Itineraries - Central Asia - page 23

KAZAKHSTAN

KYRGYZSTAN

Osh

•

Oybek

•

Khojand
Istaravshan

•

UZBEKISTAN

Sary Tash
Sary Mogol

•

Kashgar

• •

Samarkand

•

Irkeshtam
Pass

•

•

Penjikent

CHINA

Kara-Kul

Iskander-Kul

_

TAJIKISTAN

DUSHANBE Murgab •

Khorog •

Langar

•

AFGHANISTAN

PAKISTAN

To Osh via the Pamir Highway

This wild three-week jaunt ranks as one of the world's most beautiful and remote moun-
tain road trips and is not one to rush. Hire a vehicle for at least part of the way and do
the drives in daylight.
There are several options to get to Penjikent (p331). If the border crossing between
Samarkand and Penjikent has reopened, this is your best option. Otherwise, fly from
Dushanbe, or cross into Tajikistan from Uzbekistan at Bekabad, transit through
Khojand (p335) and continue through Istaravshan (p334) by shared taxi over the
Shakhristan Pass.
In Penjikent you can check out the Sogdian-era archaeological site and then either
hire a car for a day trip up to the Marguzor Lakes or arrange a taxi through the moun-
tains to scenic lake Iskander-Kul (p326).
Continue the taxi ride through stunning vertical scenery to Tajikistan's mellow
capital Dushanbe (p316), where you should budget a couple of days to arrange the
flight, shared 4WD or hired car for the long but impressive trip along the Afghan
border to Khorog (p343) in Gorno-Badakhshan.
You can drive from Khorog to Murgab in a day, but there are lots of interesting de-
tours here, especially the beautiful Wakhan Valley (p348) and its storybook Yamchun
and Abrashim forts. With hired transport, you can cut from Langar (p350) to the Pamir
Highway and continue to Murgab.
There are loads of side trips to be made from Murgab (p353), so try to budget a few
days here to visit a local yurt camp in the surrounding high pastures. Headed north,
Kara-Kul (p356) is a scenic highlight and worth at least a lunch stop or picnic. Once
over the border in Kyrgyzstan, at Sary Tash (p296), it's worth detouring 40km to Sary
Mogol (p296) for its fine views of towering Peak Lenin (Ibn Sina).
From here you can continue over the mountains to the Silk Road bazaar town of Osh
(p289) or better still exit Central Asia via the Irkeshtam Pass (p310) to Kashgar, China.