On the Pamir Highway: Alichur, One of the Coldest Places on Earth

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Pamir Highway is one of the most epic routes on Earth, revealing fantastic landscapes where you can feel like traveling on another planet. On this route, you can see vast barren spaces under the deep blue sky, turquoise lakes, icy mountain peaks, and unique local culture, scattered in only several small settlements. One of these settlements in Alichur, a village “in the middle of nowhere”, is known as one of the coldest places in the world.

About Alichur

Don’t expect anything “touristy” here. Alichur is not an “old town” type of village, with museums, “old houses”, local markets with souvenirs, amusement facilities, nightlife, or other things like these “like in Thailand”. Here, you are “at the end of the world”, far from civilization. There is only one main road- the famous Pamir Highway, passing through the village, and dirt “streets” between the white one-storey local houses. And all of this is surrounded by vast, lonely open space.

Some geography

Alichur is located in a wide plain, surrounded by two highly segmented ridges, cut by multiple valleys. The main river flowing on this plain is the Gunt River (the same river that further west flows through Khorog and merges with the Panj River), called also the Alichur River on some maps. The altitude of the village is 3880 m, and the ridges north and south of the plain rise up to 5300-5500 m.

To the west, the Gunt (Alichur) River flows through a narrower valley and an area with several alpine lakes before it gradually descends into a deeper canyon. And to the east, the long plain divides into small branches with small mountain streams that form the main Alichur River.

All of this is almost barren stones and dust, with very little grass, mostly along the streams. It is a bit like a “Martian landscape,” a mountain desert. The surrounding ridges are almost permanently covered by snow, with glaciers descending from the highest peaks.

Alichur is in the middle of this environment. The plain where it is located is closed by ridges, forming conditions for deep temperature inversion in winter. This is why it can get extremely cold early in the morning. Although the average temperature in the coldest season is around -20°C, the lowest recorded temperature is around -60°C!

Nevertheless, people still live in these harsh conditions for centuries.

Local people

Most of the locals are Kyrgyz, and the rest are Pamiri Tajiks. You can easily recognize them- Kyrgyz have more Eastern Asian faces while Tajiks look more European. But all of them live in peace and harmony, in their small closed society.

In such a harsh environment, the local people’s life is not easy. Farming is almost impossible here. There are no forests. So, the only possible livelihood is animal husbandry- sheep and cows. And even this livelihood is difficult with the sparse grass, growing only during the short summer. This is what shaped their local culture.

Despite the hard lifestyle, they are very hospitable. In recent years, new fresh tendencies came to Alichur from the outside world. First, this is the trade on the passing Pamir Highway, connecting Tajikistan with the nearby China. Large trucks travel on this route, and Alichur is one of their stops.

And the second is the new adventurous tourism. Travelers from all over the world make their journey on the epic Pamir Highway and spend a night or two in Alichur. So, some locals turned their homes into guesthouses and even learned some English. With the passing of travelers, they gradually started to learn about the outside world. And again, the main reason for this is the Pamir Highway.

Pamir Highway

Pamir Highway is a road built by the Russians, more than a century ago. Its last version was gradually determined and called M-41 during the Soviet times. Today, this road has a different numeration and only a part of the former M-41 is named “Pamir Highway”- from Dushanbe, Tajikistan to Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Pamir Highway has two alternative versions but all of them join in one between a point called Razlivka (about 23 km west of Alichur) and Osh.

So, Alichur is one of the important stops on the Pamir Highway. The road was paved about 80 years ago and currently, its pavement is in bad condition, forcing drivers to make alternative dirt roads beside the main road.

But it can’t stop travelers from having adventure experience on the Pamir Highway, on the contrary, the bad road even adds to the adventures. And most importantly, the landscapes of the strait, endless, and empty road “in the middle of nowhere” are really spectacular. In fact, you don’t go to Alichur with a special purpose to visit it like a specific destination, but you go traveling with a focus on the Pamir Highway and Alichur is only one of its epic stops.

What to do in and around Alichur

Alichur is not a place with specific “points of interest” like most “normal” tourist destinations. But the village itself and the whole fantastic landscape around it is one big “point of interest”. So, you travel on the Pamir Highway and stop in Alichur. Don’t hurry to skip it or leave it quickly, because the experience you can dive into is like a dream!

Just relax with the locals in the village

Alichur is a silent place. Sometimes, you can hear a passing car or a truck but it is seldom, then the noise disappears in the distance. What remains is only sheep’s “baa” from time to time, some conversation between locals here or there, and the fresh cool wind of Pamir.

You can’t find such a serenity everywhere in the world. This is a place where time has stopped. So, stop for a while too!

Take a walk around the village. Watch the people and their daily life. What is it to live in the middle of such a wilderness? Yes, most locals can’t speak English but you still can make friends with them. When the evening comes, use the time to have dinner with the hosts. And after the dinner, don’t go to bed immediately. Wear some warm clothes, go out, and watch the Cosmos over Alichur and the endless fantastic Pamir Mountains!

Walk in the endless emptiness around the village

When we think about a popular city, a town, or another settlement, we usually don’t think about the nature that surrounds it. But Alichur is different. It is a part of the Pamir wilderness, and the Pamir wilderness is a part of Alichur!

So, the “destination Alichur” is much larger than the village itself. It is the whole plain of the Alichur River and the surrounding ridges. But here I talk only about a short walk, around the empty plain and the foot of the ridges. It is like walking on another planet, in full loneliness, emptiness, and silence. You will see nothing but “the end of the world”. The only signs of human presence will be the white dots of the village houses far away, in the middle of the wilderness, like a lonely and tiny “human island” in the vastness.

Just choose any direction out of the village and try it!

Visit Bulunkul Lake

Now, let’s talk about longer hikes, further away from the village of Alichur.
There is a lake area west of Alichur, consisting of several lakes. The largest of them is Yashilkul. Other lakes in this area include Bulunkul, Tuz-Kol, Sasyk Kul, and Chururkul. The most beautiful and popular of them is Bulunkul.

Bulunkul is a small and shallow freshwater lake at 3760 m altitude, with clear water, surrounded by sand and pebble meadows. It is also known as a bird sanctuary and is included in the Bulunkul and Yashilkul Lakes and Mountains Important Bird Area. There is a small village with the same name about 2 km southwest of the lake.

From Alichur, you can reach Bulunkul Lake in two ways. The easiest way is by 4×4 vehicle on the Pamir Highway to Razlivka (the point where the official Pamir Highway and the road from the Wakhan Valley join), and then on an 18 km dirt road to the village of Bulunkul. From the village, you can easily walk to the lake shores, or even further to Yashilkul Lake. You can make it within one day or you can stay for one night in one of the few guesthouses in the Bulunkul village.

An alternative way is on another dirt road directly from Alichur. It starts from the Pamir Highway at the west exit of the village and partially follows the Alichur River westward. The road is about 37 km long, with many alternative roads beside it. It requires a good 4×4 vehicle, or you can do it by bike or on foot (for 2 days), then back on the main road by local taxi from Bulunkul to Alichur.

Discovers some traces from the ancient past

Yes, even here, in the vast wilderness, you can find some traces of history. To do this, you have to go eastward on the Pamir Highway, to the village of Bash Gumbaz (it is still not mentioned in Google Maps, the place around it is named just “Alichur” but it is an error). The village is accessible by a 4×4 vehicle from Alichur, on the Pamir Highway in the direction of Murghab. At the 30th km, you have to turn right for another 4 km to the village.

Here you can find ruins of an ancient caravanserai, a trade station, probably built to serve one of the Silk Road routes. Not far from it, around 3 km northwest of the village, you can find a Chinese tomb, and other graves around it, probably belonging to a Chinese merchant and military commander who died here on his way to the Wakhan Valley.

These spots, combined with the stunning scenery of Pamir are really impressive. Not just for history but for the whole landscape. So, a day trip to Bash Gumbaz, combined with some hiking in the area is worth planning. Btw, on the way from Alichur to Bash Gumbaz, stop at the 12th km and see the fairy-tale Ak-Bulak spring- it is located just beside the road. It is a small pond (and several other ponds nearby with crystal clear water.

Hike to a nearby summit

This is another walking opportunity but longer and more serious than just “walk around Alichur”. So, you have to prepare much better, for at least a day or two. There are no specific “hiking trails” to the ridges north or south of Alichur but you just can choose one of the valleys and follow it. Or, you can choose one of the ridges between the valleys, however, it is more difficult.

You can reach more than 5000 m altitude, to the glaciers and eternal snow around the peaks. Here, you can install your tent and spend the night under the stars.

But beware, nature is harsh and sometimes can be unforgiving here. You have to be well-prepared for high altitude and for bad weather. Even in summer, you can be stuck in a snowstorm (sometimes even with thunders which make it even more dangerous).

If you are lucky, you can spot some Marco Polo sheep- a wild species of cow-size sheep, usually in black color. However, these animals are extremely shy and you can see them only from far away. Btw, locals from Alichur can organize a special hiking tour, known as the “Marco Polo sheep safari”, with strong binoculars to help you see the sheep better.

How to reach Alichur

Today, Alichur is not too difficult to reach because it is located on the Pamir Highway- a popular traveler’s route and the only on-land connection between Tajikistan and China. And in general, you would visit Alichur as a part of your Pamir Highway trip.

Many travelers arrange their journey on the Pamir Highway by their own vehicles- a car, a caravan, a motorcycle, or a bicycle. Or they join an organized tour. All of them do it from Dushanbe to Osh, or vice versa.

But some travelers don’t have their own vehicles and don’t use organized tours. And since there is no public transport on the Pamir Highway, the only way to travel is by shared taxis or just hitchhiking. Normally, there are shared taxis traveling from Khorog to Alichur or in the opposite direction- from Murghab to Alichur, and all of them leave early morning.

However, sometimes (as it was in my case), especially during holidays, you can’t find a shared taxi. In this case, you better ask the host of your hotel or guesthouse (in Khorog or Murghab) to help you arrange a passing car. Actually, if you are ready to pay enough, you can easily find a car (for about 100-150$) but why would you pay “an air ticket price” when you can just find a passing car (with a bit of patience) for about 10-15$, even cheaper?

If you come from the Wakhan Valley without your own vehicle and an organized tour, it is more difficult, because locals very seldom travel on the road between Langar and Razlivka (west of Alichur) through Khargush. In this case, you can be stuck for a day or two until find someone traveling in this direction. And expect a higher price. Unless you are ready to pay 200$ for a taxi from Langar.

Where to stay in Alichur

When the locals in Alichur noticed the tourism running on the Pamir Highway and passing through their village, some of them turned their homes into guesthouses and even built one-two hotels. So, if you travel on this route and stop in Alichur, you have enough options to spend the night.

Here are the best of them:

• Homestay Shukrona. A cozy place with two dormitory rooms. The host knows English because she has studied it abroad.
• She’r House Inn. The most “luxurious” hotel-type property in Alichur, a nice try to make something touristy.
• Café & Hostel Gold Fish. A popular hostel-type guesthouse. It is nice but sometimes can be full because it is the favorite place to stay for truck drivers.
• Hotel Nur. One of the first hotel-type properties in Alichur.
• Amina Homestay. Another good traditional homestay with the best “restaurant” in Alichur.

Don’t expect any luxury in Alichur (like X-star hotels, etc.), and forget about Booking or Agoda. This is a totally different place, proper for adventurous travelers. The properties mentioned above (as well as some other homes that can be open for travelers) are great places to communicate with the local people and to find other travel mates.
Pamir Highway is an amazing route through a fantastic wilderness, and Alichur is one of the precious gems on it.

So, don’t skip Alichur, and don’t be in a hurry to leave it quickly. When you plan your Pamir Highway journey, consider some time in this village “in the middle of nowhere”, because it is one of the highlights of this epic route.

Take a look at the videos about the road to Alichur below: 

Check some travel books about Tajikistan and Pamir:

    

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