Contents
This tour is the Tajikistan-only part of our classic Pamir Jeep Tour itinerary. If you want to travel independently in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan but want to join a group through the Pamirs, this tour is for you.
| 12-19 July 2007 | Short Pamir Jeep Tour Start: Penjikent
Finish: Osh | GBP £829 ground only |
- Discovering Zoroastrian Fire Temples in the Wakhan Corridor
- The spellbinding scenery and cultures of the High Pamirs
- Follow in the footsteps of Alexander the Great and Marco Polo
The Pamir Mountains are a remote wilderness with a history of romance and adventure. The 19th century Great Game – the players were British India and Tsarist Russia and the prize was Central Asia – concluded here.
The central Pamir (Badakhshan) occupies almost half of modern Tajikistan, a total of 63,700 Km2. The Tajiks call this region Bom-i-Dunyo, the Roof of the World. Merchants and traders have been travelling the Silk Road across the Pamir for centuries. Unlike trading routes across steppe, which form a complex web, the mountain tracks followed a fixed route, passing along valley floors. Thus it is possible to follow the exact routes which have been in use for centuries.
Aside from trade caravans and military units, missionaries and pilgrims passed along this road giving it the name Road of Ideologies. Temples and monasteries along the way remain as evidence of the pre-Islamic religions of Badakhshan. The ancient Badakhshanis worshipped fire, the sun and the spirits of their ancestors, and practiced a Badakhshani version of Buddhism.
High above the populated river valleys, the vast, stony Pamir Plateau stretches like a giant dish edged by mountain ranges. This region was known to Ptolemy and was also travelled by Marco Polo, who wrote:
For twelve days you cross the valley; it is called Pamirs, and for the whole twelve days you see no houses, neither vegetation; food should be brought by yourself. There are no birds here because it is high and cold. Because of terrible cold, fire is not as bright and not of the colour like in other places.
Itinerary
Day 1 / Thu 12 July - Pickup at the Uzbek/Tajik border between Samarkand and Penjikent at 12.00 (transfer from Samarkand can be arranged for an extra fee). Travel to Penjikent, stopping at the bronze age excavation site of Sarazm on the way. After lunch in Penjikent, visit the excavation site of the ancient Sogdian city (5th-7th centuries). This is often referred to as the “Pompeii of Central Asia”. Penjikent was rediscovered in the mid-20th century and is still an active archaeological site. It is often possible to speak to the archaeologists and see their latest finds. Many of the houses in Penjikent were decorated with colourful murals depicting scenes from the saga of Rustam. The murals show Chinese and Hindu influences, showing that Penjikent was an important Silk Road trading city. Some of these murals are on display in the Penjikent museum. Spend the night in a traditional local home (guest rooms around a central courtyard).
Day 2 / Fri 13 July - Drive to Dushanbe, along the Zarafshan River Valley, then stopping at Iskandarkul Lake. In the afternoon, continue south over Anzob Pass (3,373 m) and through Varzob Gorge. Zarafshan means “gold cast around” and indeed there is still gold to be found in this region. Accommodation in a guest house in Dushanbe.
Day 3 / Sat 14 July - In the morning, visit Hissor Fort, formerly capital of Eastern Bukhara province. The site has two madrassas (18th-19th centuries), one of which is now a fine ethnographic museum. After lunch under an ancient tree, head back to Dushanbe for a visit to the bazaars and museums. Anyone with an interest in archaeology will enjoy the Museum of National Antiquities, which opened in 2001. The exhibits in this museum are mostly from Tajikistan's pre-Islamic civilisations (Greek/ Bactrian, Buddhist, Hindu and Zoroastrian). The centrepiece is the 14m reclining Buddha in Nirvana. Since the tragic destruction of the Bamiyan statues in Afghanistan, this is the largest surviving Buddha statue in Central Asia.
Day 4 / Sun 15 July - Depart from Dushanbe towards Khorog and the Pamirs. Near Tavil-Dara, detritus from the 1992-96 civil war – tanks and armoured vehicles – can still be seen by the roadside. The more conservative attitudes of this region can be seen in the local style of dress and beards, but the hospitality is just as welcoming.
Over a mountain pass to Kalaikhum and the scenery and people change again. Here the people are Badakhshani – not Tajiks but a number of separate tribal groups, each with their own language. Unlike their Sunni neighbours, the Badakhshanis are Ismaili, followers of the Aga Khan. Attitudes and dress are a little more liberal in Badakhshan.
Accommodation in a guest house just beyond Kalaikhum.
Day 5 / Mon 16 July - Continue by road from Kalaikhum to Khorog, the capital of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO). From Kalaikhum, the road joins the river Panj, which forms Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan. This is a fascinating drive. On the Tajik side of the river, the road is asphalted and buildings have electricity and are constructed using metal and glass. On the Afghan side – only about 100 m distant – the road is a donkey track and buildings are mud and wood.
Day 6 / Tue 17 July - Continue south to Ishkashim, which stands at the mouth of the Wakhan River valley. This is where the 19th century Great Game ended, when Britain and Russia signed a treaty adding a strip of the Wakhan valley to Afghanistan to create a neutral buffer zone between their two empires. As we enter the Wakhan, there are amazing views of the Pamirs to the left and the Hindu Kush to the right. Straight ahead is peak Karl Marx (6,723 m).
Continue to Yamchun, where it is possible to walk along a ridge to see the Zoroastrian “Fortress of Fire Worshippers”. Further up the hillside are the hot springs at Bibi Fatima. Unlike Garmchashma, where the water is full of minerals and very silty, the water at Bibi Fatima is crystal clear. It is possible to take a natural steam bath in a rocky cave.
Above the village of Vrang, on a cliff-side pitted with caves, stands a Buddhist complex dating from 4th-7th centuries.
At Yamg, visit the quirky museum of Sufi Muborak-Kadam, a local Sufi scholar, theologian, poet and traveller, who died in 1910. Near his house there is a stone pillar with a hole in it which he used to calculate a solar calendar. There is also a local house with a ceiling inscribed with unusual decorations, detailing people, plants, animals and calligraphic inscriptions.
When we arrive at Langar, we will stay in a traditional style home built for a visit of the Aga Khan.
Day 7 / Wed 18 July - In the cool of the morning, make a steep climb above Langar village and see the petroglyphs carved into the rock, depicting mountain goats, caravans, horse riders with banners, and the Ismaili symbol of a hand.
Then drive north over Khargush Pass to Yashikkul Lake. Once again, the landscape and peoples change as we slowly go higher into the Pamirs. We have left behind the lush valley of the Wakhan and the Pamiri tribes. The terrain here is becoming barren and rocky. This region is inhabited by nomadic Kirgyz herders.
Visit Bulunkul Lake and the Chinese cemetary at Besh Gumbez, then continue to Murghab (3,630m). The terrain here is desolate but has a stark beauty to it. The view of the night sky is stunning for anyone who lives in a city – the Milky Way can be clearly seen as a bright splash. Accommodation in Murghab is in a very good homestay arranged by a local ecotourism project. There is an opportunity to buy handcrafts made by local people from felt and yak hair.
Day 8 / Thu 19 July - Drive north over Ak-Baital Pass – at 4,655m, the highest section of road in the former USSR. On the way down from the pass, we will stop briefly at a Great Game-era Russian military post. The plateau is dominated by Lake Karakul, which at 3,915 m is too high to support aquatic life. Karakul is the largest of a range of about 800 ancient lakes in the Pamirs which were created by earthquake, tectonic activity and glaciers. By the lakeside, there are some mysterious stone circles.
The road crosses a second high pass at Kizyl-Art (4,280 m), which forms the border with Kirgyzstan, before descending to Sary-Tash and Osh. On the other side of the pass, the scenery suddenly changes, becoming as green and lush as the Pamir Plateau was barren. Accommodation in a hotel in Osh, Kirgyzstan's most ancient city. Accommodation in a guest house in Osh.
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