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Bartang AND Wakhan - Which way is best? Bartang AND Wakhan - Which way is best?
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  #1  
Old 16 Mar 2021
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Bartang AND Wakhan - Which way is best?
Like most, this year's trip from the UK to Mongolia has been postponed until 2022. I want to ride both the Bartang Valley AND Wakhan Corridor before carrying on to Mongolia. I will likely be there at the end of June, start of July.

Clearly it will have to be done in a loop so one of the routes will have to be done twice. I'm thinking of doing the Bartang Valley first in case it's impassable for whatever reason.

Is there anyone that's done this before and have any advice on which way is best or does it not really matter which way round it's done?
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Old 16 Mar 2021
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We went West to East up Bartang Valley.....


.......... and got turned around in there somewhere due to a high and fast water crossing. No idea what the conditions would have been coming down from the high end.

We turned back and headed East in the Wakhan valley instead.




If you do make your loop you can go east on the regular Pamir Highway- paved/dirt/potholed- instead of repeating a leg of your loop.

.................shu
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Old 17 Mar 2021
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Pic from the Bartang valley in 2019, heading W-E (actually SW-NE)...




Tip: Travel early or late in the season and in the mornings. Water levels are lower as the temperatures are cooler and snow/ice hasn't melted so much yet.

I teamed up with a couple of cool Italian guys. Of the 300 or so km: day 1: 80km (only 30 dirt), day 2: 220km, mainly dirt = only one night on the Bartang. Most people go SW-NE as it's up hill and hence easier to ride.

Bikes: Yamaha ttr600, BMW r80gs (or g/s?), Honda xr650l with soft bags. All modified to be fit for purpose, hence the ability to complete the Bartang in 1.5 days.

I also rode the Wakhan valley E-W. It was good, but compared to the Bartang, only very average.

As there are 3 routes: M41 ("Pamir Highway"), Wakhan and Bartang, you can ride all 3 depending on where you're coming from/heading to.
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Old 19 Mar 2021
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Chris, image restrictions - we can't see it.
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Old 19 Mar 2021
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Chris, image restrictions - we can't see it.
I could see it...

Is this edited new shared location visible?
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Old 21 Mar 2021
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Thanks for the info/advice, really appreciate it.

Think it will be Bartang W/E (hopefully passable), loop back on the M41 then the Wakahan W/E too.
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