Tajikistan - Onto the Pamir Highway

The Pamir Highway is one of the world’s most famous overland routes and has a bit of a cult status amongst travellers.  The main route tends to be between Dushanbe in Tajikistan and Osh in Kyrgyzstan, and there are several optional routes within it.  Much of the route hugs the Panj River which marks the Afghanistan border.

Some facts about the Pamir Highway:

• It is the second highest international highway in the world, climbing up to 4,655m (the Karakoram Highway in Northern India that connects Pakistan and China is 4,693m)

• The route crosses the Pamir mountains known as the ‘Roof of the world’. There are several peaks over 7,000m to be seen on the route.

• The road was largely constructed by the Soviet Union during the 1930’s for military and strategic purposes.

• It passes through some of the most sparsely populated regions on earth.

• The road surface varies enormously from smooth asphalt (not that we recall seeing much of that) through to rough gravel, sand, river crossings and bone jarring washboard sections.

• It’s a tough journey in a 4x4 vehicle, but cyclists and motorcyclists from around the world come here to conquer one of the greatest adventure routes ever built.

We were taking the Dushanbe to Osh route, with a detour through the Wakhan Valley which totals around 1,500km. Tour vehicles can whiz through the route in around 5 days, but we wanted to take our time and more importantly we needed to take it steady to avoid trashing the interior of Lolly which is already showing signs of stress from our trip so far.

Day 1

After stocking up with food supplies and filling up with the best quality diesel we’re likely to find until we reach Osh, we headed out of Dushanbe.  We didn’t plan to cover many kms for our first day, and found a beautiful peaceful stop next to Norak Reservoir.  We passed a shepherdess fast asleep in the middle of the track.  We woke up to the sound of cows munching on the grass and birdsong.

Day 2

The route today took us to the Afghan border.  On the way we passed the Hulbuk Fortress which had once been a royal capital on the silk route.  Colin had an impromptu wash at a roadside tap where we filled our water tank.

We went through the busy town of Kolob, one of Tajikistan’s oldest cities.  Beyond this we climbed our first pass, the Shurabad Pass which climbs to around 2,300m above sea level. We met 3 French Canadian cyclists on the climb and they gratefully took some cold water from us as it was a hot day.  The scenery started to get more rugged now and we had a bit of a pinch me moment when we realised we were looking at Afghanistan just across the valley.

We parked up just off the highway next to a school on the edge of a small village.  A young lady had trouble coaxing the turkeys she was walking out from the shade that Lolly was providing.  There were locusts everywhere in the long grasses.  We had a number of boys cycling up to have a look at us, but had a pretty peaceful night. 

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Day 3

When teachers and pupils started arriving for school the next morning we thought we’d better move on.  Colin tried his gymnastic prowess out on some parallel bars.  Shortly down the road we passed a famous sign for Afghanistan that was covered in overlanders stickers from all over the world. Again, we couldn’t quite get our heads around the fact we were looking at Afghanistan just over the river. We could see people and vehicles going about their daily life. The army are building fences for large sections of the Tajikistan side – they didn’t look like they would deter people from Afghanistan too much.  At one point I had got out of Lolly to take a photo and a passing car screeched to a halt and a very irate man told me I must not take photos of the Afghanistan side – it’s a bit hard not too it’s so close.

We arrived in the town of Kalai-Khum around lunchtime. Coming into the town there were a strange random collection of world monuments including Big Ben and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  We decided to have lunch in one of the riverside restaurants that had a balcony overhanging the water.  We weren’t overwhelmed with the choice – plov or dumplings. 

Near here we read there was Tajikistan’s version of Machu Picchu – an archaeological site on top of a hill, however we couldn’t find how to reach it by vehicle or by foot and drove on.

We knew the next section of road was going to be challenging due to long term roadworks, but we hadn’t anticipated quite how bad it was going to be. We very quickly came to a tunnel that was under construction, and kicked ourselves when we realised that it was only open to pass through during the day between midday and 1 p.m and we reached it at 1.10pm. This meant a long detour around an old road that was in terrible condition and was scarily narrow in places with big trucks travelling in both directions. We breathed a sigh of relief when we rejoined the main road after over an hour, although the condition of this was deteriorating too.  We couldn’t believe it when we reached another tunnel under construction and ended up on another 13km narrow, dusty and rough road stuck behind some large lorries. It was challenging enough for us to drive this road, so we couldn’t imagine how bad it is for the lorry drivers who have to drive perilously close to the edge.  At one point a lorry in front of us got completely stranded on a sandy incline.  We must have waited the best part of an hour while he had numerous failed attempts to get past this section.  We were willing him to succeed as we saw an ever increasing number of oncoming trucks in the distance.

Once through this section we just wanted to get parked up as soon as we could – it had been a tiring days driving for Colin.  We found a place listed on iOverlander up a steep narrow track in a side valley.  There was a perfect spot to park up by a fast flowing river with stunning views back down the valley into Afghanistan.  The river was noisy, but it was a great location.

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Day 4

We had planned to move on, but had unexpectedly been able to get Wi-Fi reception so decided we’d spend another day and night in this great spot to do some admin jobs and carry out a bit of cleaning of Lolly.  We filled our water tank with the fresh mountain water.  In the afternoon Colin wanted to say he’s cycled on the Pamir Highway, so he took his gravel bike down into the valley and tried cycling a few kms.  The road was awful so it wasn’t the most enjoyable experience. Late afternoon we had a procession of other overland vehicles arrive – 3 German vehicles, a Dutch vehicle, and a French couple in a hire vehicle.

Day 5

Our plan today was to have a short diversion off the main Pamir Highway, up the Bartang Valley where we could leave Lolly to hike up to a mountain village and spend the night in a homestay.  The road to Rushon, where the turn-off to the Bartang Valley is, was pretty shabby but very scenic.

Once we turned on to the Bartang Valley the scenery immediately changed.  It is a beautiful lush green valley and we passed small friendly villages. This valley is one many cyclists choose to do rather than the challenging road surfaces of the Wakhan Valley, but it still looked pretty challenging to us. We stopped to talk to a female cyclist coming the other way who seemed very positive about the conditions – you must be mentally tough and well as physically tough to take on such a challenge.

It was around 23km to the park up spot where we were going to leave Lolly.  There were a couple of tourist vehicles sitting under the shade waiting for their clients to return from the hike.  We threw our wash stuff in our day bags and set off up the Jizeu Valley which starts by crossing the river on a suspension bridge.  

We’re not regular hikers, but this hike is listed as being one of the finest short hikes on the Pamir Highway with pretty scenery leading to isolated traditional Pamiri villages that can only be reached by foot.  It is a 15km return hike to the first village.   It wasn’t a hard hike, but being largely vehicle bound the last few weeks we’re not super fit.  There was a steeper section near the beginning, with a very narrow shale path with a steep drop off to the river below, but it became a more gradual incline further up. 

We arrived at the first village around 6.30pm.  There is a homestay here and there were a few tourist groups already here to spend the night.  The accommodation was a shared caravanserai style sleeping room.  There must have been around 14 of us staying.  We were served green tea and snacks before a dinner of hearty soup, very chewy bread and salad. 

We sat around chatting as it went dark but everyone drifted off to bed quite early.  The beds were rolls mats on raised structures with heavy quilts on – they were comfortable and cosy and we slept pretty well. 

Day 6

The light in the morning was beautiful.  After breakfast all the other tourists left to walk back down to their vehicles and drivers. We went for a hike further up the valley where there are beautiful glacial lakes, fruit orchards and more small villages with homestays.

We walked back down the valley late morning.  We had spotted a place serving coffee and refreshments back down at the bottom which we thought would be welcome before we set off again in Lolly.  There were two guys, who looked like they may have once been backpackers, running the enterprise, but they seemed a bit shocked to have visitors, and when we asked for a watermelon they didn’t seem to know what to do.  We tried something easier – green tea, which we did eventually get a large pot of, accompanied by multiple plates of nuts, biscuits and dried fruits.  They only charged us $2 for it all, so we can’t see them becoming rich on their business.

Back in Lolly we retraced our steps about half way back down the Bartang Valley and found a beautiful spot to park for the night on the edge of a village called Emts.  The villagers walking past with their cows were all very friendly and we had a procession of boys trying out their English and on the cadge for sweets.  An older gentleman came and sat with us and told us he was 79 years old and had lived in Germany when serving in the Soviet army in the 1960’s.   It is never easy to have conversations when neither party has a mutual language, but somehow we managed to glean a bit about his life and family.  I tried my first ever Gin and Tonic beer in the evening – to be recommended.

Day 7

We enjoyed another scenic drive back down the Bartang Valley to rejoin the main Pamir Highway which we followed into the key central hub town of Khorog.  Most travellers stop off here to stock up with food supplies, get cash from the ATMs (a rare sight on the Highway) and fill up fuel tanks.

We had been recommended a homestay that allows overlanders to park in their yard and use their facilities – kitchen, washing machine, shower and offered dinner and breakfast.  There were two other German overland vehicles in when we arrived, both of which we’d met at various points on our journey.  A third German vehicle pulled up later.  There wasn’t a great deal to do in the town, but the homestay made the perfect place to get ourselves prepared for the Wakhan Valley and beyond, which we were expecting to be ramping up a level in challenging road conditions.  The lady owner was such a lovely person and very helpful with all her guests.  She collects local arts which she displays in the homestay, some of which she buys from the Afghan Markets in the region.  We ended up spending 3 nights here and enjoyed the delicious fresh food served up in the evenings and for breakfast.

Days 8 & 9

We spent the next 2 days catching up on admin jobs, having a walk around the town (sadly lacking good coffee) and visiting the botanical gardens, one of the world’s highest. They were established in 1940 and according to the homestay owner had been fantastic in Soviet times, but since Independence had been left to decline.  We caught a local shared taxi up to the site, but hadn’t realised what a trek it was going to be to reach the ticket kiosk, then a further uphill trek in the heat up to the actual entrance.  There were good views back over the town, but the gardens themselves had very few flowers, and there was no site map to explain what each section represented.

We met some nice fellow travellers at the homestay, including cyclists, other Europeans who were self-driving in hire vehicles and a German/Algerian couple who gave us some tips for Kyrgyzstan and their driver who gave us some tips for our onward journey in Tajikistan.  We were keen to visit an Afghan market at the start of the Wakhan valley, but all the reports suggested tourists were not allowed entry.  There were occasional reports of Europeans being allowed in, so with what we saw as a 50:50 chance we thought we’d aim to be there on the Saturday when the main market operates.  A German traveller, Armin, said he wanted to try to see it, so we arranged to hook up with him the evening before and drive there together.

To be continued....