Our adventures in Tajikistan were fun, but not without surprises… It's been already two weeks we didn't give you any update, but it was worth waiting!
Without giving you all the details about how difficult it is to rent a car here, we started our Pamir Highway travel from Dushanbe on August 1st in a Mitsubishi Pajero that was not in good shape… We found 2 other travelers to share the adventure and the cost: Mark Grant from the US and Nargiza, a young lady from Kazakhstan.
Day 1: The Afghan Border
We were a bit nervous to start the Pamir Highway, because 2 days before there was a very sad terrorist attack and 4 tourists had been killed in a really awful way. Anyway, our decision was already taken so we didn't change our plans! After just a few hours from Dushanbe, we could already see beautiful landscapes and mountains. We've been stopped 6 times by police and 1 time by military on the way. We reached the border of Afghanistan at the end of the day and stopped in a small village to sleep (Khostav).
Days 2–3: The Afghan Side
The second day was also intense — a lot of driving. It's really interesting to observe the Afghanistan side, to see the people, the villages and the roads. It's so close from the Tajikistan road! It would be really easy to cross the river and reach the country.
We did a detour to reach a nice place to sleep — the Valley of Bartang. Lot of cyclists choose this way but we preferred to follow the Afghan border all the way. We made a nice fire and prepared a good meal!
Next morning we reached almost Khorog — the biggest city on the Pamir Highway. But our issue with one tire ended by literally its explosion… We lost some time to change it and started to really be pissed off by this car. No aircon, no music, no lights and lots of small boring problems.
Days 4–5: Camels, Yurts, and the Milky Way
We continued with Mark (without a spare tire anymore…). After a detour to see hot springs (which Mark and William gave up on when they saw all the men naked), we ended in a small village called Dasht. We found a nice guesthouse under construction — the same location used in a famous French movie "Special Force" to fake Afghanistan!
We continued up to Langar for the famous Langar Trek. We didn't complete it fully, but it was enough for a great view of white peaks and the valley. We drove one hour more to reach a spot where we found camels, lots of marmots, donkeys and a river. Mark slept in a Yurt and us in our tent!
Day 6: 4800 Meters and the Tire Strikes Again
The next day we stopped to hike a really nice viewpoint. Without our backpacks, we reached 4800 meters of altitude quickly. It was worth it! But then one of our tires exploded again… Hopefully we were just entering the main road around 10km from a village (Alichur). It was a painful afternoon as we needed to wait for the tire delivery from Osh, Kyrgyzstan. We waited until the next day 3 PM!
Days 7–8: The Wakhan Corridor and Karakul
We skipped the geysers and drove all the way back to the Afghan border. This was the start of the most beautiful part of the Pamir for us. We crossed the famous Zurkul Lake and slept close to the Kuli Kukjigit lake. The sunset in this area was gorgeous and we were even able to distinguish the Milky Way!
After a good sleep, we crossed groups of yaks, cows, goats, sheep and donkeys. The road was so difficult that we did less than 15 km in one hour — crossing rivers and tough rocky passes. We arrived around 4PM in the village of Karakul. Finally, we found a good homestay there with a hot shower (incredible!).
Into Kyrgyzstan
Our last day was also full of surprises… We crossed the Tajikistan/Kyrgyzstan border. Crossing with the Pajero was really interesting — 4 different "offices" (tiny sheds) to get our exit stamp and then 20 km in no man's land before the Kyrgyz entry.
Finally, we entered Kyrgyzstan! The road after 20 km was almost perfect — what a relief! The landscapes changed a bit and we saw much more animals. And to finish our adventure, 30 km before reaching Osh, the car just stopped working… We were stuck again for 2 hours, but we got help eventually!
Since 3 days, we are in Osh city relaxing and preparing our next adventure!
August 1–8, 2018