Tajikistan P6: Continuing the Pamir towards Osh

Leaving Khorog, I headed towards Murgab for the At Chubysh festival, a festival celebrated on the the 2nd weekend of August which celebrates the horsemen heritage  of the Kyrgyz people. The festival itself was interesting and the drive provided some scenic views. However, the seating arrangement of the shared taxi to Murgab was something less to desire, being stuck in the middle row with 2 adults and 2 kids(5 total) but made up for the friendly locals in the car. Not to mention the car constantly breaking down with a leaking radiator.

Road to Murgab

Stuck in the middle seat...

Tajikistan P5: The Wakhan Valley

Having stayed in Khorog for a fews, my plan was to set out to the Wahkan Valley. I thought to try my luck at the local CBT office in Khorog PECTA to find a group who would want to share a car. To my luck, I met 4 other travellers, Dimitri, Nico, Gabi and Camilla who happened to arrived at Pamir Logde the night before where I was staying who had the same plans. Nicolas, who had kept contact with his driver from Dushanbe made arrangements to call our driver.

The next morning, our driver Mukhtor promptly picked us up from the Pamir Lodge where we were staying ay 8am.

Our 4WD for the trip.

Tajikistan P4: To the Roof of the World Music Festival

Leaving Sarytag, the homestay organised a driver back to Savoda on the main highway before I tried to hitch my ride to Dushanbe (technically not hitch since you pay for a ride. Everyone seems to be a taxi in this part of the world).

The road to Dushanbe proved an interesting right as you enter the "tunnel of death". A pothole filled tunnel with absence of good lighting and airflow whatsoever. Originally built by the Iranians, the tunnel is said to be so bad that it is unfixable and even the Chinese do not want to get their hands dirty according to the locals.

The "tunnel of death".