Pamir Highway Tour: Kyrgyzstan to Tajikistan

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Join YPT along the Pamir Highway from China through Kyrgyzstan to Tajikistan!

Following on from our Karakoram Highway Tour, YPT will also be heading along the Pamir Highway into Tajikistan. In the same style as the Karakoram Highway tour, we will cross the border from China into Kyrgyzstan before we embark along the Pamir Highway. Love mountains? This is the tour for you!

The tour starts in the Chinese city of Kashgar. Closer to Damascus than to Beijing, this city has quite a different charm to it than its bigger counterparts in the East. We’ll have a full day of exploring before we head for the border.

Across the border, we head for the tiny town of Sary Tash, in Kyrgyzstan. Here we’ll explore our favourite named mountain – Lenin Peak. If you’d prefer to join us from Osh in order to avoid having to get a chinese visa, it is possible! Get in touch with us!

In the days that follow, we’ll enter Tajikistan and drive for days along the Pamir Highway. Incredible landscapes, old Soviet bus stops, lost Lenin monuments, it’s all there! At night, we will stay in distinctive local towns across the Pamir. The tour will take the Wakhan Corridor route meaning we get the possibility to glance at the other side of the river and experience local life in Afghanistan. A rare opportunity which also shows the stark contrast between both countries.

We will end the trip in Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s capital, where we see the modern side of the country.

ITINERARY

Sunday 18th of September – Kashgar

Arrival at your own leisure in Kashgar
Meet the rest of the group arriving from the Karakoram highway at our centrally-located hostel by 18.00
Overnight in Kashgar

Monday 19th September – Kashgar – Irkeshtam Pass – Sary-Tash

Early rise to leave for the China / Kyrgyzstan border at Irkeshtam. Like any border in this part of the world, it’s always going to be memorable! Very few foreign tourists cross this border but your YPT guide is experienced in dealing with the border formalities!
After the border, we meet our guide and driver for the Pamir Highway. Welcome to Kyrgyzstan! Since we never know how long border formalities take, we take it easy on the first day but we will be in stunning surroundings with great photo opportunities
Those who chose to join us from Kyrgyzstan meet our local guide in Osh in the morning. Osh is the second city of Kyrgyzstan. Together you’ll make your way to Sary Tash, to meet the rest of the group. If time permits, hiking can be done around the area.
Drive to Sary-Tash
If time permits, we’ll go for a walk around the town.
Overnight in Sary-Tash

Tuesday 20th September – Sary-Tash – Karakul Lake – Murghab

Rise and shine for the border crossing into Tajikistan. The true YPT mountain is, of course, Lenin Peak (7134m). If we’re lucky, we can see it along the way!
See some Sovjet left-overs just outside Sary Tash.
After the border formalities, we will pass by Karakul Lake through the most dramatic scenery of the trip.
Pass by Ak-Baital Pass (4644m), the highest section of road in the former Soviet-Union.
Arrival in Murghab
Go for a walking tour of the town before taking a photo at the Lenin statue and checking out the local bazar
Overnight in Murghab

Wednesday 21st September – Murghab – Langar

We’ll continue our drive along the Pamir Highway on a section of the road completed in 1931.
Along the way to Langar, we’ll stop at Yashil Kul (green lake) and Bulung Kul
Continue through the Khargush Pass (4344m)
Enter the Wakhan area. To the left, you’ll see the Hindu Kush, to the right the Pamirs. The Wakhan area was created as a buffer between the Russian and British empire in the 19th Century. These days it’s still part of Afghanistan and one of the most isolated regions in the world.
Overnight in a homestay in Langar.

Thursday 22nd September – Langar – Ishkashim

Drive to Vrang and see caves dug by Buddhists who used to live here
Continue our drive along to Yang through more stunning scenery
Visit the quirky museum of Sufi Muborak-Kadam, a local Sufi teacher
Check out Kakhala Kala Fortress and Abrashim Fortress before taking a bath at the Bibi Fatima Hot Springs
Arrival in Ishkashim. This is the centre of the Wakhan Valley, where the 19th-century Great Game ended and a peace treaty was signed between the Russian and the British Empires.
Small detour to the local village of Namadguti for the Khahkha Fortress.
Overnight in Ishkashim

Friday 23rd September – Ishkashim – Khorog

Another day of driving along the Wakhan Corridor.
Arrival in Khorog. A city that used to be of very strategic importance to the USSR and today it’s one of the poorest areas of Tajikistan. The town is famous for the world’s second highest botanical gardens at 3900m.
Overnight in Khorog

Saturday 24th September – Khorog – Kalaikhumb

Drive to Kalaikhumb, a very conservative area where we’ll see traditional small villages.
Watch local life in Afghanistan across the Pianj river, where we’ll see the stark contrast between life in the two countries
Overnight in Kalaikhumb

Sunday 25th September – Kalaikhumb – Dushanbe

As we near the end of the Pamir Highway we pay a quick visit to the Hulbuk Fortress before we head down to Dushanbe
Along the way we stop at the monument of the terrorist attack against cyclists in Tajikistan, in the summer of 2018.
To celebrate our arrival we will have an end of tour dinner and celebratory drinks as we see what makes for a night out in Dushanbe
Overnight in Dushanbe

Monday 26th September – Dushanbe

We head out after breakfast for a city tour of Dushanbe by bike!
Taking in the Victory Tank Monument, the local life in the Botanical Gardens and Victory Park
Head to Rudaki Street, Central Park and Somoni Monument before we go for tea in the world’s largest tea house!
Free afternoon
Overnight in Dushanbe.

Tuesday 27th September