Traveling the Pamir Highway- Adventures on One of the Most Epic Routes in the World

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Long-distance traveling has its unique charm, allowing you to explore vast spaces on the surface of the Earth. Travelers draw and follow various routes. And some of them are “more special, more famous, and more epic”, sometimes called “heavenly roads”. One of them is the fantastic Pamir Highway- a road that offers the best experience of one of the highest mountain ranges on the planet- the Pamir Mountains.

Pamir Highway Overview

The Pamir Mountains are one of the harshest mountain lands on the Earth. These mountains have been an obstacle on the famous Silk Road for millennia, and people have always looked for ways to cross them. Various sections of what is today known as the “Pamir Highway” have been built and used by locals, trades, and military units. They have also been easily damaged by earthquakes, erosion, landslides, and avalanches.

Finally, less than 100 years ago, the whole route has been accomplished. It started in Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan, and ended in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, crossing through Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. The route was officially named “M41” by the Soviet authorities.

However, today, the sections between Mazari Sharif and Dushanbe use other official number names. In addition, Dushanbe is a convenient and popular starting (or ending) point for travelers crossing the Pamir (not Mazari Sharif or Termiz in Uzbekistan). Besides, the sections west of Dushanbe are not in Pamir but in the hilly lowlands around the Amudarya River and its tributaries.

As a result, the “real” Pamir Highway was formed- from Dushanbe to Osh (or vice versa). This is the most popular definition of the route. Another less popular definition makes Khorog the first (or the last) point of the Pamir Highway because the section between Dushanbe and Khorog is usually traveled without stops and special points of interest on it.

Pamir Highway in detail

So, let’s get into detail about the popular version of the Pamir Highway- from Dushanbe to Osh. Its total length is 1320 km. The route is as follows: Dushanbe- Khorog – Alichur – Murghab – Sary-Tash – Osh. These are the main sections.
Dushanbe – Khorog (595 km)

This is the longest section, and there aren’t too many special points of interest on it, so, usually, travelers pass it at once, currently for more than 12 hours. First, the road crosses the low hills and valleys between Dushanbe and Kulob. After Kulob, it ascends from 500 to 1950 m altitude, crossing Daraiob Pass, then descends to the valley of Panj River at 880 m. From there, it follows the Panj and the border with Afghanistan to Khorog in a spectacular canyon.

Currently, the road is perfectly paved from Dushanbe to Khalaikhumb- 352 km. It can be passed for about 6 hours and it is a pleasure to travel on it. But the rest of the section (243 km)- from Khalaikhumb to Khorog is terrible. Obviously, it is going to be paved too but for now, it is a kind of dirt and dusty road with heavy trucks rising a lot of dust in the air. You simply can’t travel with more than 30 km/h. Usually, you need 6 to 8 hours to cross it.

Dushanbe

Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, is the first (or the last) point of the Pamir Highway. It is a large city with a lot of interesting places to visit- museums, parks, and more. If you start your Pamir journey from here, Dushanbe is a great place to get more familiar with Tajikistan and to prepare for a trip. Or, if Dushanbe is your endpoint, it is a great place to celebrate the successful final of your Pamir adventures.

Panj River Canyon

The main point of interest (actually, not a point but a line) is the Panj River Canyon. For more than 341 km, the road follows the bottom of the canyon, the Panj River, and the border with Afghanistan. In some places, the canyon is very narrow, with extremely steep slopes on both sides. In other places, the canyon widens and its bottom turns into small plains. And all the time you can watch Afghanistan on the other side of the river. Needless to say, the fantastic landscapes follow you everywhere in this section.

Khorog

Khorog (2080 m altitude) is the end point of this section of the Pamir Highway. It is the largest town in Tajikistan’s Pamir and the capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. The town is an important starting point for travelers exploring Pamir and has gradually turned into a tourist city, with a lot of hotels, hostels, guesthouses, and homestays, with cafes, souvenir shops, and more signs of tourism.

It is also a good place for altitude acclimatization and supplying food and other things necessary for traveling further in Pamir.

Khorog – Alichur (207 km)

This section belongs to the original Pamir Highway on Road M41. The road quality is a bit better than the section from Khalai Kumb to Khorog- with very old (80-years-old) pavement, with cracks and potholes, but at least not as dusty as the previous section.

And this is the road quality in most of the route’s length from Khorog to Sary-Tash.
There aren’t special points of interest in this section but the landscapes around the road are spectacular and are “points of interest” by themselves. You can enjoy them all the time.

At 183rd km from Khorog, only 24 km before Alichur, the road reaches a point called Razlivka, with a road station. This is a junction with another road coming from the border with Afghanistan and the Wakhan Valley. More about this road later.

Alichur

Alichur (3880 m) is a village, located in a large plain, a part of the valley of Alichur River, literally “in the middle of nowhere”. The whole area is very sparsely populated due to the harsh environment of the Pamir Plateau. That’s why, Alichur is another important stop for travelers, and it also made the village a tourist place with dozens of guesthouses and homestays.

Alichur is known as one of the coldest settlements on Earth, with temperatures that sometimes drop below -60°C in winter. There is nothing special in the village itself, but the mountains and the spacious landscapes around it are full of hiking opportunities. One of the best hiking routes is the trail to Lake Bulunkul, actually starting from Razlivka.

Alichur – Murghab (107 km)

From Alichur, the road ascends a bit to around 4100 m altitude, then descends to around 3600 m, to the town of Murghab. Again, it is a road with the same old pavement of bad quality. Due to its bad quality, drivers have formed a lot of side dirt roads beside the main road in an attempt to drive a little more smoothly if possible.

Most of the time, the road runs on a desolate wilderness with vast open spaces, typical landscapes of the Pamir Plateau. Again, there aren’t some special points of interest along the road, but wherever you stop, you can walk aside from the road and feel like on another planet. Finally, the road reaches Murghab- the easternmost town of Tajikistan.

Murghab

Murghab is the last town in Tajikistan on the Pamir Highway and the largest settlement in the easternmost part of Tajikistan. Again, due to its remoteness, far from the other settlements, Murghab has become another traveler’s stop, with a lot of guesthouses and several hotels.

The town itself doesn’t offer any special points of interest but it is a point of interest itself, a silent place where you can see Pamiri Tajiks and Kyrgyz living together in harmony, like on an island “far away from the world”.

Murghab – Sary-Tash (227 km)

This is the most beautiful and epic section of the Pamir Highway. The road quality is the same, and in some places, the pavement completely disappears.

On this section, the Pamir Highway reaches its highest point- Ak Baital Pass (4655 m). Then, it descends to one of the most beautiful lakes in Central Asia- Lake Karakul, the last destination on the route in Tajikistan. Not far from Lake Karakul, the road reaches the border with Kyrgyzstan at Kyzyl Art Pass. The checkpoint of Tajikistan is only about 2 km from the border, but the checkpoint of Kyrgyzstan is 22 km far from the border, in a place called Bor-Dobo.

After Kyzyl Art Pass, the road descends to Bor-Dobo, already in Kyrgyzstan, and enters the valley of Kyzyl Suu River, called also Alay Valley. This is the end of Pamir Proper. About 20 km further, it reaches the village of Sary-Tash, where the bad road quality ends.

Ak Baital Pass (4655 m)

The highest point on the Pamir Highway is an iconic place. Travelers usually stop here to “celebrate” reaching this altitude and to enjoy the fantastic landscapes around it.

Lake Karakul

This is one of the special gems of Pamir. Lake Karakul is an endorheic lake (without outflow), with brackish waters (less salty than seawater but saltier than freshwater), formed on an impact crater. Pamir Highway passes beside its eastern shores and it is the last stop for travelers on the route in Tajikistan (or the first, if you come from Kyrgyzstan).

There is a small village between the road and the lake shores, with several guesthouses. Due to the growing tourism, some new places to stay have emerged. The best one of them is Sher’s Inn, built on the other side of the road. Walking and camping along the lake shores is another great experience. Hiking options are limited due to the proximity of the border with China.

Kyzyl Art Pass (4282 m)

This is another iconic spot on the Pamir Highway, marked by a statue of a mountain goat. It is symbolic because here you cross between the two countries Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. No matter how you travel on the Pamir Highway- by hitchhiking, by bicycle, by motorcycle, or by organized tour, you will almost certainly stop at this point.

Sary-Tash

This is the first village in Kyrgyzstan that you reach. It is another important stop for travelers (again, with guesthouses and homestays). There is nothing special in the village itself but it is a popular starting point for visiting the foot of Lenin Peak (first reaching the neighboring village of Sary-Moghul, then hiking or traveling by 4×4 vehicle to Tulpar Lake and the Lenin Peak Base Camp).

Sary-Tash – Osh (186 km)

This is the last section of the Pamir Highway. Here the road is finally with good quality. It crosses the Alay Range, considered by some people as a part of Pamir, by others- as a part of Tian Shan, or even as a separate, “independent” mountain range.
Shortly after Sary-Tash, the road reaches its highest point in the Alay Range at Taldyk Pakk (3580 m), and then it gradually descends to the southern edges of the Ferghana Valley, at around 1100 m. Finally, it reaches Osh, the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan.

Osh

Osh is a famous Central Asian city, one of the most important cultural centers in this part of the world. There are various points of interest in the city itself. The most notable of them is Mount Sulaiman Too with its museum and the spectacular views of Osh from above.

Being a part of the Pamir Highway and one of the most popular points in the Ferghana Valley, Osh is a tourist city. Here you can find many hotels, hostels, and guesthouses, where you can meet travelers who are ready to start their trip on the Pamir Highway or have just accomplished it and planning how to go further.

This is the end of the Pamir Highway (or the beginning, if you choose the opposite direction), but officially, the former Road M41 (now numbered as “ЭМ04”) proceeds further to the town of Kara Balta, west of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. However, this is not in Pamir already, and it is considered a completely different route.

Alternative versions

There are two alternative versions of the Pamir Highway, regularly used by travelers. The first one is the section from Dushanbe to Khalaikhumb through Kulob, along the Panj River. And the second one is on the Wakhan Valley through Ishkashim.
Dushanbe – Khalai Khumb on the former M41

This is the shortest road from Dushanbe to Khalai Khumb. It has been a part of the former Road M41, the “original” Pamir Highway. However, today it is much less used by travelers. Although the version via Kulob is not on the original Pamir Highway and it is longer as a distance, it is preferred by travelers for three reasons:

• Road quality via Kulob is much better.
• Therefore, shared taxis almost always choose the route via Kulob.
• The route via Kulob is more spectacular- you can watch Afghanistan on the other bank of the Panj River before Khalai Khumb.

Khorog – Alichur through Ishkashim and Wakhan Valley

This version is longer than the section on the original Pamir Highway, but in recent years it is much preferred by travelers, mostly because it is much more attractive, with more points of interest. And as a whole, this route runs through one of the most unique cultural regions in Central Asia, called Wakhan Corridor.

Only parts of this road are paved, with old pavement of bad quality, from Khorog to the village of Langar. From Langar to Razlivka, where the road joins the original Pamir Highway again, the road is dirt.

The first area of interest in this version is the Wakhan Valley- a wide valley, surrounded by the mountains of Hindukush in the south (in Afghanistan) and Pamir in the north. There is a chain of gems in this section- the town of Ishkashim, Qah-Qaha Fortress, Yamchun Fortress, Yamg Village, Vrang Buddhist stupa, and the Petroglyphs of Langar, all of them surrounded by spectacular landscapes.

The second area is around the section from Langar to Razlivka. It is a completely desolate place with magnificent otherworldly landscapes, where you can feel “at the end of the world”.

For these reasons, the version via the Wakhan Valley gradually turns into the “new Pamir Highway”.

How to travel the Pamir Highway

For now, Pamir Highway is still a wild and adventurous place. There is almost no public transport, except for the short sections between Dushanbe and Kulob, and between Sary-Tash and Osh. So, you can’t just go there and move from point to point by bus or train.

So, you have a few options- by organized tour, by car, by motorcycle, by bicycle, or by hitchhiking or even on foot. And if you want to plan your time (and budget), it depends on which type of traveling you choose, and how many people will travel together.

By organized tour

It should be two organized tours (one in Tajikistan, and one in Kyrgyzstan), at least for now. The reason is that the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan is closed to locals (due to local tensions related to territorial claims) and is open only for third-country tourists.

Organized tours look this way: You find a driver with a jeep (SUV, 4×4 vehicle), he becomes your guide and takes you from the starting point of the route to the border (to the actual border at Kyzyl-Art Pass, not to the checkpoint). You pay him all the expenses (food, accommodation, etc.) and salary.

When you reach the border, he can’t proceed further because he is a local. You get off his jeep and wait for the other jeep from the other country, who also can’t cross the border. They stop next to each other, you move your luggage from the first to the second jeep and proceed further.

This way of traveling is convenient and safe. You can tell the driver to take you to various detours along the road. And everything- time and money can be easily calculated in advance. But obviously, it is expensive for one traveler- the price can reach between 1500 and 2000 $, even more. So, such tours are more proper for a group of people who can share the money (or for rich solo travelers).

By your own vehicle

It can be by car (even by caravan), by motorcycle, or by bicycle. You can enjoy the freedom to go wherever you want, stop wherever you want, and plan your time as you like. You can travel by your own vehicle, or you can rent it- however, you can rent only a car or a motorcycle.

By car

Due to the bad road conditions, it should be a 4×4 vehicle (SUV, jeep), and it should be well-prepared, and in good quality. The risk of damage “in the middle of nowhere” is very real, and if it happens, you can be in trouble.

You can come by your own car or caravan (yes, I saw a few caravans from Europe on the Pamir Highway). Of course, it means that Pamir Highway should be a part of a longer trip, from your country… to your country (unless you buy or sell the vehicle somewhere on the road).

You can also rent a car. There are rental companies in Dushanbe and Osh that offer rental cars, especially for travelers on the Pamir Highway, so you can pick up your car in Dushanbe and drop it in Osh (or vice versa). However, this option is expensive- around 1000 $ only for the rent, and an additional 200-300 $ for fuel. So again, it is more proper for a group sharing the money, or for rich solo travelers (but with car-repair knowledge and experience).

If you are going to rent a car, don’t look for a cheap car! You may think you can save money but cheap cars are usually of low quality and the risk of damage in the middle is much higher. Safety is more important than the price.

By motorcycle

It is the same as the car. But again, your motorcycle should be of good quality. You can come by your own motorcycle or rent it from Dushanbe or Osh. The time for traveling on the whole Pamir Highway is almost the same as by car.

Join a motorcycle Pamir Highway tour!

By bicycle

This is another popular way to travel on the Pamir Highway. There aren’t bike rental companies in Dushanbe or Osh, so you can do it only on your own bicycle. The good thing is that you have the option to bring your bicycle by plane to Dushanbe or Osh and travel only on this route. Yes, a longer, trans-continental route would be more exciting but bicycling is slow, not everybody has enough free time to do it.

Normally, you can accomplish the whole Pamir Highway by car or motorcycle for about 5 to 7 days. By bicycle plan for at least 10 to 14 days. But what if you haven’t your own vehicle and don’t join a tour?

By hitchhiking and local shared taxis

This is probably the cheapest but the most uncertain way to travel the Pamir Highway. Since there isn’t public transport, if you don’t have your own vehicle, this is your only option.

The chance of finding a shared taxi or a passing car for hitchhiking is different in different sections of the route. You can easily find shared taxis between Dushanbe and Khorog, between Khorog and Ishkashim, between Khorog and Alichur, and between Alichur and Murghab.

They usually depart in the morning, and wait for other passengers until the car is full (unless you are ready to pay more money). Hitchhiking passing cars is another option but it can be highly unreliable in some sections.

The most difficult section for hitchhiking is between Langar and Alichur- locals travel on this road very seldom and you can wait for hours, even for days until you see a vehicle on this road. The section between Murghab and Lake Karakul is difficult too. And for crossing the border between the Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan checkpoints (in total- 24 km), you have to be ready to walk on foot, unless a tour or a private vehicle would agree to take you.

A good practice is to ask locals. They are helpful and usually, they would try to arrange transport for you to the next point on the route but even this can’t be 100% reliable- sometimes just no cars at all. Keep in mind that even for hitchhiking, usually, you usually have to pay, although not too much (normally between 5 and 15 $ per section). Many locals act like “taxi drivers” on the route.

So, if you choose the option to travel on the Pamir Highway by taxi and hitchhiking, always plan at least 2 extra days of your itinerary (or even more), in case you can’t find anything. If everything goes well, you can use these 2 days for relaxation.

However, more money can help you plan your trip in time- if you are ready to pay 200 $ for a section, every driver would be happy to take you to the next point. In other words, it depends on your budget: if you don’t have money, the whole itinerary will be uncertain. If you want a stable and clear itinerary, just be ready to pay more (actually- much more!), and everything will be in time as you plan.

Useful tips

This is what the transportation looks like on the Pamir Highway. But you have to plan other things too- accommodation, food, SIM card, language, travel gear, and more.

Accommodation

Arranging your accommodation on the Pamir Highway is not like in the well-developed tourist areas in the world (at least for now). You can’t use Booking, Agoda, or Airbnb to book a hotel in advance, at least for most places on the route, except for Dushanbe, Khorog, Sary-Tash, and Osh. Everywhere else, you can find a place to sleep only when you arrive.

But don’t worry, villages and towns on the route are full of guest houses and even small hotels, some of them quite popular among travelers. Even if you can’t find one, locals would invite you to their home where you can spend the night.

Take a look at the Best places to stay in Dushanbe!

Here are some good places to stay on the route, beyond Dushanbe, Khorog, Sary-Tash, and Osh:

Ishkashim:

Hanis Guesthouse– the most popular and the best place to sleep in the town.
Orion 99 Guesthouse– another alternative option.

Yamchun:

Bibi Fatima Bed & Breakfast– the best property in the village, close to the hot springs but a bit far from the main road.
Chorshanbe Homestay– a nice guest house in Pamiri traditional style.
Akim Homestay– another guest house in the same style as Chorshanbe, an alternative option.

Vrang:

Hotel Mirmamad Vrang– a small hotel in the center of the village, in the most convenient location.

Langar:

Hostel Behruz– the most popular place to sleep for foreign travelers, a typical hostel in “adventurous style”.
Guesthouse Yodgor– a nice guesthouse in Pamiri traditional style.

Alichur:

Homestay Shukrona– the most popular hostel-style guesthouse in Alichur.
Sher’s House Inn– the most “luxurious” property in Alichur.

Murghab:

Hotel Pamir– the most popular hotel in Murghab, a “hub for adventurers”.
Aruf Guesthouse– a nice guesthouse with a good location, beside the main road.

Lake Karakul:

Sher’s Inn– a new hotel with the best quality, quickly becoming popular among travelers.
Homestay Aigerim– the best and most popular of the older, more traditional places to stay.

Should you get your tent and sleeping bag? Yes, I would recommend it (although it adds to the weight and size of your luggage), especially if you travel by bicycle, by motorcycle, and by hitchhiking. There is a risk to stuck “in the middle of nowhere” for some reason (bad weather, bicycle or motorcycle damaged, no passing cars, etc.) and you should spend the night there, somehow.

Food and water

Basically, you would not remain hungry and thirsty but still need to be prepared.
There are a lot of restaurants and supermarkets in Dushanbe, Osh, and even Khorog. But between these points, it is a bit more specific.

Normally, every guesthouse, hotel, or homestay on the road offers breakfast and dinner. Usually, the most common meal for breakfast is fried eggs with some tomatoes and bread. For dinner, it is soup or the so-called “Plov”- rice with chicken or beef, and some vegetables.

So, the problem can be only the lunch. There are some mini markets in almost every larger village, including Alichur and the town of Murghab. Don’t expect a diversity of things to eat there but you still can find something to eat. You even don’t need to buy food for multiple days because you can resupply in the next village but it is still good to prepare for at least 2 days, just in case (bad weather, no cars, etc.)

Water supply is easy. You can buy water in every mini market, or you can drink a lot of tea (yes, always expect a lot of tea, in every place to stay). In addition, Wakhan Valley is full of natural springs (called “chashma”) with drinkable water, and this water is excellent- cold and pure. Of course, it is always good to have at least 1-2 full bottles in your luggage, just in case.

GBAO Permit

This is very important! You must obtain a GBAO permit before entering the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. There are several checkpoints on the way, in addition, the police and the army can check your documents at any time, and they will always look for your passport and your GBAO permit.

How to obtain a GBAO permit

Surprisingly, it is easier if you come from a country that requires an e-Visa for Tajikistan, because you can apply for an e-Visa and GBAO permit online at once. But if you come from a visa-free country, or from a country that accepts only visas from the embassy in advance, you can’t apply for a GBAO permit only online.

Instead, you have to go to an office and obtain it there. Or, if you join a tour, they can arrange it for you. These offices include the Visa and Immigration Department (OVIR) in Dushanbe, Khujand, and Khorog (although in Khorog, you are already in GBAO). Besides these places, you can obtain a GBAO permit from some embassies and consulates of Tajikistan around the world.

Obtaining a GBAO permit is easy. Usually, it takes about an hour, or even less (depending on the working time and queue of other people). For example, you go to OVIR in Dushanbe, a man prints some important information on a form at the gate of the building, and then you give this form to another counter and wait for a while.

Then, they give you the permit and you have to keep it well inside your passport until you leave GBAO or Tajikistan (they will collect your GBAO permit in the Tajikistani checkpoint at the border with Kyrgyzstan). The price varies, but I paid 80 TJS (for printing and for the permit itself).

So, if you start your Pamir Highway journey from Dushanbe, just plan at least 1-2 hours of your Dushanbe itinerary for this procedure. However, keep in mind that on Saturday it closes at 14:00, and on Sunday it is closed, so plan accordingly!

Crossing from Tajikistan to Kyrgyzstan

Due to some local territorial tensions between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the border at Kyzyl-Art Pass was temporarily closed until 2023. Now it is reopened but only for third-country tourists. And entering Kyrgyzstan from Tajikistan through this border pass is not like arriving in Kyrgyzstan from the airport in Bishkek. Here, you need a registration in the Kyrgyz Tourism Department. And to do that, you have to contact them or find a Kyrgyz travel company to arrange it.

Here is the contact email of the Tourism Department: info@tourism.gov.kg.
And this is a good company that can do it too (for 15$): Destination Osh.

If you don’t do it, or do it too late, you can be stuck at the Kyrgyzstan Checkpoint and they will not allow you to proceed. They can offer you a tour company that they know (the company would require 50$ for an urgent case) and a small (a bit dirty, used by other travelers in such a situation) cabin to spend the night if the tour company can’t arrange it in the same day, or a place to install your tent until the next day.

Or, if you apply too late, the registration may not arrive at the checkpoint on time and you still have to wait. Otherwise, they may tell you to back to Tajikistan (which obviously you don’t want). But if they see your name on their list, you are free to pass the border checkpoint.

SIM card, Wifi, mobile signal, and… electricity

It is always important to have a good mobile signal. However, the mobile signal along the Pamir Highway is limited. There is some signal but it is usually only something like 2G, only sometimes 3G (very slow), or you can often see only “E” or “H” on your mobile phone. Sometimes any signal is completely missing.

This is the situation between Khorog, Tajikistan, and Sary-Tash, Kyrgyzstan. Only in some limited points and sections of the road, you can get a better signal, depending on which mobile company’s SIM card you use.

Tcell have some good signal in the Wakhan Valley. Locals use Tcell for communication. But it is very weak in Alichur and Murghab. At the same time, Megafon is better in Murghab, you can even get some 4G and a relatively good internet connection, but it is weak and unstable in Wakhan.

Wifi is almost missing. You can find it only in a few hotels like Pamir Hotel in Murghab, and honestly, using a mobile signal can be better. But everything can be lost if there isn’t electricity…

Yes, until only recently, there wasn’t any electricity from Khorog to the border checkpoints. Local people used only generators and sometimes solar panels. And the electricity provided in this way was unstable, only at certain hours.

But now things gradually change. There is almost constant electricity in Murghab and most villages, provided not only for daily use but also for the new mobile network towers. Yet you can still expect in some places electricity only in the evening.

This can also cause problems with your mobile phone charging- if not for signal, at least for photos and videos. So, if you travel by car or hitchhiking, use it to charge your phone from the car or ask the driver to contact his car charger. If you travel by bicycle, bring a solar panel and use it while you are on the road- it charges slowly but still can help.

A reminder: If you travel independently, don’t forget to install offline maps of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan on your phone!

Language

People along the Pamir Highway speak the official Tajik language, local Pamiri dialects, and some Russian (not always perfect). Locals that know English are rare, usually only those who work as tour drivers or in the most popular hotels.

So, if you don’t know Tajik or Russian, you most probably would need Google Translate, and to use it, you would need some mobile signal. Otherwise, install at least an offline Russian-English dictionary, it can still help.

Travel gear

Pamir Highway runs through epic mountains that reach more than 7000 m altitude. And the road itself is located between 2000 and 3000 m altitude in Wakhan, and between 3000 and 4655 m on the Pamir Plateau.

Nevertheless, the weather in summer is nice. Rains are relatively rare, and temperature seldom drops below 7-8°C, reaching more than 20°C at noon- a nice and pleasant weather.

So, get some long pants, long-sleeve shirts and polars, and a light jacket. However, in some cases, it can get colder and even snowy for a while, especially between Lake Karakol and Sary-Tash. So, a warmer jacket is always advisable, especially if you ride a bicycle, motorcycle, or hitchhike (don’t forget that if you go hitchhiking, most probably you have to walk on foot for 5-6 hours between the two checkpoints across the border.

Wear good three-season hiking shoes. Even if you don’t go hiking, only walking on the road can be uncomfortable with light summer shoes.

Although it is not hot, the sun is very strong and you need good protection from the UV. Get a sunscreen or at least a hat.

As mentioned above, I would advise you to bring camping gear- if not a tent, at least a sleeping bag and a pad- you don’t know whether you may be stuck “in the middle of nowhere” without shelter. If you go hiking (and it is highly recommendable to do it), bring hiking poles too.

Finally, bring your electrical devices. Besides your mobile phone and charging accessories (a cable, a power bank, and a charging connector), you may want to take your laptop (with its accessories), a more professional camera, and a GoPro.

I wouldn’t advise you to bring your drone. Although there is light control, it is officially illegal in Tajikistan to use it (in Kyrgyzstan is ok). Most probably nobody will check your drone or will see it flying but if it happens, they have the full right to confiscate it.

All of the above is about summer and its spring-fall shoulders. But if you plan to travel on the Pamir Highway in late fall, early spring, or winter, it is another story. First, some sections of the Pamir Highway can be completely inaccessible, covered in snow. Second, temperature can drop severely, especially in the area around Alichur. In other words, traveling on the Pamir Highway in winter can be compared to a polar expedition!

Safety

Currently, Pamir Highway and the whole region around it is safe. The last unrest was in 2022 when 40 people were killed (according to some sources) in GBAO. But since then, Pamir has been in peace. It is not only politically stable (for now) but with very low criminal rate. Local people are friendly and hospitable, always welcoming tourists and happy to assist them.

You should also not worry about the proximity of neighboring Afghanistan. If you travel on the Wakhan Valley version of the Pamir Highway, Afghanistan will be all the time just next to you, on the other side of the river, for more than 500 km. You can easily see the Afghans on the other side- children playing, men riding motorcycles, etc. And everything is calm and peaceful.

This is Pamir Highway in short. There are many more details that you would need to know but at least for an initial planning, this guide can help you. Although it is a bit challenging, a Pamir Highway journey is not as difficult to do as it may look if you prepare and plan well in advance. And the reward is priceless.

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