High Pamir Adventure

Land Tour

15 days

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High Pamir Adventure
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$AUD 541 per day

Departure: Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Arrival: Tashkent, Uzbekistan

The most challenging journey offered by Sundowners Overland, the High Pamir Adventure will take you literally to the ‘the Roof of the World’ – or Bam-i-Dunya as the Pamir Mountains are known.
The Pamir Highway follows the Afghan border and Panj River deep into Gorno-Badakhshan, whose remote and undisturbed valleys are home to the Persian-speaking Tajiks, independent peoples and tribal groups separated by spectacular scenery. Theirs is a starkly beautiful land of soaring snow-covered peaks, high altitude lakes and fast-flowing rivers. It was through this region some of the earliest Silk Road caravans passed and where the ‘Great Game’ was played out as the British & Russian Imperial armies vied for control of the strategic mountain passes linking Russian Turkestan and British India.
This is no ordinary adventure; high mountain passes to nearly 5000m, very challenging road conditions, remote geography and some nights in very basic accommodation will require that participants are physically fit with an active spirit of adventure.
This journey will be limited to just 12 participants and will be escorted by our Director, Simon Maddison.
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Itinerary
Day 1: Tashkent
Welcome to Tashkent, one of the oldest and largest cities in Central Asia and the Uzbek capital since 1930. Largely rebuilt following the 1966 earthquake the city is very much a showpiece of Soviet and post-soviet architecture. In the evening of Day 1 you join your Leader, Simon Maddison and fellow travellers at 5:00pm for your Welcome Meeting as detailed in your joining instructions.
Day 2: Tashkent and to Khujand
This morning we visit the old town: Barak Khana Seminary, Tila Shaikh mosque, Kukeldash Madrassah and Chorsu bazaar. This afternoon we cross the border into Tajikistan and to the city of Khujand, one of the oldest cities in Central Asia, dating back about 2,500 years to the Persian Empire, its strategic location on the Syr Darya river at the mouth of the Fergana Valley it was a major trading town on the ancient Silk Road. Captured by Alexander the Great in 329 BC, it was renamed Alexandria Eschate and has since been part of various empires including the Umayyad Caliphate (8th century), the Mongol Empire (13th century) and the Russian empire (19th century).
Day 3: To Dushanbe
Leaving Khujand we travel to Dushanbe via Istaravshan. Located in the northern foothills of the Turkistan mountains, Istaravshan is considered one of the most likley sites of ancient Cyropolis, founded by Cyrus the Great in the 5th century BC. We continue to Dushanbe through the beautiful scenery of the Turkistan mountain range.
Day 4: Dushanbe
We visit the Museum of National Antiquities, featuring artefacts from Tajikistan's Islamic and pre-Islamic history which shows Tajikistan as an important crossroads in Central Asia. The centrepiece is a 1400 year old reclining Buddha statue from the Kushan civilization that made the Buddhas of  Bamiyan, Afghanistan. Later visit the National Museum, the monument of Ismoili Somoni and Rudaki park.
Day 5: Dushanbe
Beyond the city we visit the ancient fortress of Hissor and Varzob gorge, set in a beautiful alpine mountain region. Returning to Dushanbe we visit the Museum of Musical Instruments, founded in 1990 with the private collection of Tajik artist Gurminj Zavqibekov. On display are over 200 instruments he collected throughout Asia.
Day 6: To Kalaikhumb
Leaving Dushanbe bitumen gives way to dirt as we travel south to the site of Hulbuk Palace and museum; the vast 10thC stronghold was once a key trading centre on the earliest Silk Road routes. Crossing Shuraba pass 2267m we descend towards the Panj River, delineating the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan, and follow the river into the Pamirs and the village of Kalaikhumb.
Day 7: To Khorog 2100m
We follow the Panj river the steep valleys of the western Pamir; Vanj, Bartang on one side, remote Afghan villages on the other. The soaring Pamir mountains meet the Hindu Kush, Himalaya, Karakoram and Tien Shan ranges the Pamir Highway traverses this ‘roof of the world’ between Khorog and Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Beyond the village of Rushan village we enter the predominantly Ismaili region of Tajikistan, and near Khorog we will visit the shrine of Nasir Khusraw, the 10th century Ismaili pt, philosopher and traveller considered the founder of the Ismaili religion in this region.
Day 8: Khorog
Khorog is the administrative centre of the Gorno Badahkshan Autonomous region. Established when the Russian empire moved its Pamir military base from Murghob in 1897 the town grew and flourished through the Soviet period and toady is a large university town nestled at the confluence of the Panj, Ghund and Shakhdara rivers, with the valley sides soaring above the town. At an altitude of 2100m it became the Soviet mountain research and has one of the worlds highest botanical gardens 2200m. Each of the valleys of Badakhshan have their own language, culture, traditional clothing, cuisine, architecture and folklore. We will visit a traditional Pamiri house to better understand  symbolism behind each architectural  detail and observe how local people make traditional Pamiri clothing.
Day 9: To Yamg 2750m
The Panj river, known in ancient times as the Oxus, and in more recent history as the Amu Darya, is one of the longest rivers in Centra Asia. The boundaries of the ‘Great Game’, the strategic territorial maneuverings by the British and Russian Imperial forces were eventually settled by the Pamir Boundary Commission in 1895 – and are still in force today.Along our remote journey today are the thermal mineral springs at Garam Chashma, a ruby mine that Marco Polo visited on his travels on the silk road, the Kushan period fortress of Kah-Kakha built to protect the significant Silk Road route through the Wakhan corridor and many shrines and traditional villages of the eastern Pamir. This evening we stay in a traditional Pamiri home.
Day 10: To Zong 2950m
The rough and challenging roads belie the fact that this was once one of the great routes of trade and knowledge and religion in the world, here in Yamg lived the astronomer and scholar Sufi Muboraki Vakhoni, whose manuscripts, tools, including his solar calendar are preserved in the local museum. In Yamchun village is the Bibi Fatima thermal spring and ruins of Zulkhomor fortress (3-1 c BC), in this region and surrounding villages of Zong and Vrang we will enjoy some of the most spectacular views across the Panj valley to the snow-capped peaks of the Hindu Kush.Later near Langar the Wakhan river joins the Panj offering stunning views up the Wakhan valley (Wakhan Corridor) to Afghanistan and Pakistan. We stay with a local family in a Traditional Pamiri house, and this evening ascend the valley side to see a large ‘gallery’ of rock carvings, some of the many thousands of petroglyphs found in the Pamirs.
Day 11: To Murghab
The road climbs steeply from Langar as we leave the Panj valley and enter the Pamir river valley before leaving the steep valleys of the westerm Pamir over the Khargush (4344m) and Nauzetash (4314m) Passes to the high-altitude plains of the eastern Pamir.Descend to Alichur village (3863m) before climbing again over Neizatash Pass (4137m) and so to Murghab (3630m). The original Russian garrison based here in the late 1800’s at ‘Pamirsky Post’, before its transfer to Khorog in 1897.
Day 12: To Osh
Due east at the Kulma Pass (4363m) lies the recently opened border to China’s Xinjiang province, gateway to Kashgar and Tibet, or south over the Khunjerab Pass (4655m) to Pakistan and India.We follow the Pamir Highway over the vast high-altitude desert-steppe of the high Pamirs via Akbaital Pass (4655m), Karakul Lake (3914m) and Uybulok pass (4232m) to the Kyzyl Art Pass (4336m) with views of Lenin peak (7134m) to the west.Border formalities complete we cross the high pass and soon after the Tajik border point we descend to Sary Tash, crossroads of the great Silk Road between Kashgar and the Fergana Valley.
Day 13: Osh and to Fergana
Known as Kyrgyzstan’s southern capital, Osh is one of the oldest cities in the central Asia founded more than 3000 years ago. Dominating the city is the sacred Sulayman Mountain, considered by some to be the ‘Stone Tower’ mentioned by Ptolemy as being the mid-point of the Silk Road. Recognized by UNESCO as a significant site in Central Asia. Trade flourished here in the Fergana valley as caravans arrived from China, India & Persia, and the faces in the Osh bazaar reflect its history as a great crossroads of Eurasia. Leaving Osh we cross the border to Uzbekistan and visit Margilan, renowned for its high quality silk production, Silk Road caravans carried Margilan silk to Baghdad, Cairo and Athens. Today it is still the most important silk production centre in Uzbekistan and we will visit Yodigarlik, a modern silk processing factory and traditional workshop where original handmade methods of silk ikat production are still used.
Day 14: To Tashkent
Rishtan is the main centre for the famed blue and green glazed ceramics of Uzbekistan. Made with the Rishtan’s unique red clay, traditional pigments and fired with the skills passed from generation to generation Rishtan pottery has been sought after since the Silk Road caravans carried its wares both east & west. We visit a workshop of Rustam Usmanov, a master of blue ceramics whose creations are considered some of the best pieces of Uzbekistan's decorative art. We continue to Kokand, visiting Khudayar Khan Palace, Jommi Mosque, Narbutabey and Dasturkhanchi Madrassas, and the Khaidarov museum of local woodcraft. This evening we take the new high-speed rail link to Tashkent
Day 15: Tashkent
Our journey ends after breakfast.
Jouney Summary
Day 1  
Tashkent - journey begins              


Day 2
To Khujand


Day 3
To Dushanbe 


Day 4
Dushanbe 


Day 5
Dushanbe 


Day 6
To Kalaikhumb


Day 7
To Khorog


Day 8
Khorog


Day 9
To Yamg


Day 10
To Zong


Day 11
To Murghab


Day 12
To Osh


Day 13
Osh and to Fergana


Day 14
To Tashkent


Day 15
Tashkent - journey concludes
Location

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