- Details
What happens when you put a big yellow Oasis Overland truck, a determined tour leader, and an intrepid group of travelers on one of the highest and wildest roads on earth? You get a journey packed with epic mountain passes, Soviet relics, surprise snow leopards, military checkpoints, wild camping, and the kind of stories that only happen when you drive the fabled Pamir Highway - from Tajikistan’s bustling capital to the remote frontiers of Kyrgyzstan.
In this day-by-day diary, Alexis, one of our fearless Oasis Overland leaders, shares the gritty, fun, and awe-inspiring reality of taking a truckload of adventurers across the second highest highway in the world - from ancient castles and Soviet theme parks to bush camps, yak towns, no-man’s-land border crossings, and the warm welcome of Kyrgyz yurts.
Buckle up and read on. This is the Pamir Highway, the Oasis Overland way.
PAMIR HIGHWAY DAY 1 - DUSHANBE TO KULOB BUSH CAMP
The Pamir Highway basically runs from Dushanbe to Osh in Kyrgyzstan. It is the second highest altitude road in the world! It is iconic and it is epic.
Logistically there are challenges like making sure you have enough food and water and are prepared for snow, landslides and altitude sickness for example. You also need a special permit to be in this area and a special permit to cross the border into Kyrgyzstan.
This is our first time ever doing it so we wanted to do the journey slowly, to acclimate to altitude and to have plenty of time to enjoy and deal with any issues that may arise.
Day one is a very easy one. Very good roads and low altitude. Our first stop was lunch at Holbuk Castle, a fortress dating back to the 9th century. It is mostly reconstructed, but many original bits remain and the entire place was opened especially for us. Kulob, the 3rd largest city in the country was next. It is big and bustling and feels very Soviet even with its rich history dating back to ancient times when it was an important center of the trade corridor between India and Persia.
We explored the tackier side of this city and had a look around their several million dollar Paris theme park thing. No words.
This somehow shares a space with the mausoleum of Hamadani, a 14th century Sufi mystique from Iran who is buried here and many pilgrims still visit. This was also next to Cafe Cuba! Our first of many military checkpoints happened today and took an age (and a gift). A gorgeous bush camp with a bangers and mash dinner ended our first day of this adventure!
PAMIR HIGHWAY DAY 2 - KULOB BUSH CAMP TO QALAI KHUMB
Another very easy day. This was by design. I knew road closures beginning at 7am leaving Qalai Khumb would mean a 3am departure so I made sure to book some beds and a meal in a beautiful spot with loads of time to enjoy it.
First though we had our first look at Afghanistan! Only a narrow river separates Tajikistan and Afghanistan, it is so close you can see detailed village life and horrifying mountain roads. Most of the villages did look unchanged by time and made Tajikistan feel very rich and developed compared to these remote mountain villages. Incredibly beautiful on both sides though and straddling this border will happen for 2 days.
After a brief explore of small Qalai Khumb we headed to our homestay and it was a stunner on a river with a proper table of Central Asian hospitality. We were there by lunch time after an easy drive with good roads still. Tomorrow this will definitely not be the case!
PAMIR HIGHWAY DAY 3 - QALAI KHUMB TO KHOROG BUSH CAMP
We left at 3am and almost immediately the road turned to total $*&!. It took us almost 11 hours to drive 172km. Breathtaking though!! Simply outrageous scenery and more peaks into Afghanistan.
Khorog, the capital of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast was bustling!! The streets were full of young people dressed in traditional clothes as they were preparing for a visit by the President at the end of the month.
I was finally able to get a proper coffee and visited the regional museum which was everything I hoped for, random things strewn about with a room of serious Sovietness, one of taxidermy and one of ancient artifacts. I got a tour in Russian of course. Loved it. Excellent $2 spent.
I wanted to do something special before our bush camp so thought I would take the group to the Pamir Botanical Garden - the highest in the world!! Unfortunately the truck couldn’t pass under a gate and what I thought was a shortish walk was absolutely not. I hitched a ride with a maniacal driver blasting Taylor Dayne which allowed me some time to explore. Others elected to walk and that took ages so we hitched a ride back down on a flatbed truck of road workers.
Took a minute to find an appropriate bush camp, but we found a gorgeous one. Too bad it began to rain but great day overall. Tomorrow the real altitude begins (along with the cold)
PAMIR HIGHWAY DAY 4 - KHOROG BUSH CAMP TO ALICHOR BUSH CAMP
What a day. First of all the scenery was otherworldly! As it should be as this is basically the roof of the world. We climbed to well over 4000 meters. The road also was complete and total $*&!. This is the freaking Pamir Highway!
The landscape was beautiful, but desolate. There was nothing. One small town with a yak walking through it. No toilets, no cover, only extremes. Of course this was a day I had a dodgy stomach. Never fails! but well worth the nightmare.
Spectacular day and a glorious bush camp. Yes it was freezing, yes there was no cover for toilets, yes there was a wind storm, yes there was a sand storm, yes there was rain, but the world can’t get more beautiful.
PAMIR HIGHWAY DAY 5 - ALICHOR BUSH CAMP TO MURGHAB
Beautiful morning on top of the world led to more insane roads at high altitude. The scenery is quite spectacular - extremely harsh, but beautiful.
I had read there might be a snow leopard rehab near Murghab so we stopped and I never in a million years actually expected to see a snow leopard today, but we absolutely did. We were allowed to see 2!! Life highlight. I wish they hadn’t been in enclosures, but this is not a zoo. There was nothing on the road to even indicate this exists and the gates were locked so it was unexpected. I mean if there is even a tiny chance of seeing a snow leopard you know I’m going to try!!
Murghab was next and I don’t even know how to describe it. It feels like a dusty frontier town, proper middle of nowhere in the mountains harsh living town. Highlights include the bazaar which is in shipping containers and the Lenin statue in the middle of the town.
After some tough days and cold, windy weather I felt a bed, shower and hot meal would be necessary before hitting what is likely to be our longest and craziest day as we head across the border into Kyrgyzstan.
PAMIR HIGHWAY DAY 6, PART 1- MURGHAB TO TAJIKISTAN BORDER AND NO MAN’S LAND
What a day! We had been told all sorts of horror stories about the road, the border, the no man’s land between borders and had no idea if we could even get the truck to our destination assuming we got through the first several obstacles, So the day started at 5am with a lot of uncertainty and excitement.
Until the border, the roads were half ok and half certainly not ok! Especially as we climbed to 4700 meters at some point. At a more reasonable 3900m, we visited picture perfect Karakul. This lake is clear blue and surrounded by snow capped mountains. Really a majestic sight.
The Tajik side of the border took a bit of time, but was easy and we made friends with the teenage soldiers manning it. The infamous 20km between borders is definitely infamous for a reason. Oh my god. There is no way sections of this are passable if it rains or snows. It is barely passable on a good day! In a truck anyway. It is wild. I was unable to photograph or video the diciest section due to holding on for dear life. Beautiful though as is everywhere on this road!
PAMIR HIGHWAY DAY 6, PART 2: TAJIKISTAN BORDER TO TULPAR LAKE, KYRGYZSTAN
We stopped for lunch right before the Kyrgyz border post and that border was a breeze as well. My favorite part is a big banner in the immigration office that states “Everyone fleeing persecution or violence has a right to apply for protection in the Kyrgyz Republic.” Hint hint.
Up until now I really didn’t expect to make the yurt camp I booked. I wanted to do something special, stop the truck for a day and allow people to really experience where we are. The trouble is it was a very experimental detour on a very unpredictable day. The ease of the crossings meant we could at least try!!
Crossing the border, everything immediately changes. The world comes to life. There is green everywhere, yurts dot the landscape, horses run free and mountains punctuated with snow surround you on all sides. We are definitely in Kyrgyzstan, the land of dreams, magic and joy, of unparalleled beauty, of real experiences that don’t ever leave you. This is one of my favorite countries for a reason and this day reconfirmed that.
My yurt camp experiment was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It was slightly dicey for the truck, but Al can handle anything. I have no words for this location or the drive in. It basically takes an aspect of every spot I love in this country and packs it into one place.
More detail to follow in the next post. Welcome back to Kyrgyzstan and back to yurts!
PAMIR HIGHWAY DAY 7 - LAKE TULPAR DETOUR
I chose this yurt camp for a few reasons:
- Everyone should start a visit to Kyrgyzstan wirh a magical yurt camp!
- I wanted everyone to have a day off the truck to actually experience the people and landscape
- The camp offers access to Lenin Peak, one of the highest in the region and is full of real hiking opportunities which we had not had
- It is a CBT (community based tourism) yurt camp and I knew we would be supporting a local family with our visit and they were incredibly wonderful
- this is a part of Kyrgyzstan that is beyond spectacular and it isn’t exactly on the normal tourist trail
- There is something for everyone to do. Serious hikers can hike. Walkers can walk. Horse riders can ride. It is the perfect place.
The day started with everybody’s first yurt breakfast which is always a treat to dine in that space. I opted to do a hike nearly to Travellers Pass which was just amazing. Mountain lakes, grass bursting with colorful flowers, epic mountains!
Everything one could want in a hike. The phenomenal day ending with another yurt meal and truly it was one of the best stops of the trip.
PAMIR HIGHWAY DAY 8 - TULPAR LAKE TO OSH
That’s it! We did it. We completed the Pamir Highway!! It was a wild ride, but now we are in the 2nd largest city in Kyrgyzstan and it is always a treat.
Our first night brought a group dinner at a great place that aesthetically is like a ski chalet meets a beer garden?? But they do great cold beer and shashlik and it was hit.
Some of us went back the next day and somehow on their tv screen they were showing an hour of Miami scenes. Like what?? I’m sitting in Osh looking at images of home for an inexplicable reason.
Being silly kids in Alisher Navai Park followed and it was so much fun. Otherwise I needed the day to catch up on computer and internet work that was impossible to do on Highway.