Pamir Highway: Dushanbe to Khorog

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Dushanbe

   Dushanbe means Monday, and the name comes from a village market that took place on that day, long before the city arrived. Today Dushanbe is the capital of Tajikistan, a city of nearly seven hundred thousand people in a broad valley beneath the Gissar mountains, laid out on wide, tree-lined avenues with white marble buildings, fountains and parks, a Soviet creation with a distinctly Persian soul. The Tajik language is a form of Persian, and the poets of the region, Rudaki and Ferdowsi among them, are national heroes, whose statues stand in the city.

   Read the complete Dushanbe write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Dushanbe is where the day begins. Next is Kalaikhum.

2. 2. Kalaikhum

   Kalaikhum lies in the deep, hot gorge of the Panj river in south-western Tajikistan, where the Pamir Highway's western arm runs along the border with Afghanistan. At about twelve hundred metres, it is low by Pamir standards, and the valley floor is dusty, warm and full of apricot trees. The river is the frontier: on the far bank lie Afghan villages of mud-brick houses and terraced fields, linked by narrow donkey tracks cut into the cliffs, and a rider can watch the daily routines of people walking, ploughing and herding only a few hundred metres away across the water.

   Read the complete Kalaikhum write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kalaikhum comes up about 354 km into the recorded legs. Next is Khorog.

3. 3. Khorog

   Khorog sits on the edge of Afghanistan, with only a river between them. The town lies at about 2,200 metres in the valley of the Gunt and Panj rivers, in the Gorno-Badakhshan region of Tajikistan, and from its streets you can see across the Panj to the villages and mountain tracks of the Afghan Pamir, close enough to hear the dogs. About thirty thousand people live here, the regional capital, and its character is calm and rather quiet, with tree-lined streets, Soviet-era buildings and a river promenade. A park beside the river is a pleasant place for a walk.

   Read the complete Khorog write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 592 km.