I did this trip in my own car this year, from the UK and back.
The article is a bit dishonest about what the highway is like. The majority of the Pamir Highway (the M41) is actually in quite good condition. There are just occasional unpaved stretches, notably the mountain passes and the stretch down to Khorog. The flat bits have good, wide tarmac that you can do 60mph on.
Still - it was a good lesson in being prepared. There are not many people passing by, so you really don't want to be breaking down. Winter was drawing in when we were there, making it extra dicey.
The real adventure is getting off the Pamir Highway. The Wakhan Valley, Zorkul Lake, the Bartang Valley. That is where my best memories are from, and where most of the photos in the article seem to be from.
Apart from the landscapes, my other fond memory is of the Pamiri people. They are such kind, warm people. It is engrained in their culture to care for travellers. When you live in such a hostile environment, you have to look after each other out of necessity.
It was also interesting seeing how their quality of life has changed recently. There is no cell service, and electricity only in the two large towns. But most of the places we visited without electricity now have cheap solar panels from China. The influx of tourism means that everyone runs a homestay and can start to afford things like that.
I have been meaning to write up the trip in more detail. I haven't recorded it particularly well yet. A few photos are on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bfirsh/
Did the trip also with my own car, a shitty 1998 VW Passat, starting from Germany in 2016.
IIRC we passed Wakhan Valley (not sure about bartang) and I have to agree: the most awesome parts were the detours from the M41.
Did a write up on the whole trip (german only, sorry: https://www.purplepower.de/ )
I did the journey in early September, starting in Dushanbe, as part of my backpacking trip throughout Central Asia. Highlight of my trip.
Surprisingly easy to travel as a lone backpacker nowadays as you can arrange transport on the day on all the major stops of the main route. (Dushanbe -> Khrough -> Murghab -> Osh). Cost of the main route was something like $70 in shared taxi costs.
Awesome, glad to hear. I plan on going this summer. The shared costs - did you find other travelers yourself, or the drivers just fill up their 4x4 like a shuttle would anywhere else? Any other tips or thoughts that I might not find in Lonely Planet etc?
I arranged everything on day I needed to move on (except in Dushanbe where I arranged the transport to Khrough via the hostel, who I just told the night before). Worked even on the Monday after Tajikistan's Independence day (when I needed to head to Murghab), so you shouldn't have many problems.
Just go to whatever the local meeting point early enough and you'll get a ride. Tend to leave by 10-11am IIRC. Try to get the front seat as they'll overpack the cars to an extreme.
I only did the main route and didn't head down to the Wakhan valley, where I gather you need to find people to travel with to cover the costs.
Random tips / things to be aware of:
* Breakdowns seems to be pretty normal. They do know how to fix their cars though so you shouldn't panic. Had this happen twice on the Khrough -> Mughrab section.
* There are some lovely villages on the road to Roshtqala. I did a homestay in Tusen and the scenery around there is amazing. The place marked as "Shokhdara Bus Station" in Khrough on OSM is where you go to get transport here.
* Public transport between closer villages and around Khrough is pretty reliable but it doesn't run on Sundays. Bit of an adventure to get though.
* ATMs exist in Khrough and do accept Visa, but none as far as I'm aware in Mughrab (And the banks weren't open in Mughrab while I was there due to the time of year)
* No accommodation in the Pamirs has persistent internet connectivity, even if they advertise it. It's all 3G/4G connections they leave on only for a few hours a day (if that). This becomes an issue when you need to figure out where to stay in the next place on your route.
* The GBAO permit is cheaper if you do it in Dushanbe and don't get it with your evisa.
* Caravanistan and its forum has so much useful information. Planned my whole trip around the site.
Standing on the Arttic Circle on the winter Solstice is a lot of fun (high temp for the day was -49C (-56F), sun just kissed the horizon) and the Dempster is a lot more scenic than the Dalton.
It's also really fun in summer - get sunburnt at 3am, go to bed and realize you still have sunglasses on, etc. etc.
Let me know if you have any questions, when I'm not on the road I live in Whitehorse so I know the area pretty well.
I've driven that as far as the Ogilvie Mountains. Tombstone valley there is hands down in the top 5 most beautiful places I've been. And I have been to many mountain ranges on four continents.
If you want a really deserted road in the lower 48 U.S, try the road from Mexican Hat, UT near Monument Valley to Torrey, UT near Bryce Canyon. When I drove that one for many hours, I saw almost nobody. It had plenty of nice scenery, but hardly anyone lives in Southeast Utah.
I wonder about highway safety. Say I travel with a local tourist guide and would I be expecting him to carry weapons in the car for protection, granted tourists can't just go and "rent" guns and sickles there? From the pictures as epic as it seems to be it also gives the notion of wilderness.
I've been driving around Africa for 2.5 years now. Both Congos, Nigeria, Angola, Mali, just to name a few.
Having someone in your car with a gun is not a good idea. Chances are they'll just run away anyway (they don't want to get shot anymore than you do), and if a "bad guy" sees a gun in your car, the first thing he's going to do is shoot, then ask questions later. If you don't have a gun he'll come over and shake hands and scope out the situation.
I've been to 30 countries here now and have never, ever felt the need for a gun. Recently I rolled up on guys guarding their cows with AK47s. They were more than happy to let me hold it while they cycled the selector from safe to semi to full auto... only after that did he check and I saw there was a round in the chamber, and a full magazine!
Wow! I read the book “Around the world in 50 years” where author makes it a mission to visit every single country and territory. If I remember correctly he kept Congo, Niger and Somalia at the last because of very high chance of getting killed/robbed/abducted. In Somalia he was required to have two armed bodyguards 24x7 as condition for visa.
No, nothing even remotely close. I ate a local street-food places, wild camped in my Jeep and walked around whatever towns I wanted to. I have never once felt threatened or concerned. People here are fantastically friendly.
Can't speak for the whole of it, but we travelled from Dushanbe to Khorog and then onwards to Wakhan valley and later turned left into the mountains and away from Afganistan to do a 5 day trek in the mountains. Few hundred of those kilometers are on the border with Afganistan. This was in 2015.
Situations obviously change and cannot say how it is now, but as far as I can tell it is similar to then. Cross-border attacks and kidnappings were rare and we neither had an armed escort nor did we want one.
On trip I worried a bit about road safety (still, not nearly as much as in Nepal) and more about food poisoning (stay long enough and you'll experience it :P), but not really about other kind of threats.
People were generally kind and helpful. We did have local guides to help us.
There is a Russian travel blogger that I follow and he made quite a lengthy video of his trip to Pamir.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPjTa3sJkbM
From my understanding, the people are very friendly and welcoming.
I wonder if the Taliban who are across what looks like an easily fjorded stream knew Westerners were travelling that highway might they cross the border and kidnap and hold a few for ransom?
Still it looks like a very challenging drive with very beautiful scenery.
The inhabitants of the Wakhan Corridor are mainly Pamiris like their kin in Tajikistan or nomadic Kyrgyz. Neither group is sympathetic to the Taliban. Sure, Taliban from further afield could strike there, but there is a reason that generally not only was Tajikistan safe, but for several years after the American invasion tourists commonly visited across the border in the Wakhan.
I did the Kyrgyz part of this by bicycle back in 2008. http://daxfohl.blogspot.com/2008/08/stuck-in-bishkek-blues.h.... It was incredible, definitely the best part of the best trip I'd ever taken, but from these photos the Tajik part looks even better! (I diverted East to lake Song Kol and on toward Torugart pass instead -- I think Tajik visas were difficult back then or something). Now if I can only convince my kids to grow up and move out before I'm too old to do the Tajik part!
There was a motorcycle touring forum thread posted here some time ago, with photos of a trek to the same region. If I recall correctly, the motorcyclists actually crossed into Afghanistan. It was a pretty spectacular story.
To me, a huge aspect of beauty is in its remoteness and lack of human impact. I would find this area hundreds of times more beautiful than Yosemite Valley, for example. How someone can be surrounded by thousands of other people yelling, throwing their trash around, and taking selfies, and think, "wow, this is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen" is honestly beyond my comprehension.
True, although it seems like this place has gotten much more popular in recent years. Apparently there are more tourists on bikes than cars on the road nowadays. I have no idea what that practically means though, or how easy it is to pop off into an un-touristed area.
That's up to you, I guess. I thought Yosemite Valley was gorgeous, even with toddlers around. You just gotta pay attention to the things you care about, and not get upset about the stuff you don't.
This. It's a seemingly easy concept, but so hard for us as humans to wrap our heads around the fact that others don't find beauty in the same things we do. Like my friends who cannot believe I don't share their taste in music, for example. There are lots of people who don't see beauty in nature at all, and prefer the beauty of cities, skyscrapers and crowds.
I agree, but it is amazing how many places around the world do. I recently went to Madagascar and the same thought came to us (my wife and I) on few occasions. Although it was triggered more by nature than roads.
I'm sure it's a fun drive, but IMO "epic" should be saved for people through hiking or cycling the route. There are lots of helpful trip reports and route descriptions for Pamir Highway around the web, too.
Cycling would definitely be my preference. It's just a great way to see the scenery, appreciate the terrain, and interact with locals. Probably quite a bit safer, too.
I feel like we're watering down the word epic, because even hiking or cycling can't compare to traversing it on a hang glider you built yourself, as I once did.
A lot of westerners think they can find epic adventure, but they can't. Not when they have a first world family or nest to return to. A true epic adventurer has no safety net, much like me on my homemade glider.
Of course it is, he's critizing the OP for gatekeeping an adventure to only hiking or cycling rather than experiencing the journey on whatever means you find exciting such a car or motorcycle.
The article is a bit dishonest about what the highway is like. The majority of the Pamir Highway (the M41) is actually in quite good condition. There are just occasional unpaved stretches, notably the mountain passes and the stretch down to Khorog. The flat bits have good, wide tarmac that you can do 60mph on.
Still - it was a good lesson in being prepared. There are not many people passing by, so you really don't want to be breaking down. Winter was drawing in when we were there, making it extra dicey.
The real adventure is getting off the Pamir Highway. The Wakhan Valley, Zorkul Lake, the Bartang Valley. That is where my best memories are from, and where most of the photos in the article seem to be from.
Apart from the landscapes, my other fond memory is of the Pamiri people. They are such kind, warm people. It is engrained in their culture to care for travellers. When you live in such a hostile environment, you have to look after each other out of necessity.
It was also interesting seeing how their quality of life has changed recently. There is no cell service, and electricity only in the two large towns. But most of the places we visited without electricity now have cheap solar panels from China. The influx of tourism means that everyone runs a homestay and can start to afford things like that.
I have been meaning to write up the trip in more detail. I haven't recorded it particularly well yet. A few photos are on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bfirsh/