Negotiating transportation on the Pamir Highway

Hello to all,

Just a few words on how to charter a car for exploring the Tajik Pamir. To all those who spend hours negotiating with stubborn taxi drivers, here's some data which might help.

There are mainly three types of cars in the area: The UAZ jeep, the UAZ mini-van (called Tabletki) and the modern (often japanese) 4x4.

- The UAZ jeep sits one driver and four passengers and uses 16 liters of gas for 100km.
- The UAZ mini-van sits one driver and 7/8 passengers and uses 20 liters of gas per 100km.
- The modern 4x4 can sit between 4 to 7 passengers and uses roughly 14 liters of gas per 100km.

- The price of one liter of gas in Khorog is 2.6 Somoni = 0.75 dollars.
- The price of one liter of gas in Murghab is 3 Somoni = 0.87 dollars.

The distance between Murghab and Khorog is 300 km.

Now, with all this data, you can easily calculate the cost of gas: for example, between Murghab and Khorog, a UAZ jeep uses 48 liters of gas costing 125 Somoni in Khorog ($36) and 144 Somoni in Murghab ($42).

For other itineraries (through the Wakhan valley or even the Bartang valley), you can do the same math. And when the taxi driver comes asking for $150 to drive you from Khorog to Murghab, you'll know what to reply ...

Enjoy the ride.

w.

If you were negotiating to buy gas, I'd agree with you.

But that's like paying for a work of art based solely on the cost of the paint.

One must include, in the equation, the cost of the jeep, the cost of parts for frequent repairs in a region with notoriously bad roads and extreme weather, the cost of getting parts for the jeep to a remote place, and the cost of good tools to repair the jeep.

One must also include, perhaps the cost of a second vehicle to bring the needed parts to your stranded jeep (if they are not among the parts every driver carries) and take the jeep's passengers back to a place with lodging, and the loss in the case of refunding money if the driver is not able to repair the jeep in time to complete the journey.

Your jeep may not need repairs on your particular journey, but if it does break down, you are not asked to pay extra for the cost of any repairs. So part of your cost is spreading out the cost of repairs over all trips -- just like insurance.

On one trip in the Pamirs, our driver needed to spend a couple of hours repairing the engine. Plus there was the inevitable flat tire. On another leg, our driver needed to remove the seats and take the entire engine out of the jeep, with the help of the men at the nearby jailoo, and make repairs to the transmission. Luckily, the latter meant I got to help with milking the yaks when they returned from pasture in the evening.

Further, there are very few tourists, so these drivers have to recoup these investments over very few paying customers in a year.

In addition, even if you aren't going both directions, the driver and vehicle are, so one pays for twice the distance. It is extremely rare that there are people waiting at the other end to go the other direction.

One basic economic truth is scarcity. Diamonds cost more because they are rare. There are very few people in the Pamirs with all the requisite skills and knowledge, plus equipment, and it takes a long time to acquire them.

Further, if he is associated with one of the organizations in the area (and I believe most are), some portion of what you pay him (and to the home stays) goes back to the organization to help defray the costs of the organization -- such as telephone, email, marketing, heating and also developing office staff expertise on the region, history, and sights plus English-speaking skills -- so that the tourism program evolves to become self-sustaining.

One must include the cost of the expertise of the driver (1) in knowing how to repair every aspect of the jeep, by oneself, in extreme conditions, (2) in knowing how to drive across rough terrain, including safely fording rivers, (3) in knowing the roads, down to the faintest dirt tracks on the less traveled paths, in a very remote region, (4) in knowing the location of all the sights the tourist may want to see, (5) in knowing all the possible sources of gas, food and shelter in that vast region in the case of any problems, and (6) in the stress of spending hours dealing with obnoxious, narrow-sighted, cheap tourists who try to negotiate to take advantage of one's years of investment in equipment and expertise based solely on the price of gas.

#1, expert's point of view!

Best regards- Igor Fedyaev

I'd rather pay a bit more for a safe driver who knows his way around (see #1) and is really helpful. I'm also taking some presents (Swiss army knives) for people that we meet along the way and that alone cost me more than $ 100.-- but hey, if somebody helps us or invites us I'd like to have something to return.....

We'll see how it goes

Moose, I really like your gift idea! That's great!

With regard to drivers, here's another option: If you are in Khorog and just want a ride straight to Murghab, you can go to the bazaar and negotiate with a taxi driver there. Their cars are usually not 4WD and usually used for driving close to Khorog, and the drivers don't usually deal with tourists, but some local drivers might have friends or family in Murghab and might be willing to hang around there until they find a fare back.

One fellow traveler went this route. He found a student at the University in town, who spoke some English, and went with him to the bazaar and found him a driver willing to go directly to Murghab for $75.

The Pamir Highway is generally in good condition, though there are several places where the vehicle has to go onto dirt-track bypasses around washed out bridges and such. These local cars are a bit more likely to break down than a jeep, and I'd try to get the driver slow down if the roads are icy, but since there is consistently some traffic on the road most days in good weather, you probably wouldn't be stuck for a dangerous amount of time.