Help - Pamir Highway

Hi everyone!

I'm planning a trip on the Pamir Highway from Osh to Dushanbe this August with a few friends in my car (small 4x4 but, alas, quite old). It wouldn't be a proper "tour" of the area, but a part of a much bigger itinerary so it shouldn't take more than the needed 2 or 3 days (of course we'd be taking care of the visas and the special permit for the GBAO area before leaving in the first place).
If some of you more experienced guys could help us understand if we're up to the task, that'd be much appreciated… We've already travelled all around Turkey and Armenia, but this'd be a whole new experience.

Basically, we don't speak russian, tajik nor kyrgyz… is there any way we can communicate with locals, namely local mechanics or roadside assistance in case of emergency (which could mean technical issues with the car, so that's quite tougher to explain than basic needs)? Is there a tow truck service operating on the road and do you know how much it could cost? We'll travel on a tight budget, but being stranded up there is something we'd like to avoid.
Our main concern is communication regarding the mechanical stuff: is it hard to have a car inspected (for instance in Osh) before leaving for the "wilderness"? An inspection might be necessary 'cause our car will already have something like 10.000 km on its back since the beginning of the trip.
In short, I haven't got much faith in my car.
So the other option would be leaving the car in Dushanbe and renting a 4WD to drive at least to Karakul lake and back, possibly without a driver. Do you know if there are any agencies in Dushanbe that provide this kind of service (and an approximate idea of the price)?

That's pretty much it.
Your help, any kind of help, would be immensely appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi Buddy

The way you would need to communicate would be to know what's wrong with you car and the point it out to the mechanics.. There's plenty of people who can fix old cars around the Pamirs, it's kind of a specialty of theirs... That said you might have to way for some days for the right guy to show up or for useful spare parts to arrive...
For every other communication you'd might get by by signs, writing down numbers or leaving a few Russian words...

There is no tow truck service of any kind (I actually laughs out loud when I read the suggestion - sorry).. Keep a tow rope in you car, and if you break down, flag somebody down (could easily take a day or more) who'd be able and willing (it will probably need to negotiate a price for their extra gas consumption) to tow you to the nearest village/town...

If you're renting a car for the Pamir trip, do it in Khorog, not Dushanbe - you pay per kilometer, and there's no reason to get into that game too early... The cheapest and easiest way to rent will be through Meta they charge US$ 1.20-1.40 per kilometer... If your lucky you'd maybe be able to find something better at the Khorog bazaar, but don't count on it...
Note that the Khorog - Karakol return trip will cost you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars hiring a car...

Cheers
Ask

Thanks for the infos, Ask.

I kind of suspected it was a stretch to expect some sort (any sort) of roadside assistance from Khorog, but at least now I'm sure of what lies ahead.

Cheers,

Buddy

Hi,
We just arrived in Osh after the Pamir Highway.
We took the southloop through Iskashim and Wakan valley.
We drive a 4x2 Mercedes 609 and we did fine.
Roads are bad to very bad and some stretches are perfect.
Communication is easy as everybody speaks the language of diesel and petrol cars.
Spare parts are NOT available. Assistance is plenty.
2-3 days is very little time to drive this route.
The more time presure the bigger the risk of a breakdown due to speed.
If your car made it to so far it will handle this also.

Good luck
Ronald

Just to be clear, META won't be able to rent you a car or provide driver services although they are probably the best people to ask regarding who could do this for you. META have now become purely a tourism development association and don't do tour operations any more! The do have a really good and informative website though.

Thanks for the opportunity to clarify this.