Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
8
Getting¨There¨&¨Away
AIR
Depending on your conidence in the pilots of
Tajik Air, the Khorog-Dushanbe light (440TJS)
might be one of the most exhilarating or ter-
rifying experiences of your life. For most of the
45-minute light the aircraft scoots between (not
above) mountain valleys, lying with wingtips
so close you could swear they kick up swirls of
snow. In Soviet days this was the only route on
which Aerolot paid its pilots danger money.
Flights originate in Dushanbe and, in theory,
run daily but they are grounded at the irst sign
of bad weather or if there are insuicient pas-
sengers exiting Dushanbe. Even when lights
operate, buying tickets is a frustrating game.
Budget an extra day or two into your itinerary
in case lights are cancelled and be prepared to
travel overland if need be.
The
airport ticket oice
(lenin;
h
8am-noon)
is 3km west of town by minivan 1, diagonally
across the main road from the airport terminal
at the rear of a faux-brick-fronted buiding
simply signed Khorogh. Ideally you need to get
your name on the list for the day you need to ly,
returning one day before with your passport.
But the ticket oice has a single, absurdly small
tunnel window through which to misunderstand
the latest news of impending lights and the lack
of tickets therefor. If you manage to get on the
list, turn up at the airport by 8am the day before
you want to leave and see if the plane is actually
coming and whether you've been bumped.
SHARED TAXI & 4WD
All departures are 'when full' but prices luctuate
with demand. Be prepared to hang around for
hours before inally leaving. Note that very few
cars depart on Sundays.
Dushanbe
Shared vehicles (300TJS, 14 to 20
hours) leave several times each morning and
possibly as late as 1pm from a parking area
near Kafe Khatlon.
Murgab
Shared 4WDs (150TJS, seven hours)
and minivans to Rushan (10JS, 90 minutes),
Roshtqala, and Shahzud (for Bachor) depart
from the main taxi stand in the bazaar area.
If hitch-hiking to Murgab your best bet is to
head to Tank (Km641 of the Pamir Highway,
22km east of Khorog). Here Chinese trucks wait
at two 'terminals' (they aren't allowed to transit
Khorog by day) with most eastbound trucks
leaving around noon (and arriving in Murgab an-
tisocially at around midnight). Drivers generally
expect around 30TJS per passenger. Speaking
Chinese helps.
Wakhan Valley
Vehicles for Ishkashim (50TJS
to 120TJS, three hours), langar (100TJS to
250TJS, seven hours) and other villages park in
three closely huddled yards directly across the
footbridge from the bazaar. Mid-afternoon you
might find that drivers anxious to return home
are heavily discounting prices, but you'll risk
not finding a ride that day.
8
Getting¨Around
Marshrutkas 1 and 3 start beyond the Serena Inn
and pass the airport, bazaar and park. Route 1
continues along lenin out past the
'First Truck'
monument
(Khorog gES;
g
1), while route 3
takes gagarin past the UPD district to the foot
of the Botanical gardens. Fares are 1/1.5TJS for
short/long rides. A taxi from the centre to Pamir
lodge costs 10TJS.
Shokh Dara Valley
Долина Шог Дара
This route's main highlights are occasional
glimpses of the distinctive north face of
Engels Peak (6507m), and the chance to
create a loop-route through some little-
visited villages as part of a multiday char-
tered 4WD-loop.
A kilometre after
Tavdem
's ancient
shrine (now protected within a 1990s oc-
tagonal cover-shrine), a 4km 4WD side-track
winds up hairpins to
Tusiyon
, whose high
pastures are set in a wide rocky amphithea-
tre with many cleverly designed water-canal
innovations.
A dramatically contorted rocky backdrop
soars high above the valley's main town,
Roshtqala
, named for the tiny ruined 'red
fort' at Km39. At the back of the small ba-
zaar are a couple of very basic eateries, the
only restaurants in the Shokh Dara Valley.
It's worth stopping by the signboard for
Shokhirizm¨village
(Km60) and walking
30 seconds towards a photogenic Grand
Canyon-style perch, high above the river
gorge into which the road later burrows.
Some 11km further at
Sezhd
, a tough, eas-
ily missed 4WD track spirals up and over a
dusty ridge finally petering out after 6km in
the green, very disparate hamlet of
Durum
(population 11). Walk on for 40 minutes
from road's end (crossing a tree-trunk bridge
almost immediately) to reach a fine view-
point overlooking the vivid blue-green lake
Durum-Kul
. Driving back, there are some
splendid views of 6000m peaks on the southern
horizon.
The views are less inspiring for the next
35km, and the 8th-century
Shashbuvad¨
Fort
looks merely like an unfinished local
house. Around Km120 as the road dou-
bles back beside a small mountain stream
