned from 18:00 .. they have nothing but kindness.. and being grateful of what we are and what we have
Another great episode guys! I love kicking back after another mind numbing day at work and being transported to uzsomewhereban for half an hour.
So good! You guys were living the dream!!
Very jealous, but glad your back!!
Actually the best channel on youtube watchout @itchyboots
Awesome... once you've been there you remember every turn, every rock, every hole on the asphalt...
Hopefully once will go back there
Holy smokes. Let's talk about how good that intro was!!!
Yeah the landscapes are incredible over there. Damn i already want to go back
@@Northandleftabit - this is one of my bucket list rides. I really hoped you would take this route when you got here. The videos keep getting better, you crushed the edit on this one.
I have bing watched all the videos and can’t wait for more!!!
Binged all episodes in 1 weekend, amazing content, can't wait to see the rest! 👌
I think your algorithm is working now. I was only you tubing reviews on Triumph Tiger 900 GT Pro as was about to buy that bike, and after about 15 or so searches / views on similar topics on adventure bikes your channel popped up. Just finished binge watching all your vids. Love the progression in quality and content, very impressed also with your perseverance! Keep up the great fun / efforts.
No, we are definitely not getting bored with your videos. Please keep them coming :)
Fantastic video, he scenery is fantastic , looking forward the next video!
These videos are so enjoyable to watch love how you show both the pretty parts and what it's actually like to do. Keep it up!!
Great video, really enjoyed the scenery and commentary.
We love your vlogs James and Jonathan. So happy to here from you again.
Well, another awesome video....
And what an amazing journey! I'm so jealous…
Thanks for sharing it with us!! Keep posting please!
A hand made bucket windscreen, remote villages, and snow. Wow
This is turning to my favourite series on UA-cam. Thank you, guys!
I drove from Dushanbe to Pamir in 2013, with 100kgs of green tea and 2 wooden doors on my 1997 Opel, you guys are legend. Brings so many good memories.
Yet another cracking episode guys. Thanks for sharing your route info in such detail. Can't wait for part II !
I never got emotional that much recently. the view when you riding that detoir trail...
visiting that home...
what an amazing beauty our world has 🙏🏼❤️
thank you for the video!
I appreciate that you are filming these amazing adventures because I will never get there. I love watching about faraway places and people. What a blessing that you have the opportunity to do this!
Hi Brothers, any video soon? take care
YES!! I am camping tonight and riding in an enduro rally tomorrow near Tucson Arizona. This will get me innthe grove for tomorrow. "There will be dust"
Found your channel 3 days ago and have binged the whole series, very keen to see the end of your adventure! Very impressed with the balance between riding content and travel/adventure content!
Brilliant as always guys, the Wakhan valley is awesome, camping by the river next to Afghanistan was definitely a highlight for me, Dushanbe is a great place too.
When we were there, the Aga Kahn's son was there visiting on behalf of his father, his motorcade was three white Lada Nivas..😂😂
Keep em coming Jay.
I binge watched up to the last episode and I wake up to this. You guys alongside ct90adventures have got me back into motorcycling
Absolutely awesome episode guys and the scenery looked amazing. I did feel for James when he was straining to lift his bike up in his "delicate" situation 😇
There was no confident farting thats for sure haha
Patiently awaiting the release of the next episode (and proof of life!).
Excellent video guys. Glad to be following your adventure again.
Stoked for you, lads. Incredible.
We found you guys 3 days ago when searching more videos about Sulawesi and well we just finished your last episode!! Looooved each one of them!! Thank you for sharing your amazing adventures and I hope there will be more episodes still coming up as I’m curious like crazy how the rest of the trip went😅❤❤
All the best for you on New Year from Lithuania 🥳
Good on Yu lads, Epic Global Vlog. Enjoy the adventure enjoy the RIDE 👍🏻 Cheers from Western Australia 🇦🇺
Only just found your channel guys (this UA-cam thing is bloody massive!!) Just had to binge-watch right up to present - bloody glued to your adventure. It's so good to see unsupported journeys like yours. I did a trip to India (Ladakh) four years ago, and I could identify with the India/Pakistan section of your travels. Much respect chaps....much respect indeed. 👍
Thats great Martin, glad youre enjoying the channel. How did you stumble across it? We're hoping the youtube algorithm is going to start helping us soon haha.
We really wanted to go to Ladakh but given the time of year it wasnt possible, hopefully one day.
Just a bit of random clicking..... I wish I knew how their algorithms worked, I might get a few more subscribers that way!
Hey Guys, you’re my new favourite UA-camrs… Noraly’s taken a break so I now rely on you to keep my dream alive. Thank you.
Another epic episode guys 👍 James I hope your feeling better! Maybe it was donkey and not horse ha ha. Enjoy the next leg of your journey , stay safe and looking forward to seeing your next video. Cheers
great trip and filming, thank you. did you ever make it to the uk?
I have watch Itchy Boots and it was great, bit this here is much better adventure , you are fantastic and hope you would do a trip Alaska to Ushia, PLEASE. And you guys schould have many more wievers. Best regards from Denmark
I've lost count on the number of times I've watched this specific episode. So excited and thankful that you enlightened us all on the Zorkul national park route. Haven't been to Tajikistan just yet, but I'm sure that the views along this route will be the jewel of that upcoming trip. Extraordinary episodes, loving your guys trips and narrating. Well done!
Epic trip, and great videos!
I am totally jealous, and grateful to follow your journey!
Happy trails!
3 years ago I see your vlog when a cross Indonesia, Flores, Sulawesi and Kalimantan or Borneo. I thing your journey is cancelled. I am very happy to see your vlogs again even as far as Tajikistan 😲 gass to London ...GBU for you guys
Amazing content again, you are a couple of naturals to this game.
itching for more. Don't edit it, just upload it as it is. Every second is inspiring.
Another great video, guys. Super happy to see you posting regularly again!
Where do you guys go? 😢 did you reach London?
The route you missed down into the Wakhan Valley (the Kushgar Pass) is also pretty epic, but the Zorkal NP looks great. Too many roads for one life, can’t take them all!
Hell yeah… this is an adventure! Love it! Love you guys!
I really enjoy watching your videos 👍🙏
Thanks mate, we hope to keep them coming so feel free to subscribe and tell any mates you think would like them too
Poor James! I was feeling sorry for him all the time :p hope he is better ! You trip is amazing! And keep thinking there is no adv bike show quite like this! Amazing jobb guys. Keep it going
pleaasee come back!
Congrats on scoring “Creator On The Rise”. 👍🏻👍🏻
Amazing story and videos! Thanks!
It would be good to perhaps do a lessons learned video so far if you two have some down time. So you can touch upon spares to bring, preventative maintenance to do etc. (dielectric grease in the plugs, fork savers, seals, bushings, brake fluid, master cylinder rebuild kit, caliper seals, seal grease, bearing grease, spare headstock and wheel bearings, Good hand pump, proper patches,tubes and vulcanization glue) I think you get the idea. There's a goldmine of information you could put out.
Can't wait to watch the next one. I do have a question. Would you still choose the DR 650 or would you choose something else, if so which bike?
Cant wait to see the next episodes, i mean will you ever get to London. The suspense is killing..... :o)
Jay's trash bin windscreen is pure awesomeness. The more I see it the more I like it.
Another awesome episode. Love your work guys.
Hey thank you, it's been awesome getting these regular updates, this one was a treat, no issues for you guys (apart from the rock James 'lent' against). It's about time you had a break, scenery was captured perfectly with your editing. Well done this series is by far the best watch on the internet. Afghanistan mountains looked intriguing, have you thought about that trip yet? Keep them coming and thank you for the effort and the high standards of media use. cheers
When will you post the rest of the trip? Eagerly awaiting it :)
Another epic video - kudos
Can I ask why you don't have heated gear? Truly a game changer.
This episode is another fine example of your editing skills. I'm hoping that once you reach your destination, you'll embark on another series of adventures. Love your attitudes and appreciation for the beauty of your surroundings!
Epic stuff. Unbelievable and just so inspiring. I just want to pack my bike and go. Just can’t get enough of you guys and your awesome journey. Thank you so much.
Loved it as much as every episode
This is quite an adventure. Literally making dreams into reality. Looking forward for more.
So nice, you deserve more attention :)