MAKE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

Day 1: Dushanbe

Our guide will meet you in the airport and accompany to Dushanbe. The entire day is dedicated to a guided city tour. First of we will visit Rudake Park, National library, White House, National state seal, House of parliament and Jomi theatre. After it we will walk in National park to make photos of Ministry of Inner Affairs and the biggest National Flag in the world – 165 m high pole, 30 m wide, 60 m long. After excursion in Central Museum you will have lunch. Then you will visit to Gurminj Museum of traditional musical instruments. To feel real life you should visit Asian bazar. It has colorful goods, fruits and vegetables. We will see today the main highlights of Dushanbe and you will find out many interesting facts about Tajik people. Dinner will be in a traditional restaurant where you try Tajik food. Night is in a hotel.

 

Day 2: Dushanbe – Khoburubot – Kalai Khum (290 km, 8 hours) (summer way)

In the morning we will drive to Kalai Khum village via mountain road. You will drive over high Khoburubot Pass (3 252) known as Western Pamir Tract. The road goes through the most picturesque river valley and amazing gorges in the terrain, where one can stop for rest and shoot photos of the mountain and rivers. On the way you will see small villages and meet local people. Tajiks are by nature hard working, hospitable, and kind-hearted. This nation greatly respects its traditions and folklore. This trip is attractive for the lovers of exotics, those curious about the ethnic and cultural diversity and captivated by the beauty of wild nature. Dinner will be in a local restaurant. This night you will spend in a home stay to see the way of local people’s life.

 

Day 3: Kalai Khum – Poi Mazor (Vanj valley) (210km)

In the morning we will drive to Vanj valley. 10 km from Kalai - Khum we will drive up to ancient fortress. This fortress was built in 3 century and in 2013 got restoration. After sightseeing we will keep drive to Poi Mazor where we will spend the night. The village of Poi Mazor situated on the end of Vanj valley. Overnight is in a home stay.

            

Day 4: Poi Mazor – Fedchenko – Poi Mazor (hiking)

In the morning we will hike up to see the Fedchenko glacier. Fedchenko glacier is the largest in the former USSR and one of the biggest in the world. It is 77 km long and from 1700 to 3100m wide. It springs from the foot of the Revolucii Peak at north mountainside of the Yazgulemskiy mountain range and runs along east mountainside of the Science Academy mountain range. In the afternoon we will back to our home stay.

          

Day 5: Poi Mazor – Rushan (200 km)

In the morning we will drive to Rushan. On the way we will see many afghan villages and risky path on the rocks from left side of Panj river. Rushan is the first region where living pamirian people. Pamirian people differ from others by their tradition, language, religion etc. Overnight is in  homestay.

         

Day 6: Rushan – Basid (Bartang valley) (110 km)

Today we will drive to Bartang valley. The Bartang Valley is one of the wildest and most memorable valleys in the western Pamirs. Even the Pamiri themselves consider the Bartang valley as the maybe most prototypical region of their homeland. On the one hand most of the Non-Bartangi view their compatriots, especially those from Upper Bartang, with reverent respect due to their harsh living conditions, which do not seem to have anything in common with those in the provincial capital Khorog. On the other hand they are fascinated in the face of the age-old traditions that are still alive in this particularly remote region. Overnight with locals.

 

Day 7: Basid – Barchediv (90 km)

Today you will drive along Bartang valley to Barchediv village. In 2014 the Bartang valley was included in Global Top 100 Sustainable destinations. It is one of the wildest and most memorable valleys in the western Pamirs. You will drive along Bartang river to Upper Bartang. The river comes from the Tanimas glacier and flows into the Bartang river. Bartang is therefore the No. 1 destination for those who wish to observe millennium-old manual agricultural techniques or rituals, which have already been forgotten for generations in other parts of the Pamirs. On the other hand they are fascinated in the face of the age-old traditions that are still alive in this particularly remote region. Overnight is in home stay.       

Day 8 & 9: Barchediv – Sponj (110 km)

Today you will continue drive along Bartang region. In the morning you will drive to Rowshorv village (3300 m) situated on the button of Lab Nazar peak (5990 m).  You will meet the really Bartang people who are still keeping still their traditions for many years. This area  consist of scenic forests, gravel roads, rocks, glaciers etc. You will drive from the Upper Bartang to Down Bartang along the river. The Bartang River flows into the Panj River which devise the border between Tajikstan and Afghanistan.  Already in the 1930ies the Russian explorer Pavel Luknizki had stated: „The one who has not been in Bartang valley has not been in the Pamirs at all”. Even the Pamiri themselves consider the Bartang valley as the maybe most prototypical region of their homeland. Night is in home stay.

        

Day 10: Sponj – Khorog (120 km)

In the morning we will drive to Khrorog. It is perhaps one of the tiniest cities on the map of the world. It is surrounded by rocky mountains from all four sides. The town was built on the confluence of the 3 rivers where Shokhdara river and Ghund river flow into Pyanj river. On the way to Khorog you will meet Pamir people. A number of anthropological features set the Pamir people apart from the Tajik people. Among the Pamiris, there is a high percentage of people with blonde hair, fair skin and blue eyes. Pamirs Mountains are the highest mountains in the world with human population after the Himalayas in Tibet. Life in the mountains made traditions of local people different from Tajik people. Dinner is in a restaurant. Night is in a hotel.

 

Day 11: Khorog – Ishkashim (Wakhan corridor) (120 km, 4 hours)

Today we will drive along Tajik-Afgan border to Ishkashim. Situated in in the heart of Asia, the Pamirs are a corner of sky-scraping, snow-capped, majestic mountains, transparent clear blue waters of lakes and rivers, wide valleys and bone-dry deserts. For hundreds of years, people have called these highest mountains of the world as “the Roof of the World”. Today you will understand why. The land of Pamirs is located at elevations from 3 500 to 4 200 meters above sea level. Pamirs is perhaps one the few areas in Central Asia where ancient ethnic and cultural peculiarities of the Pamir people exist. Over the years, communities were isolated from each other by impassable mountain ranges, and developed into separate enclaves with different dialects and sometimes distinct or different languages. We will visit Garmchashma hot spring. If you like it you can swim in hot warter. Dinner and night is in a home stay.

 

Day 12: Ishkashim – Langar (140 km, 5 hours)

Drive towards the Wakhan corridor. On the road we will visit Kah-Kaa and Yamchun fortresses, Further up the hillside are the hot spring at Bibi Fatima :dense and very salty minerals, the water at Bibi Fatima is crystal clear.  There are several places of interest to stop.  Above the village of Vrang , on a cliff-side pitted with caves, stands a Buddhist complex dating from 4th- 7th centuries. At Yamg , we visit the reconstructed home of Sufi mystic Muabara Kadam , who died in 1910. Near this house there is stone pillar with a hole in it which he used to calculate a solar calendar. In the cool of the morning we climb up above Langar village to see petroglyphs. Overnight  in homestay.

          

Day 13:  Langar – Bulunkul lake (150 km, 6 hours )

The most beautiful lakes of the Pamirs are Yashil Kul and Bulunkul (Blue lakes), stretched on the altitude of 3 700 meters above sea level, are situated in the Murghab district. Today we will spend a night near them. The color of water in Bulunkul is a subtle inter-play of violet and dark-blue in the sunlight. Species of fish like are found in abundance in the lake. There is the opportunity to see yaks, a unique species of domestic animals, sharing features of cow and sheep, traditionally used as a beast of burden apart from giving milk and meat products. On the way to the lake you will drive over Khargush pass (4 344 m). Dinner and night is in a home stay.

 

Day 14: Bulunkul – Keng Shiber – Qarajulgha (170 km)

In the morning we will drive to Qarajulgha via Keng Shiber. We drive over mountain passes, gravel and rivers. The road lies over mountains and passes on the elevations of more than 4 000 meters above sea level. The almost inaccessible landscape and the rocky mountains of this corner of the world have given safe haven to a unique diversity of wildlife. Amongst the most common species of wild mammals are Turkestan rat, tiger-cat, grizzly bear, badger, stoat, fox, grey and red wolves. Pamirs provides a large and thriving population of Marco Polo sheep, the largest sheep in the world, with all year round and a strong population of the highly endangered snow leopard. Overnight is in Kyrgyz yurt stay.

              

Day 15: Qarajulgha – Shaymok (200 km)

In the morning we will drive to the lake to see birds. Zorkul is a lake in the Pamir Mountains that runs along the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. It extends east to west for about 25 km. The lake's northern half lies in Tajikistan where it is protected as part of the Zorkul Nature Reserve. Out of the lake, towards the west, flows the Pamir River, tracing the Afghan-Tajik border. It is therefore a source of the Amu Darya or Oxus River. After sightseeing we will drive to Shaymoq where we will spend the night. Overnight is in home stay.

          

Day 16: Shaymok – Murghab (150 km)

They say in the Pamir: “to arrive here and do not see Murgab is like not visiting the Pamirs at all”. After all, by the Roof of the World, we mean Murgab. In the morning we will drive to this town. At the flat landscape of desolate Murgab there are dozens of peaks with absolute altitude over 6 000 meters above sea level. Often the landscape of Murghab is compared to the surface of the Moon by visitors, viewing the scene with outsiders’ eyes. Indeed, this comparison speaks to the unrepeatable experience of being in Murghab and the uniqueness of the place. The desolate and high-altitude climate of Murghab is almost Arctic. Dry air, short and cool summers and almost snowless, severe, freezing winters characterizes the weather. Dinner and night is in a guesthouse.

 

Day 17 & 18: Murgab – Karakul Lake (160 km, 4 hours)

Right on the highway of the Pamir Tract is situated the light-blue lake of Karakul (3, 815 m), the name of which can be translated as “The Black Lake”. On the way to the lake you will drive over the highest Ak Baital pass (4 655 m). Karakul is the highest large mountain lake of the world, excluding those in Tibet and Titicaca. The lake is situated in a meteorite crater and surrounded by swampy and wet meadows and bogs with a rich flora and fauna and several endemic species. Flooding, melting permafrost and buried ice sheets shape the landscape with small hillocks and a large variety of small creeks and water courses between 3 500 and 4 000 m. The rich plant cover is grazed by wild and domestic ungulates. Dinner and night is in a home stay.

 

Day 19: Karakul – Osh (280 km)

Today we will drive from Karakul village to Osh city.  The road will go along amazing mountains and high passes. On the way you will drive over a high mountain pass – Kyzyl Art (4 336 m) and Taldik. It is 3 615 meters high! You will never forget the amazing views of the road and mountains around it. With 93% of mountains in Kyrgyzstan, nomadic life in remote places – our country is a real paradise for people that are in love with mountains and unusual cultures. The route takes you along roads that wind along incredible gorges. During the day be prepared for amazing views of the impressive mountains and gorges. Night is in a home stay.

 

Day 20: Flight