The Pamir is so high even the birds must cross on foot – Afghan Proverb
This blog post was published in July 2018 and is kept up-to-date. (Last updated: July 2018).
For a few summer months every year, the mountains of Tajikistan attract hundreds of cyclists making a pilgrimage to the region in search of adventure. Few roads delve into the Pamir Mountains, but the Pamir HIGHway), also known as the M41, one of the world's highest roads, climbs through deep valleys before reaching a plateau at 4,000 metres that could be where they filmed the moon landing. There are a few lung-bursting mountain passes up to the final granddaddy of all, the Ak-Baital Pass at 4,655 metres. This road is an absolute favourite among bike tourers, and I simply couldn't miss it from my list.
This is a route for the adventurous. Several days of challenging riding separate each village which you will discover upon arrival are basic and offer few luxuries to the cyclist, except for the warm welcome from curious locals and perhaps the invitation to play football with the children.
“From the map I saw it was three days of cycling from the village I was in, until the next, which meant I needed to restock. I searched the village for the shop. It was with dismay that I realised the rusting corpse of an old bus was the local shop. The 'shop' was closed, but a young, beautiful girl ran over to unlock it for me. On the left side was stationary – pens and notebooks – and a few Coke bottles filled with petrol, rolling down the middle were a few shrunken potatoes, still caked in earth, and on the right were instant noodles, boiled sweets and empty shelves. I bought 8 packs of instant noodles, decanted a litre of petrol into my bottle, and headed off into the wilderness.” - Diary Entry
Recommended Detours
You can follow the Pamir Highway (M-41) all the way from Dushanbe to Osh, but I took two detours, which I would recommend and have included below.
Dushanbe to Kalaikhum via Chumdon
“It’s about to get very, very epic for you” – A passing motorbike tourer who had lost count of how many times he had come to drive this road.
If you're feeling adventurous - which you clearly are if you’re cycling in Tajikistan – avoid the M41 from Dushanbe, and instead take the northern route via Chumdon. This route sees less traffic (probably because most cars wouldn't make it through); there are rivers to ford and rocky roads to rumble over.
This will be your first taste of altitude with a mountain pass up to 3,250 metres but the mountains which already loom high all around you are just a sample of what’s still to come. This stage still feels quite comfortable. Towns are regular, and the landscape feels a little more hospitable and manages to sustain life. Clear rivers flow, crops can be grown, livestock reared.
Wakhan Valley
Another recommended detour would be to once again leave the M41 after Khorog, and pedal up the Wakhan Valley. The River Panj flows through the Wakhan Valley and forms the amazing frontier between Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
Pedalling beside the river the ascent is gradual, and even though you rise from 2,000 to nearly 3,000 metres, you hardly notice any climbing.
The landscape of the Wakhan is dry and dusty, but the villages are a clear contrast to this, and are a verdant green with trees and flowers that indicate a stream flows into the River Panj and enables humans to survive here.
Other Recommended Detours
If you really want to get away from the main roads of the Pamir, you might like to check some of the other valleys in the region. The Bartang Valley is known for being very remote and a tough but exhilarating ride.
Meet Other Cyclists
I met more bike tourers in Tajikistan than in any other country, perhaps as many as 150 in a single month. This is because there is a scarcity of route options for overland travel, and most travellers opt for the beauty and adventure of the Pamir rather than the flat desert monotony of the Kazakh Steppe further north. Coupled with a very short season, anyone who wants to travel here will be here at this time of year.
If you are someone who really appreciates the solitude of bike touring and 'getting away from it all', this may not be best route for you, but I loved connecting with so many other cyclists. I rode in a peloton with as many as 9 other cyclists, and at night we'd camp together, exchanging stories, sharing food, and taking sips from a bottle of brandy.
A network formed along the route. We would meet cyclists pedalling in the opposite direction who would tell us about other riders who were an hour or two behind them. Perhaps they’d ask us to pass a message along about where they were planning on camping that night. I cycled for a fortnight with SuperCyclingMan who cycled in a Superman outfit, and word seemed to precede us. People waited expectantly for us to arrive.
Despite the number of travellers, this didn't seem to affect the welcome we received in every village we passed. Children would still run to welcome us and we were regularly invited to share a meal with the locals.
Where to Stay
Camping will often be your only option, and thankfully, it is easy to find a place to camp. You will camp with views you wouldn’t find in the most expensive hotels and unimaginably starry night skies.
In the villages you will come across homestays, where you will be given a room in a family house to sleep in. Pamiri houses have no furniture with eating and sleeping done on the floor. These give a valuable insight into local life, and a typical Pamir house has a very distinctive style and is an experience itself. A homestay usually costs $10 which includes dinner and breakfast. If you want a hot ‘shower’ they will boil a bucket of water for you for a dollar or two extra.
In the larger towns, there are some hostels and guesthouses which are renowned among touring cyclists. These are the best places to meet other cyclists, and to get the latest info on visas, road conditions and answers to all your questions.
Dushanbe: Greenhouse Hostel
Khorog: Pamir Lodge
Osh: TES guesthouse. Options for private room, dorm (cheaper), sleep in a yurt (even cheaper) or camp in the garden (cheapest).
What to Eat
If you’ve heard anything about food in Central Asia, it is probably for all the wrong reasons. And sadly, that is largely accurate. 90% of conversations with other cyclists revolved around what foods we missed. Most cyclists are sick at some point while cycling across Tajikistan.
Bike Repairs
There are no bike shops out there in Tajikistan so if anything goes wrong with your bike, expect to be on your own to sort it, except for fellow bike tourers you can recruit to help. The more spare parts you can carry, the more prepared you will be. At the least I would recommend 2-3 inner tubes, a folding tyre, several spare spokes, and a spare chain or chain links.
In Dushanbe there is an English Teacher named Bakhrom Shodiev in Dushanbe who is a skilled mechanic. He is well-aware that he has a monopoly in the area and his high prices reflect this. His contact details are Bakhromshodiev@gmail.com and +992 91916 3448.
As a very last resort, you might be able to find some cheap and rubbishy Chinese-made bike gear in a market in Dusbanbe but this is absolutely not to be relied on.
It is a sad but not uncommon sight on the Pamir Highway to see a taxi with broken bikes strapped to the roof. Riding this route proves a test for your bike, and the more prepared you can be the better.
Cycling at Altitude
The high point of this route is Ak-Baital Pass at 4,655 metres. You begin to feel the effects of altitude somewhere between 2,000 - 3,000 metres. When cycling your ascent is slow and allows sufficient time to acclimatise, and therefore altitude isn’t something to get too worried about. I met tourists travelling in taxis who had gained altitude too fast and were battling headaches and sickness, but I met no cyclists with these issues.
At altitude it can be unnerving how activities which would normally pose no challenge suddenly feel very strenuous. In the mountains, 40km was a tough day of cycling demanding an enormous mental effort. I could sleep 13 hours a night and wake up feeling more tired than before. When I eventually returned to sea level, I felt life gradually return to me with every minute I freewheeled downhill. For the first time in a month I could begin to think with a clear head.
Another effect of altitude is that many cyclists seem to lose their appetite. Coupled with the disappointing array of food available, I had to force myself to eat even when I didn’t want to. This is such a contrast; eating is normally one of my favourite things about bike touring!
There is general rule at altitude to avoid sleeping more than 500 metres higher than the previous night. If you camp at 3,000m, you can cycle up to 4,000mduring the day but should drop back to 3,500m to sleep.
The real key is to listen to your body and be prepared to travel slower. Headaches indicate that further acclimatisation is necessary, and you should lose some altitude and take rest before further ascent.
So Close To Afghanistan - Is it safe?!
Many articles seem to inflate the dangers of travelling on the border of Afghanistan, probably to magnify the author's bravery and sense of adventure. You might read about the close proximity of the Taliban, and that it is a major heroin smuggling route. Too much reading might deter you from leaving.
You are only a stone’s throw from Afghanistan. I literally managed to throw a stone across into Afghanistan. But from your Pamir Highway vantage point, you'll get a unique glimpse into Afghan village life. The Afghan side was noticeably poorer; houses were more basic, there were fewer cars, and the road was even worse. I keenly observed women draped in a burqa riding a donkey into the village, while children splashed about in the river, and road-builders waved across the river as they rested in the cool shade of a boulder.
The northern 'pan-handle' of Afghanistan is the country’s most peaceful region and I even met tourists who had crossed the border to hike here. I never felt any threat, nor did anyone I spoke to. If you are worried about safety, it is always wise to check the advice of your foreign office. The British Foreign Commonwealth Office has three categories; ‘safe to travel’, advise against ‘all but essential travel’, and advise against ‘all travel’. Currently the whole of Tajikistan including the frontier with Afghanistan is considered ‘safe to travel’.
Getting a GBAO permit
East Tajikistan is known as the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) and is noticeably different to Tajikistan. The GBAO comprises 45% of Tajikistan but only 3% of the population. You need a special permit to travel here, which is checked at several checkpoints.
You can get this permit;
- At the Tajiki Embassy where you apply for your visa, but you will pay a premium. At the embassy in London, I could get this effortlessly but it would cost $50.
- When applying for an e-visa, you can get the permit for $20.
- At the ‘Department for Visas and Registration’ (OVIR) in Dushanbe for only $4 if you have time and patience.
Obtaining the permit at the OVIR Office.
OVIR Address: Department of Visas and Registration, Mirzo Tursonzoda Street (map)
- When facing the building from the street, go to the room on the right side. There are 6 different booths and not much English is spoken, but if you ask for ‘Pamir’ you will be shown to the right desk. Present your passport and fill in the form.
- You must pay the fee at the Ammonat Bank which is nearby on Bukhoro Street. You will be handed a receipt to take to the OVIR office.
- Return to the OVIR with your passport the next morning to collect the slip of paper with your permit.
Read my blog posts from Tajikistan
Dushanbe to Qalai-Khumb
Qalai-Khumb to Khorog
Khorog to Alichur
Alichur to Osh