Adventure & Extreme
Tajikistan
The second highest road in the world. No guardrails. Views that make you feel microscopic.
The Forgotten Atlas — Field Report
The second highest road in the world. No guardrails. Views that make you feel microscopic.
The Pamir Highway (M41) runs 1,200 kilometres from Dushanbe in Tajikistan to Osh in Kyrgyzstan, crossing the Pamir mountains through some of the highest inhabited terrain on Earth. The highest point — the Ak-Baital Pass — sits at 4,655 metres. For much of its length the road hugs the Afghan border, with the Panj River below and Afghanistan visible on the opposite bank. It was built by the Soviet military in the 1930s and has been maintained to varying degrees since. In sections it is tarmac. In other sections it is gravel, rock, and improvisation. It is one of the great road journeys on Earth.
The Pamir Highway does something that very few roads can do: it makes you aware of the scale of the planet. For days the landscape is so vast and the road so small within it that the concept of distance becomes something physical.
The Forgotten Atlas
The Pamirs are called the Roof of the World and the name is accurate. The plateau region between the mountain ranges sits at an average altitude of 4,000 metres — above treeline, above most weather systems, in a landscape of high-altitude lakes, vast plains of short grass, and mountain peaks that rise another 2,000 metres above you. Wakhan Corridor — the strip of Afghan territory visible across the river for much of the route — has been inhabited continuously since the Silk Road and the villages on the Afghan side look unchanged in centuries. The Wakhi people, who live on both sides of the border, have one of the most distinctive cultures in Central Asia.
The standard approach is to hire a 4WD vehicle with a driver in Dushanbe or Khorog and drive the highway over seven to ten days, stopping in guesthouses in the GBAO (Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast) region along the route. Khorog, the regional capital, is the main supply point. Murghab, in the high plateau, is the highest town on the route and the most remote. Accommodation throughout is in homestays and basic guesthouses. The GBAO permit is required for foreigners and can be obtained with your Tajik visa.
Fly to Dushanbe. Hire a 4WD with a driver for the full route. Allow ten days minimum. The permit for the GBAO region is essential — arrange it before you arrive.
The regional capital of GBAO. The last city before the high plateau. Good food and the opportunity to acclimatise.
The side valley along the Afghan border. Ancient forts, hot springs, and the most extraordinary border scenery in Asia.
The highest town on the route. A market selling goods trucked in from China. The most isolated urban settlement in Tajikistan.
A high-altitude lake on the plateau. The colour in the right light is extraordinary. Camp beside it if you have the equipment.
Every night on the route is in a homestay where the family feeds you. Plov (rice and meat), naan bread, tea. Nourishing, simple, and the hospitality is extraordinary.
The last proper restaurants before the high plateau. Load up on calories.
Lagman noodles and samsa pastries available from small stalls. The only food option in the town.
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