Must-see attractions in The Pamir Highway

Destroyed by the Mongols, the sparse remnants of this fortified palace have been undergoing excavation since 1951 and now a fine reconstruction of the…

Mirrorlike lake Bulun-Kul (3737m) looks magnificent in the morning light, reflecting the mineral streaks of a low, multicoloured ridge opposite. The water…

With any luck, there will be enough light left in the day after any delays crossing the Shurabad Pass to enjoy the first glimpse of the raging Pyanj River…

It’s hard to believe that Khorog’s Central Park was dug up to grow crops during the famine of the 1990s. It has since been renovated by the Aga Khan Trust…

Perhaps the most appealing stretch of the A385 is between Rogak and Khostov (after the popular Yakhchi Hisor roadside springs). From this vantage point it…

Soviet archaeologists apparently took shelter in the caves at Shakty (Шахты; 4200m) during a storm one night in 1958, only to awake the next morning to…

At the entrance to the Shokh Dara Valley, 5km east of town, this arboretum encompasses a couple of hundred hectares of parkland and is claimed to be the…

Set within a traditional walled enclosure and now protected within an octagonal cover added in the 1990s, this is one of several authentic ancient Ismaili…

Although salty, lake Kara-Kul is frozen and snow-covered until May but throughout the summer this huge lake is transformed into a beautiful, sky-blue…

One of the most dramatic of the many high passes in the Pamirs, Ak-Baital Pass at 4655m is one of the highest passes along the whole of the Pamir Hwy…

Some 5km west of Khorog, a bridge linking Afghanistan with Tajikistan crosses the river at the point where the Gunt merges with the Pyanj. Every Saturday…

The road from the Wakhan Valley rejoins the Pamir Hwy via the beautiful Hargus Pass. At 4344m and the highest of the three passes around Alichur, it is…

Much bigger but arguably less photogenic than neighbouring Balun-Kul, 3734m Yashil-Kul (Яшилькуль) means 'green lake'. This is surprising because it is in…

The potholed Koi-Tezek Pass (4272m) leads into lunar-like, high-altitude desert scenery to the east, framed by a series of snowy if relatively…

At 4314m, this pass is the gateway to Murgab and the eastern Pamirs. It has a wild and eerie beauty to it and superlative views in every direction.

For those who haven't had enough of long uncomfortable journeys on washboard surfaces, then a half-day excursion to Rang-Kul (and neighbouring Shor-Kul),…

This ancient photogenic Chinese tomb features in local tourist literature but it is worth a visit not so much for the unremarkable building as the…

This fascinating Soviet-style old-school museum exhibits crampons and the first Russian piano to arrive in Badakhshan (10 Russian soldiers spent two…

This mausoleum is the burial site of a much revered 14th-century polymath, Mir Sayid Ali Hamadani. Decorated with a golden dome and meticulous brickwork,…

In the village of Sezhd (Km71), a tough, easily missed 4WD track spirals up and over a dusty ridge finally petering out after 6km in the green, very…