Cyclists killed in Tajikistan described the "dream trip"

Cyclists from Europe and the United States who were killed in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group in Tajikistan called their trip a "dream come true."

Victims were Jay Austin and Lauren Munoz of the United States, According to Tajik authorities, each of the travelers had a blog to document the trips that took them to the Pamir Highway, a road dating back to the 1930s. the Soviet era extending over 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles). Americans explained on their SimplyCycling blog that they had "decided to quit our job and cycle around the world".

They had already traveled through Africa and Europe before flying to Kazakhstan in May

The articles on the site and on their Instagram account stopped while they were talking to each other. ventured into the mountainous Tajikistan, the poorest of the former Soviet states.

"Tajikistan is a key, it is cold and windy and mountainous and, above all, very, very high," wrote Austin a week ago

"Really glad to have done so. said to cross a Tajik mountain pbad at a height of 4,655 meters with thin air and intermittent snow.

Austin was featured in the Washington Post in 2015 as one of those who followed a ""

– "Beautiful and Kind" –

On Sunday, a car broke in the group of seven cyclists, two of whom were injured and one left unharmed.

The runners were attacked by a gang armed with knives and guns in a very unusual incident, according to Tajikistan, organized by a member of an Islamist opposition party [19659011] Wokke, 56, Dutch psychologist, cyclist with his partner Kim Postma, a 58-year-old hospital administrator, who was injured in the incident.

The website of the Dutch NRC newspaper said the couple were traveling from Bangkok to Tehran and chose to cross Tajikistan to avoid the dangers of Afghanistan.

Wokke was According to his brother, Erik, the couple, originally from Amsterdam, had left Thailand in February and had planned to arrive in Tehran in September before returning to the Netherlands

. ] Wokke and Postma described the Pamir Highway on their blog as "the ultimate challenge of this trip".

Victim Markus Hummel also kept an online record of the trip with Swiss national Marie-Claire Diemand injured in the attack. 19659019] In a post titled "A dream come true", they explained that they were traveling along the Xi'an Silk Road in China to Kyrgyzstan.

"Since we are already on the road, we definitely do not. The last entry was on July 25, when the whole group was staying in the Tajik city of Khorugh, after adventures with the tent. is filled with sand. [19659022] They said that, on the highway, "we enjoy silence, dreamlike scenery and admire the Pamir and the Afghan side of the valley all day long. "

Friends and supporters posted messages of condolence on the SimplyCyling Instagram page of American victims

Robert Renner wrote," My condolences to the family and friends of Jay and Lauren. "

Another Angela Wuerth wrote, "I am so sad that something so tragic can happen to so beautiful and kind people."

cr-burs-am / tm / nla

A man signs a book of condolences at the US Embbady in Dushanbe in tribute to the victims of the attack