ISKANDAR KUL!!!!

So early tomorrow morning, we are packing our bags, loading them on top of a Land Cruiser, and packing 16 people and 2 kids into 2 vehicles and heading for the mountains. After 3 1/2 weeks of sweating it out between Dushanbe and the village, I think we are all ready to breath some fresh, cool, clean mountain air! Unfortunately, we have to go through "The Tunnel" to get there. Around here those words seem to strike fear into nearly everyone I talk to, and I really wonder 'how bad can it be?' Perhaps I am utterly and completely naive (a very real possibility), but I keep thinking... after what I have experienced in Tajikistan so far... driving a dying man onto the tarmac of the airport to his medivac, traveling back and forth to the Pamirs multiple times (15+ hours to go 500 km), flying THROUGH multiple mountain ranges in a tiny plane with seats that look like they were welded together in someone's garage, Riding soviet era fair rides one of which is a ferris wheel with plastic deck chairs screwed onto a wooden platform... really, how bad can it be?  I don't say this thinking I have experienced it all, but I just wonder how bad a tunnel that people travel through every day can be. I guess I'll find out, but even many travellers who I would consider as being 'hearty' seem to be shaken by this tunnell... I welcome the challenge! I hope to report to you soon about what a pleasant journey it indeed was!