Pamir Overland: The Pamir Highway by 4x4

Itinerary

1. Day 1

   Arrival in Dushanbe · 65 km. Meeting at the airport and transfer to the hotel. After lunch, a drive to Hissar, 30 km west of Dushanbe, to see the Hissar Fortress, two madrasahs (18th and 19th centuries) and a 16th-century mausoleum. Return to Dushanbe. Stay: Hotel in Dushanbe.

2. Day 2

   Dushanbe – Kalai Khumb · 371 km, 7 h. Drive towards the Pamirs via Kulob with views of the Nurek Reservoir, the Hulbuk Fortress in Vose and the mausoleum of the 14th-century poet and scholar Mir Sayid Ali Hamadani in Kulob. Highest point: Shurobod Pass, 2,126 m. Stay: Homestay in Kalai Khumb (1,295 m).

3. Day 3

   Kalai Khumb – Khorog · 270 km, 7–8 h. Along the Panj (Oxus) River, with Afghan villages sometimes only metres across the water. A stop at the Nosir Khusraw monument in Porshinev. In the afternoon, a Khorog city tour: the State Historical Museum, the Ismaili Centre, the city park and the Tourism Information Centre. Stay: Hotel in Khorog (2,100 m).

4. Day 4

   Khorog – Langar · 246 km, 10–12 h. Towards Ishkashim with a stop at the Garm-Chashma hot spring and a distant view of the Kuhi La'l ruby mines. Into the Wakhan Valley: the Kah-Kaha and Yamchun fortresses (up to 3,200 m), Bibi Fotima hot spring, pre-Islamic shrines, the museum of the 19th-century Sufi scholar Muboraki Wakhoni with his solar calendar and, time permitting, a walk to the Langar petroglyphs. Stay: Homestay in Langar area (2,800 m).

5. Day 5

   Langar – Bulunkul – Murghab · 275 km, 12–14 h. Over the Khargush Pass (4,344 m) to Bulunkul and Yashilkul lakes. Bulunkul is the coldest settlement in Central Asia, with winter lows near −60 °C. Lunch outdoors or in Alichur, where a two-hour yak ride can be arranged in advance. Via Bashgumbez and Ak-Balyk, with a distant view of the Chinese cemetery, to Murghab. Stay: Homestay or guesthouse in Murghab (3,630 m).

6. Day 6

   Murghab – Karakul · 200 km, 8–9 h. To Rangkul and Shorkul lakes, then over Ak-Baital (4,656 m), the highest point of the Pamir Highway, to Karakul, the largest lake in Tajikistan. A short detour to the Karaart geoglyphs (8th–3rd century BC) and an evening walk along the lakeshore. Stay: Homestay or yurt in Karakul (3,930 m).

7. Day 7

   Karakul – Savnob · 175 km, 8 h. Across the moon-like Ak-Tash plateau below the snowy Muzkol Range, with the Ak-Tash meteor craters and the Shurlu lunar calendar. Tea and yoghurt with a Pamiri shepherd, then down the Kochkar Pass into the Bartang Valley along the Tanimas River. In Savnob, a ruined 19th-century fortress and a cave once used as a refuge from nomad raids. Stay: Homestay in Savnob (2,550 m).

8. Day 8

   Savnob – Rushan · 135 km, 6 h. Down the Bartang Valley past its villages, with a visit to the Khojai Nuriddin shrine in Basid and the Vomar Fortress in Rushan. Stay: Guesthouse in Rushan (2,000 m).

9. Day 9

   Rushan – Kalai Khumb · 177 km, 6 h. Back along the Panj with Afghan villages across the river: a hundred metres of water that feels like a step back in time. Stay: Guesthouse in Kalai Khumb (1,250 m).

10. Day 10

    Kalai Khumb – Saghirdasht – Dushanbe · 300 km, 8–10 h. The northern route via the Saghirdasht Pass (3,252 m) and Tavildara, if the road is open. A stop at Blue Lake (Goluboye Ozero) and a distant view of the Rogun hydropower plant, with the world's highest dam (335 m). Arrival in Dushanbe. Stay: Hotel in Dushanbe.