#not to mention that it's 1h by bike to arrive at the office. then another 40mins to get to uni. then another hour to get back home...

[qrevo]

is anyone else feeling this sense of extreme dread caused by the inevitability of time or is it just me

[jorge5000]

Pamir highway via Wakhan valley in 7 days

This is my account of a trip I’ve done over Pamir highway via Wakhan valley in early August 2017. As always, I’ll focus on things relevant for planning your own trip, not my impressions. Please read About this blog.

Pamir highway via Wakhan valley route:

Khorugh - Bibi Fatima (public transport)

Bibi Fatima (next to Yamchun) - Zong (~30 km on foot)

Zong - Langar (~5 km on foot)

Langar - Rachiv (?) (private car ride, ~35 km) - Mats pass (~35 km on foot)

Mats pass - Maisara pass - M41 (~35 km on foot with a short hitched ride) - Alichur (hitched a ride, ~60 km)

Alichur - Murghab (hitched a ride)

Murghab - Osh (public transport - a shared taxi)

Somewhat informative map with my checkpoints. Download the image for higher resolution.

Check out this detailed map scan of the area and its legend. You can buy it in the tourist info center in Khorugh park in the center (somewhere near here). I do not own copyright to it, it costs 150 SOM and it’s here just to help you plan. Buy the map in Khorugh and support the people who created it. People working there speak English and know everything you’ll want to know.

In short:

Equipment. Walking sticks, filtering bottle, hat (bought one for 15 SOM in Khorugh market - the sun is very strong), 2kg tent, some food, warm clothes for the night, raincoat, self inflatable mat, sleeping bag, 2 pairs of shoes, mom's Christmas cookies, basic medicine.Walking sticks were very useful for walking and especially for crossing the river and slippery terrain. Two pairs of worn hiking shoes failed me. Blisters were hell.

Water purification. The water filtering bottle is heavy, but it is the most useful and reliable item I had.

Reverse? Doing the reversed route (M41->Maisara pass->Mats pass->Langar) is better for views, altitude and walk/rest period distribution.

Duration. This worked out in 7 days because I found a ride immediately all the way to Murghab right after reaching M41.

Details day by day:

Day 0 (Sunday): Dushanbe - Khorog, 7:30-21:30, shared taxi, 280 SOM, sleep in a hostel. Shared taxi booked by the hostel from the main parking where all taxis stand. Arrive early to pick a good seat. Day spent in the car. Stopped along the way to eat, greet driver’s friends, repair car when needed, inflate tires along the way, fill car with gas, and use the toilet. Took some fresh dairy product given by the locals along the way for free and regretted it for the next two days.

On the way to Bibi Fatma.

Day 1: Khorugh - Bibi Fatima, 13:00 (really 14:30) - 21:00, shared taxi, 140 SOM. Stopped along the way to eat, take some more passengers from a broken car. Slept with a local family from a person met in the jeep. I speak few words of Russian and she spoke even less, but that didn’t prevent her from helping me out. Ate dinner, stayed for one night, her family didn't want to take money, so I left each of the 3 kids a $5 bill hoping they’ll treat the next stranger equally kind.

View from Yamchun fortress.

Day 2: Bibi Fatima - Zong, 9:00-17:00, on foot. Enjoyed hot springs, after that the Yamchun fort, took a path from there back to the main road, and then walked along it towards Langar. No issues following the road, river water available along the way, very few cars, exclusively in the opposite direction, almost none in my direction. Took tea breaks in villages along the way. Hitched a ride for the last 6 km with a truck carrying potatoes and onions. Driver didn’t want to take any money for the ride. Hotsprings in Zong again. An overly friendly and trustable Pakistani runs them, doing his best for you to feel safe there. Homestay at the very beginning of the village, marked by a street sign, mentioned in LonelyPlanet. 100 SOM with meals.

Day 3: Zong - Langar; ~1h, on foot. Woke up with 10 mosquito bites on my left hand which I apparently hadn't put enough of my 40% DEET spray on. Very unnecessary health risk. Morning hike to fortress ~1h to get there from the homestay taking the steep way up the hill. Bought a Tcell sim in the three floor store on the main road below the hot springs (Megafon doesn't work there), got charged more (~120 SOM) but no issues with stay permit/passport copy - the owner has a stash of passport copies he uses for registrations. If the owner’s not there, ask someone where he is and they’ll call him. In Langar stayed with a local who invited me to camp by his house and we arranged him to take me to where Mats pass path starts next morning. Went petroglyph searching (after the cemetery after the church, as LonelyPlanet says). Other petroglyphs are available on marked locations close to eastern exit from the village. Ask for Panshanbe homestay for 50 SOM food + accommodation, advertised by a local met on the road. Big mistake in camping - landowner had dogs, who were not really happy with me staying during the night (not giving a fuck about me during the day though), and barking the shit out at me with my every move in the tent for the whole night.

Langar mall. Last chance to stock up before the trek.

Day 4: Langar - where Mats pass path starts (420 SOM, 5:00 - 6:00), and trek to a bit after Mats pass - locals pronounce it Mitts pass (6:00 - 17:30). The path starts steep up, after which I had to cross waste-deep river twice. The path is difficult and very steep at the beginning, but gets easier later.

It starts from here...

... and you just follow the path on the right.

Or you just get used to it. Not difficult to find, though. GPS signal all the way, the road is what can be seen on google terrain maps if you zoom in and know where to look (see the map scan above and add Gmaps GPS checkpoints). Water available when you need it all the way. Don't carry unnecessary load. Two shepherd (chobanie) houses, one on the way, one on the other side of the river. They speak basic Russian and will offer you tea and a place to stay. Pitched the tent a few minutes after Mats pass when the road starts to descend again. A nice green valley with a river on the left side. Few drops of rain several times during the night. Raindrops turned to frost by morning - have a warm sleeping bag.

Day 5: Mats passs - Maisara pass - M41 (7:00-17:30 walk including ~6km hitched ride) - Alichur (18:00-00:30 hitched a ride on M41. Several shepherd’s houses are along the way. One right after Matts pass, one again before the iron bridge (follow visible road or you'll have to jump stones across the river), several more houses a few hours later. Road/path is always recognizable, but be careful about road splits. But there’s also a path on the other side of the river, where some road splits will take you. Water mostly available every 60 minutes - the river digs a canyon often. Hitched a ride (the only car passing that day), a shared jeep by locals from Jawshangoz to Maisara pass. A few shepherd houses around Maisara pass. Otherwise beautiful silence, a lake and cold wind there - the nature really wouldn’t care if you died there. Descended from the mountain, found a bridge to the M41, After reaching M41 hitched a ride to Alichur. There’s a great spot for camping right next to the bridge and a shepherd house visible from there. The truck was terribly slow, but no one passed us by. Lots of trucks going in the opposite direction. Water close to the road only occasionally - trekking here would be a bad idea. In Alichur everything is closed at 00:30, as you can imagine. Homestays were already full. My three new friends from the truck went knocking on house doors until someone agreed to put us up for the night. 30 SOM. Slept in the room with the whole family. Got blankets and warm tea in the morning. More than enough, compared to camping outside.

So please, MTV, pimp my ride!

Day 6: Alichur - Murghab (5:00-11:00). In the same truck which brought me to Alichur. Homeowner said it wouldn’t be easy to hitch another ride on Sunday. During the ride I really didn’t see much traffic in either direction. Not much water along the road either. The road is now flat so the truck goes even above 20 km/h. A short break for bare-hand marmot hunting. I watched from the truck. Enough for me. After reaching Murghab had something to eat with my new friends. Afterwards we parted our ways and I gave them $60 ($20 each). They didn't ask for money and said what they did for me doesn't cost them anything. That’s certainly true, but I still gave it to them in hopes they would treat any other traveler with equal kindness. Took a three hour break in Murghab, walking around bazar and town, and then continued to Osh. 2:30pm-3:30am. Difficult ride, sharing the front seat of the jeep with another guy.

Day 7: Murghab - Osh (14:30 previous day - 03:30 on day 7). Overcrowded jeep, long ride, mountain border crossing, driver and passengers exchanging a bunch of banknotes right before the border. The border control police officer was happy to say he knows a sportsman from my country. I was too, as I was too exhausted to have any other conversation. Terrible roads and bumps keeping me awake. Driver suddenly turns back as if he lost something on the road. Then turns the car back around and continues. We make a stop to eat something in a local restaurant around midnight after Saray-Tash. We arrived in Osh and the drivers helped me find a place to stay for the night.

Other helpful resources:

Caravanistan forum

Same route but in the opposite direction and on bikes (blog trip report in German)