The Pamir Highway

Dushanbe

The relatively modern town of Dushanbe only became important during the Soviet era, when it was made the capital of the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and given the unfortunate name of Stalinabad – something that was quickly changed after Stalin’s death. Its name means ‘Monday’ in the Tajik language, arising from the fact that this was the day that the market was held when Dushanbe was still a small village.

The ousted Emir of Bukhara, fleeing from the Bolsheviks, stayed in Dushanbe and cooperated with Enver Pasha’s Basmachis in resistance against the Russians; from Dushanbe, he fled to Afghanistan in 1921, the year the town was freed from the Basmachis as well.

Dushanbe is characterised by wide boulevards and Soviet-style architecture, although in recent years much construction has taken place and the city is starting to modernise. Not to be missed is the excellent Museum of National Antiquities, which holds a wide array of archaeological finds from the region, the most impressive of which is the 13 metres long sleeping Buddha that was excavated in 1966.

Khorog
Khorog is the capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) and by far the largest town in the region, although not huge by other standards. During the time of the ‘Great Game’, the 19th century contest of imperial rivalries between Russia and Britain, the town was claimed by both powers as well as the emirate of Bukhara, although eventually fell under Russian control when the extent of their empire was agreed as the Panj River, which forms part of the current border with Afghanistan. It is home to the second highest botanical garden in the world (after another in Yunnan, China) as well as the first car to cross the Pamirs, and a meeting place for the many different groups that live in this part of the region.

The Pamir Highway

The Pamir Highway is undoubtedly one of the world’s most spectacular roads, carving a route through some of the highest peaks on our planet and linking Dushanbe to Osh in Kyrgyzstan. Don’t be fooled by the name – it usually consists of just one lane and the terrain that it passes through means that travel is often slow, especially if you’re behind a truck, but this gives you all the more opportunity to savour the breathtaking scenery. It has been used for centuries, forming one of the routes of the Silk Road, and today brings goods from Kyrgyzstan and China to remote outposts, and onwards to Dushanbe and Afghanistan.

The Pamir Mountains

The Pamir Mountains connect the Himalaya, Hindu Kush, Karakoram and Tien Shan ranges, and spread between Pakistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and China. A vast wilderness of glaciers and peaks, it is home to both fascinating wildlife and intriguing ethnic groups, living in isolated valleys and with distinct cultures and customs that have developed separately from anywhere else.

The majority of the people who live here are Ismaili but over the years the region has been home to Buddhist civilisations, Russians and others. The region formed rather a blank gap during the ‘Great Game’ with Russian and British explorers sent to secretly probe the area with a view to claiming it for their respective empires.

Wildlife here includes the enigmatic snow leopard, the Marco Polo sheep with its enormous horns, wolves and bear. The three highest peaks are over 7000 metres but there are another forty over 6000 metres, giving this a good claim to being the roof of the world.

We cross the Kyzyl Art pass and stop by the lake of Karakul, the largest and highest in the country. After completing border formalities we cross into Kyrgyzstan and head to Sary Tash for the night, where we stay overnight in a family-run guesthouse. (BLD)

Osh

One of the oldest cities in Central Asia, Osh dates back at least three thousand years and possibly more, although little of its heritage from this time remains. It is the second city of the country and the capital of the south, and the terminus of the Pamir Highway in Kyrgyzstan.

The city is best known for the barren rock known as Solomon’s Throne, a renowned place for Muslim pilgrims and reputedly visited by the prophet Mohammed. The small mosque here was originally built in the 15th century but has since been reconstructed.

Osh was razed to the ground by the Mongols in the 13th century but is today a lively place and a melting pot of ethnic groups – something that sometimes erupts into tensions. It also houses the largest open-air market in Central Asia – a great place for people watching and soaking up the atmosphere.

Son Kul

Kyrgyzstan’s second largest lake, Son Kul, is surrounded by broad meadows (jailoos) and flanked with snow-capped mountains; it’s widely recognized as one of the most attractive parts of the country and the presence of nomads and their herds of livestock adds to the sense of timeless wilderness. During the summer Kyrgyz nomads take advantage of the good grazing here, returning when the cold weather arrives in October. It’s also a great place for birds, with almost seventy species recorded here, and has been designated as a wetland of global importance – species to be found include geese, ducks and raptors, while lynx and deer are also present.

Bishkek

Formerly known as Frunze after a Bolshevik military leader, Kyrgyzstan’s capital is a fairly unremarkable place that only really came to prominence when Russian forces captured it in the 19th century, with modern architecture, wide boulevards and large public spaces that are typical of cities of the old Soviet Union. Today it is a modern city and Kyrgyzstan’s most cosmopolitan with Russian, Chinese and Korean populations rubbing shoulders with Kyrgyz, Uzbeks and others.