Kyzyl-Art Pass (4290m/14,042 ft) start of the Pamir Highway on the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan Border |
Snow covered mountains of the Trans-Alay Range rising to 21,000 ft west of the Kyzyl-Art Pass |
Monument on the Kyzyl-Art Pass |
Kyzyl-Art Pass, Tajikistan |
Marco Polo sheep on a pedestal at the Kyrgyz-Tajik border |
Kyzyl-Art Pass, the start of the Pamir Highway on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan |
Kyzyl-Art Pass, Tajikistan |
Welcome to GBAO, the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast |
Entry into the GBAO requires an additional permit in addition to the Tajikistan Visa |
Entering the Murgab District, GBAO |
A fence keeps travelers from straying into the military area along the Chinese border 12km away |
Trans-Alay Range, Tajikistan |
Karakul Lake, 12,800ft - GBAO |
High plains north of Karakul Lake, GBAO |
Village of Karakul, 3914m |
Much of the village of Karakul is rubble |
Neglect or the 1994-1997 Civil War, I don't now |
If you get stuck, there are a few places to stay in Karakul |
Late lunch in a Karakul guesthouse |
A 3-holer, Karakul |
Pamir Highway headed towards Pik Severnyi Muzkol (6132m/20,118ft) |
It's a decent road...thank god since the driver had Get-to-Murgab-itis |
Tajikistan Sep14 0048.jpg |
The Pamir Highway M41 enters a high-altitude Tibetan-style landscape |
Roadside ruins along the Pamir Highway |
Graffiti covered ruin along the Pamir Highway |
Some of the first semi-habitable looking buildings since Karakul |
Ugh...the Pamir Highway becomes a washboard dirt road |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
Ak-Baytal Pass (4655m/15,272 ft), the highest point on the Pamir Highway |
Ak-Baytal Pass (4655m/15,272 ft) - also the highest road in the former Soviet Union |
I wasn't impressed that my driver was in such a rush he was going to blow right over the pass without stopping |
the back side of the Ak-Baytal Pass |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
I love the clean, crystal clear high altitude air and total lack of crowds |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
Along the Pamir Highway |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
The Pamir Highway here is around 12,500 ft above sea level |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
A few houses on the side of the Pamir Highway north of Murgab |
Remote living along the Pamir Highway |
Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast |
Crystal clear and beautiful light of the highlands |
Along the Pamir Highway |
Pamir Highway headed to Murgab |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
Decent pavement on this section of the Pamir Highway |
Utility lines along the Pamir Highway |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
Wet patch along the roadside |
Stream with Yaks and the Chinese border zone fence in the distance |
Stream in rocky terrain along the Pamir Highway |
Pamir Highway |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
Roadside village of ruins along the Pamir Highway |
Pamir Highway, GBAO |
Mountains along the Pamir Highway just north of Murgeb |
Along the Pamir Highway |
Getting late...hope we get to Murgab soon |
Late afternoon light in the Pamirs |
Pamir colors |
A red mountain in the late afternoon just north of Murgab |