Tajikistan – Pamir Mountains 4WD Tours

 Early morning arrival to Dushanbe. Accomodation at the hotel “TAJIKISTAN”*****. After accomodation at the hotel, sightseeing of Dushanbe. Lunch. Drive after lunch escursion to Hissar Fortresse. Dinner and overnight at the hotel. A busy day of sightseeing awaits us as we drive 30kms to the remains of 18th Century Hissor fort and its two madrassa before an afternoon exploring Dushanbe itself. The history of Hissor fort is colorful, with the fortress the stronghold of local basmachi forces (local freedom fighters, what we would call mujaheddin today). Though the 1920s a power struggle was played out in the region between Bolshevik forces and Pan-Turkic would-be occupiers under the Ottoman Enver Pasha. Back in Dushanbe, we visit the bazaar. For our local team, today is also a day of preparation as we organise the vehicles and supplies necessary for our trip into the Pamirs and the Wakhan region of the country. Accomodation at the hotel. 

After a breakfast we will have a drive and our next  destination will be KalaiKhumb. By the way we will visit the buildings on the site include the 16^th century Mausoleum of Makhtum Azam, the Masjid-i-Sangin (“Stone Mosque”) and the natural spring Chashma-i-Mohiyon, where another madrassah has been recently excavated.  In the second part of a day on the road  we will be quickly distracted by the beautiful scenery and interesting villages en route. This area is a little more conservative, and we see many men with beards, and women wearing traditional dress. More arrestingly, along the road we also see relics of Tajikistan’s bitter civil war of 1992-96, as tanks and armored vehicles lie decaying wherever they were left. We cross the Khaburabot Pass (3252 metres), Blue Lake, arriving in Kalaikhumb in the early evening.Overnight at the home stay .

From Kalaikhumb we leave for Khorog with some 250kms of terrain ahead of us, and the promise of some spectacular scenery along the way. The road joins the river Panj, which in turn forms the border with Afghanistan. The contrast across the river valley is telling, Tajikistan is undoubtedly a poor country, but in general the roads are sealed and buildings are connected with electricity. The situation barely 100m away is even starker, and it is as if the river represents not just a physical divide, but also a step back in time. We stay in relative luxury tonight, having reached the capital of the Gorno-Badakshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) – this is a restricted part of the country and we have obtained permits to travel here. Nevertheless, be prepared for the possibility of some additional paperwork! Our guesthouse is set in lovely riverside gardens and looking out to the bridge across the river into Afghanistan itself.

This morning we’ll drive up towards Ishkashim. From here, we enter the Tajik half of the Wakhan Valley (shared with Afghanistan) and have a further 100kms to cover. We pass regional gem mines mentioned by Marco Polo in his descriptions of what he called the ‘Mt Shugnon region’. The most famous mine is Koh-i-Lal ruby mine which is visible from the road. Ishkashim itself may be the regional centre, but it is essentially still a large village/ There is little to see or do in Ishkashim itself, so we detour to the nearby village of Namadguti to visit the Khahkha Qala Fortress. This impressive structure rises from a naturally formed platform of rock and dates back to the Kushan era of the 3^rd Century. Please note that the fort is sometimes still used by local Tajik military forces so the excursion will be dependent on permission from the local authorities. If we are able to visit whilst the military are in place, please be extremely careful about taking photographs only with permission.we will drive further to Ptup/ we stay in a traditional style guesthouse in Yamg.

There are a number of these ancient fortresses in the area, and we also visit Yamchun fort, perhaps the most impressive of them. We take a break at the Bibi Fatima hot springs, named for the Prophet Mohammed’s sister and where local women believe they can increase their fertility. Men and women will have separate bathing times, however facilities are basic.  In Yamg we’ll see Muborak Kadam museum and Stone Solar Calender/Continuing our sightseeing today, we then stop at the 4^th Century Buddhist stupas at Vrang reminders of the ancient pilgrim caravans that passed through the region. There are traces of this Buddhist history to be found throughout Central Asia, despite the dominance of Islam in recent centuries.

In Langar after breakfast we can visit petro glyphs and Ratm fortress.

Today we get a chance to explore the amazing landscape of this area. ). We drive up to Bulunkul Lake via the Kargushi Pass (4333 metres). On this journey we leave behind the lush valleys of the Wakhan Valley and enter a landscape that is rocky. From here we can view Bulunkul Lake. Overnight  at the home stay

Breakfast. Moving on, we cross a second high-altitude pass, Naziatash Pass (4137 metres, mostly barren but nevertheless dramatic. This is the Pamir Highway we have anticipated, with the route between Khorog and Osh completed in 1931 across a Tibetan-plateau style high altitude terrain. On the way we’ll visit Chinese cemetery. We have a total of 170km to cover today, and we anticipate arriving in Murghab afternoon. Murghab itself has few attractions, but it will serve as our base for a couple of nights as we explore the area a little. Our schedule for today includes an excursion to see petroglyphs at Ak-Jilga, the old mining town of Dara and the bazaar in Murghab itself. Accomodation in Murgab guesthouse.

 After breakfast we’ll drive towards  Julundi Pass to Khorog city. The nature in Pamir is untouched so we got a lot of beautiful places to make some photo stops.  Accomodation in a hotel Lal.

After breakfast we’ll drive from Khorog to Kalai Khumb. The place where we stayed on 2 day of our Jeep tour.  Accomodation in a Guest house.

After breakfast we’ll drive from Kalai Khumb to the capital of Tajikistan Dushanbe city. End of services

F/B per person