TAJIKISTAN: COLD SWEATS | France 5 | Les Routes de l'Impossible

Tajikistan is the poorest country in Central Asia. To cross the country, which is 93% mountains, you must take the Pamir Highway, the second highest motorway in the world. A mythical road built by the Soviets to open up the Pamir region and submit it to the authority of the Empire. An audacious route suspended between earth and sky on what the Tajiks call the “roof of the world”. However, since the Soviets left in 1991, the surface has not been maintained. The Pamir Highway is a road fraught with danger: rock falls, landslides, fords… 900 kilometres along the side of a ravine. Machines and men are subjected to a rude test, especially in winter when the extreme temperatures freeze engines. Gheyrat, the hero of this adventure, has to improvise with what he has on board to deliver his goods and, most important, to stay alive.