July 23, 2004

Pamir Highway - Tips for travellers

Pamir Highway - Tajikistan

Some tips for fellow travellers based on my journey from Osh to Dushanbe in July 2004. Note that I travelled alone and speak no Russian.

In Osh I tried the truck depot near the railway station recommended in the LP. The certainly were truck drivers there but no-one was going to Khorog in the next few days. One guy thought he might be going and offered me a ride for 800 som ($20) but he ended up with no load so didn't go.

Everyone I spoke to reckoned there was no bus but, a couple of days later near the border, I actually saw the bus. It does exist. I think it leaves at 10pm on Saturday for Murghab (only I think) and costs 350 som. It takes about 24 hours.

I ended up catching a share taxi to Sari Tash to try my luck. 300 som and most of the day.

In Sary Tash I stayed at the home of Erkeev Mirbek, ul. Bolnichnaya, ph. (03234) 41153. Quite pleasant and 250 som with dinner.

Next day I went to the road to hitch. Waited about two hours before getting a ride in a truck going to Murghab. 500 soms. Nice guys but slow truck. Took all day and half the night to travel the 200km.

Border formalities on the Kyrgyz side were easy. Tajik was also pretty easy but slow. We were there for a couple of hours. Have 10 Tajik somoni's for the customs "fee". Neither border post had any stamps so I was neither stamped out of Kyrgyzstan or in to Tajikistan.

After sleeping at the truck driver's house I tried to register and get a GBAO permit in Murghab with the militsia but the nice lady said, since I was just transitting, to do it in Khorog. She gave me a hand-written note to give to the checkpoint outside of town (which they never asked for in the end). I was also nabbed by the KGB to register, which just took a moment (scribbled my details on a scrap of paper) and didn't cost anything.

Transport from Murghab to Khorog is very light. I think there is a bus at least some days but I never saw it. I ended up hitching, first to Alichur (tiny place) then to Khorog, but it took more than a day to get my first lift. Foreigners tend to congregate around the ACTED office (everyone in town knows where it is) so you could check there for anyone else travelling your way.

I paid 10 Tajik somonis ($3) for the lift to Alichur and 300 Kyrgyz som ($8) from there to Khorog. I ended up leaving Murghab at about 1pm on the day after I arrived and got in to Khorog at 9:30pm the same day. Only two checkpoints, just outside of Murghab and just before Khorog. The Khorog guys were a bit perturbed that I hadn't registered yet but I said I was told to do it in Khorog and they were happy in the end. In Khorog I stayed at the house of a guy also hitch-hiking on the same truck.

I finally registered in Khorog at a cost of $15 (payable in somoni) and 15 somoni, for which you get two stamps in your passport, registration and GBAO permit. The separate hand-written entry seems to be a thing of the past. The whole process took about an hour, mostly spent in the bank next door trying to pay the fee. Note that much later I met some people who applied in Dushanbe and were told that it would take two weeks to process, so things seem to be still wildly variable with this.

From there it was pretty easy to Dushanbe. 26 hours and 50 somoni but some great scenery. Sit on the left to see the river and pretty little Afghan villages.

For a more florid description of the whole adventure, see my weblog.

See also this great description of another traveller's experiences.

David (mail@davidjennings.net)

Posted by David at July 23, 2004 07:36 PM