Wakhan Corridor Road: Khorog to Yamchun

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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

   Khorog is where the day begins. Next is Ishkashim.

2. 2. Ishkashim

   A river a few hundred metres wide is all that separates Tajikistan from Afghanistan at Ishkashim, and you can watch farmers on the other bank working their fields as you drink your tea. The Panj, the upper Amu Darya, runs through a broad green valley here, hemmed in by the great ranges of the Pamir to the north and the Hindu Kush to the south. Snow peaks stand across the water, close enough to count the ridges, and the sight is among the most dramatic on the whole Pamir route. The town is small, around a few thousand people, with a bazaar, a handful of guesthouses and a border crossing that opens for traders and aid vehicles.

   Read the complete Ishkashim write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Ishkashim comes up about 104 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yamchun.

3. 3. Yamchun

   The Panj river is the border here, and across the water the land is Afghanistan. At Yamchun, in the Wakhan valley of Tajikistan, the road runs high above the river on the Tajik side, and the other bank is a narrow ribbon of farms and mud-brick houses under the great wall of the Hindu Kush. The valley is one of the most remote inhabited places in Asia, and its people, the Wakhi and Pamiri, are largely Ismaili Muslims who have lived here for many centuries, farming barley and apricots in small terraced fields.

   Read the complete Yamchun 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 182 km.