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I'm heading into Tajikistan on Friday (to Dushanbe). I aim to go around to Khorog and then via the Pamir highway to Kyrgyzstan. I'm unsure as to how long to allow for this part of the trip, or how to go about doing it. I assume I'll run into more information as I hit the country, but in the meantime I hoped someone on here would have more info.

I have applied for the required permit, and have a 30 day visa for both countries. However, I'm a bit behind schedule so would like to be quick, but don't want to rush it either.

Does anyone have some estimates on the minimum length of time required for a single traveler?

(I'm claiming this isn't ambiguous as I'm after the minimum, rather than some flaky 'how long does it take' - some could happily take 6 months to do it!)

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You get visa at Dushanbe airport if you are from certain countries .. In dushanbe you can hire transport for the whole travel .. or you can find cheap appartment in Dushanbe and apply for GBAO permission .. it will take one day, sometimes more .. then you can use public transport to get to Khorog ... from Khorog, you'd better hire car which will take you to Wakhan corridor, then to Murgab and Kyrgyzstan .. you can arrange some tours for you while travelling – user2058 Mar 17 '12 at 7:53
Hi Mark, having done this trip what would be your estimate for minimum time? (I saw from other questions that health problems meant the trip didn't go as planned, sorry to hear that, so I totally understand if you're reluctant to estimate) – user568458 Feb 16 at 21:38
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@user568458 wasn't health per-se, I just take a lot of medicine and it turned out it was hard to source in Tajikistan, had to go back from Khorog to Dushanbe to get it :) So I ended up with not enough time to do the whole Pamir - just up to Khorog, which was spectacular. That's 2 days, and I reckon 7-10 would be enough to do the whole thing, but that's just my reckoning and wouldn't allow for delays, sourcing new vehicles and all that. – Mark Mayo Feb 17 at 7:44

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up vote 6 down vote accepted

Pamir highway is more than 700 kilometers long, and contains some mountain crosses over 4000 meters AMSL. This trip will be very difficult for you, and I wish you good luck with that.
According this article, you should know this:

  • There are not many service points at the Pamir highway
  • After the USSR was down, neither Tajikistan nor Kyrgyzstan have money to spend on quality on the Highway, so in some places road is in awful condition.
  • You'll need some paper for the visiting the Afganistan-near places of this Highway. Unfortunately, I can't provide any info about this, but I think you could get this info locally.
  • There are some companies providing a trip for this Highway, and you should use their tours - I think you can't get through this Highway at your own.
  • You can search for the mountaineering commands for the support - they frequently are at the Highwway because of two mountains they want to visit: Ismoil Somoni Peak and Lenin Peak

Thats all I know, sogood luck with that :)

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Thanks VMAtm, in a dodgy net cafe at present so will have to look at the links etc when I reach Dushanbe, but re thje paper, I've got the permit for that, thanks, it's US$10 from any Tajik embassy, so not too bad. – Mark Mayo Jul 8 '11 at 14:15
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And hopefully I can find a few others to join me on a tour, that would be perfect, less stress about driving that way ;) – Mark Mayo Jul 8 '11 at 14:16

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