Tajikistan - Back on the Pamir Highway
- Jul 12
- 9 min read
Day 15
We woke early with nervous anticipation of what the day had in store for us. While we were getting ready for our test drive, Armin drove by much to our surprise- after setting off the previous day, he had also had some power issues and had returned to the Homestay in Langar. He had decided to drive all the way back to Khorog where there is a specialist garage to get the issue looked at before venturing on further. It would seem there is definitely a minority of overland vehicles who have no issues on the Pamir Highway.
We took Lolly for a short test drive and were happy she had her power back. She was creating a lot of black smoke though. The two mechanics were waiting for us, and assured us all diesel vehicles smoke at this altitude. We paid them the equivalent of around £120 which covered their work and materials the previous day, towing us back from where we'd broken down and the initial call out and work carried out. A bargain compared to UK prices, but a handsome amount for Tajik mechanics. Let's just say that they didn't look unhappy.
We called in at the Homestay to pay four our accommodation and meals, and to thank them for their help.
We were expecting the drive today to be one of our most challenging yet. The drive from Langar to through Khargush Pass and on to the Alichur Plateau is around 120km all on rough roads. As we left the green terraces of Langar behind, the road immediately turned to gravel and climbed steeply away from the Wakhan Valley. We took it slowly (we had no choice) over the loose stones, corrugations and sandy patches, peering down the steep drop-off from the narrow road. The scenery was spectacular, and Lolly was chugging along nicely. We were surprised how few other vehicles we saw, having expected a fair few tourist vehicles and other overlanders, but I'd guess we saw only ten other vehicles all day - the feeling of remoteness was something we've rarely experienced. It was also a big relief we didn't have any difficult situations on the narrow sections where two vehicles passing would be terrifying.
As we continued, the 'road' widened out with sweeping views. There was a final checkpoint before the Pass. I don't think I've mentioned that we have passed through many such checkpoints along the Pamir Highway, where we have to hand over copies of our passports and Pamir Permits. They have all been an easy formality.
The Khargush Pass was a broad gently climbing stretch , rather than a steep twisty climb, that took us 4,344 m above sea level. While feeling a bit thuggy headed with the altitude, we were glad we had managed to acclimatise a little over the past week. There were colourful spring flowers and marmots diving into their burrows along the way.
Beyond the pass, the road crosses the vast treeless Alichur Plateau with wide vistas. We almost felt sad to rejoin the main Pamir Highway - the drive had been exhilarating and Lolly had come through it with flying colours.
There was a stretch of about 50m of good smooth tarmac, then it reverted to a horrible potholed mess. We pulled over at Sassykul lake where we had beautiful views and a colourful sunset. Our beers went down very well after a wonderful day, although we both slept very badly with the altitude adversely affecting us.
Day 16
We woke to a beautiful sunny day with the lake looking stunning. Our drive today would take us towards Murghab, the highest town in Tajikistan at 3,650m, and one of the most remote.
This section of the Pamir Highway must be the worst, which we weren't expecting having read it is mostly tarmac. It is badly potholed and very uneven. We had to contend with lorry traffic again after the respite in the Wakhan Valley. Parallel gravel tracks have been created by vehicles trying to avoid the terrible tarmac, so we were swinging between the road and these trying to find the smoothest passage, but it was a tortuous days driving and we yearned to be back on the gravel roads of the Wakhan Valley.
The one bright spot of the day was passing Ak Balyk (White Fish) pond which was at the side of the highway. It has been created by pure spring water making a dazzling turquoise vision in an otherwise bleak landscape. We had read the pond can be full of carp, but it was empty when we had a close look.
We bumped our way along towards Murghab - Colin had little chance to admire the landscape needing full concentration to dodge potholes. We saw our first yaks and the ginger blur of many a marmot darting around. We had been planning a diversion to a Soviet Observatory, but another 45 kms return on a rough road wasn't appealing after the route today.
We called in at a snow leopard rehabilitation centre just before Murghab, but there was a sign saying no visitors allowed, and there was not a sign of anyone on the site which we thought strange if there were endangered species in the enclosure. We drove back up onto the road to look down on the enclosure with our binoculars, but could see no sign of life. We have since read other travellers have seen the snow leopards here recently and were taken round by a security guy. We're not sure where he was when we called in.
Murghab certainly has the feel of a wild west frontier town with dusty streets and basic buildings with the backdrop of high mountains and open grasslands. The town was founded by the Russian Empire in the 19th century as a military outpost during the 'Great Game' era between Russia and Britain. Today it is home to a mix of Pamiri, Kyrgyz and Tajik communities. It was noticeable to us that the people looked very different to those we'd met elsewhere on the Pamir Highway. Before we set off the following day, we needed to stock up with provisions, water and fuel to get us through to Kyrgyzstan.
We headed up to a spot above the town next to a graveyard that overlanders had mentioned that they parked. There was one other vehicle there already - a Nissan truck camper with its bonnet up.
As we were getting set up, the couple from the vehicle came over and said they were extremely pleased to see us - it's rare we get that reaction! The couple, Judith and Eric, are from Dortmund in Germany, and believed that they had blown a head gasket as their Nissan was only firing on 3 of the 4 cylinders and was leaking oil. They were uber stressed and I think needed someone else to offload their concerns and help come up with a plan. Having just come through our issues with Lolly we could empathise totally. We asked what we could do to help, and they asked if we would be prepared to travel with them to Osh where they had a new part being sent from Germany. They said they may need towing if they didn't have enough power to get over the passes on the route. We said we were happy to accompany them, but had to warn them that Lolly was struggling for power on uphills, but I think just having another vehicle with them would be a comfort.
Day 17
Colin had been mulling over how we could tow the Nissan if necessary and was concerned the tow rope could damage Lolly unless we could get a metal plate affixed that would alter the angle of the rope and stop any rubbing. Colin ran through his thoughts with Eric, who agreed we'd visit a welder in the town to get the plate made.
Colin and I took Lolly to top up with water and diesel and picked up some more food supplies. Eric and Judith sourced a stronger tow rope and we met them at the welders. There was a Russian guy there, who helped with the translation of what we required, but the welder quoted a ridiculous price c£250 for a job that would take him 15 minutes to knock up from scrap metal. Eric countered him with £5, but the welder walked away after his final price of £85 was rebuffed. We think the problem was that the Russian guy had paid him far too much for a repair to his bike rack which had set the bar even higher for tourists. We walked away accepting that we'd just have to make it work should we need to tow the Nissan. We called in at the towns container bazaar, where many of the shops are built from painted shipping containers. We wrote off Murghab as somewhere we wouldn't choose to live.
Judith and Eric had gone on ahead. The road certainly felt better than what we had experienced the day before. After about 20km we had the dreaded site of the Nissan parked at the side of the road with its bonnet up. When we pulled up there was already a German motorcyclist with his head under the bonnet with Eric. Poor Judith looked beside herself. There was coolant all over the road - a familiar sight for us.
After closer inspection they discovered that the spindle between the water pump and fan had snapped which had created a hole in the radiator. The good news was Eric had a spare water pump (as you would expect from an organised German), and they set about repairing and replacing the parts. In the meantime two other motorcyclists had joined us (a Brit and another German who had been travelling with the German working on the repairs), and the Russian guy we had met in Murghab appeared. Quite a party - Judith put out cookies and I put the kettle on. Judith was relieved that the issue wasn't related to the head gasket, but still looked distraught.
After some 3 hours, everything was reassembled and liquid metal dried. Then the moment of truth - Eric started the engine and it roared into life - big cheers of relief all round. The motorcyclists headed off towards Karakul lake where we hoped to join them for the night.
First we had the small matter of getting up and over the highest pass on the Pamir Highway - Ak-Baital Pass at 4,655m. We continued on at s steady pace. We had a few twitchy moments when we saw Eric and Judith parked up ahead, but happily found they had stopped to check oil/coolant levels or stopped for a comfort break. The scenery continued to be rugged and dramatic (no I'm not talking about Colin). The sign for the pass is actually on the road a fair way before the summit to stop vehicles parking up next to it and causing an obstruction at the top, but everyone obviously still stops at the summit anyway, as we did. There was a giddy sense of euphoria from all four of us.
From here it was largely downhill towards Karakul lake so we could relax as Lolly and the Nissan stopped struggling, and we also passed a few happy cyclists.
The vivid blue of Karakul lake came into view and we could see the three motorcyclists with their tents set up in the distance. We had a lovely couple of hours chatting about the days experiences over a beer, before it got too cold to sit outside- the lake is still at 3,900m above sea level.
Day 18
This was to be our last day in Tajikistan. We waved (and pushed) the motorcyclists off, and got ourselves ready to head for the border of Kyrgyzstan. There were herds of yaks grazing around the lake. We stopped in the nearby dusty town of Karakul to fill up with water.
The road continued to be dramatic towards the border. The fences marked no-mans land with China - they certainly looked far more sturdy than the Afghanistan boundary fencing.
We had to go up yet another pass (Kyzyl-Art at 4,206m) to the Tajikistan border post where we were exiting. It was a quick process of being stamped out. There was a cyclist from India exiting at the same time. A tourist car was coming in from Kyrgyzstan, and one of the guys asked us if, as UK citizens, we had needed a visa. We confirmed we did, and he said he assumed you can get them at the border. We told him absolutely not. It turned out they were a Polish group, but one of their group who lives in the UK only had his British passport with him, and while the other Polish guys could enter Tajikistan visa free with their European passports, this one guy was been refused entry. They were only planning 2 days/1 night in Tajikistan, but with one of them not being able to get stamped in they had an issue. They asked if we could take him back into Kyrgyzstan and drop him at a guesthouse in Sary-Tash, the first town after the border. We are not keen taking strangers through border crossings, and we don't like to transport people in our living box as we don't have passenger seats or space to put their luggage, but we felt this guy had no other options, other than to stop his friends carrying on with their planned trip. He was very grateful, so we got him in the back and set off into the 20 kms of no-mans land towards the Kyrgyzstan border.
Well, I’m glad I managed to read this one now. I can slot in where Judith fits in. Great fun had all round !
What an adventure! The pictures are stunning and you guys look so chill ☺️
That was a riveting story , the comoradary of vehicle repairs and multi language barriers reminded me a little bit of our many R4H trips over the years with Colin the ‘chief puncture’ man! ,,, quick Q) can you tell us about how you navigate in your next post please. Best wishes, G 👁️ and L x