Hi Chris,
I am one of the "2 other Italians", the other being my girlfriend;-)

I will just correct you regarding the costs; still expensive, but less than 500 usd:

- visa 100 usd + fast procedure 50 usd = 150 usd
- bike official paper from the embassy 60 usd
- unofficial "fee" at the border: 250 usd for 3 bikes. This can probably be reduced, depending of time and personal negotiating skills

Hi Cristiano
I thought by your hubb user name that you were one of the other "2 Italians" Greetings to Sabrina too. I spotted your bike in Osh and Bishkek after we met.

Many thanks for clarifying the numbers. Actual up to date facts are always more useful than second hand or out of date information, random conjecture and utter bs.

The Bartang valley ride with the other 2 Italians ( ) was superb!

PS. Second Tajikistan visa and new gbao permit cost also need adding to the usd amount.

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TBS.com

Yeah, this is correct: add 70 usd to the total.

I'm happy the Bartang was superb: I hope you had a good time with those funny "2 Italians"

Thanks again to those responding and to the leads on further information. Even the disagreements and uncertainties are informative.

Sounds to me as if there may be some confusion about place names in this thread. What I'm calling the "Wakhan Corridor" is a thin thread of Afghan territory which separates mainly Tajikistan and Pakistan. It was apparently created as a buffer between Russian and British colonial territories. The route I'm interested in follows the Wakhan River through the middle of this corridor.

There is also a different route along the Pamir River, with a main road on the Tajik side and a smaller road a couple of hundred meters away on the Afghan side. The two routes in question are separated by the Wakhan Range, which I believe lies entirely within Afghan territory. There is no (tourist) entry into Afghanistan along this section. Of course I'm also interested in that route, but it's not what I'm asking about here.

Hope that clarifies, rather than obscures.

Mark

Cristiano rode what I believe to be the only "road" available to foreigners with vehicles in northern Afghanistan. He'll be able to clarify the lay of the land.

Zorro and Muztoo, both in Osh, Kyrgyzstan rent bikes to people who often ride them to Tajikistan and back. Contact them re. their Ts and Cs relating to the land south of river from Tajikistan.

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We rode the main road from Ishkashim to Sarhad-e-Broghil.
To be honest, we stopped around 20 kms before Sarhad and turned back: we arrived at a pretty deep river crossing and decided it was enough for us. Time was not on our side, as we were all on a tight schedule and decided not to risk it.

It is the road in red in this map
https://caravanistan.com/wp-content/...rridor-map.jpg

Honestly, I'm not sure it is the only rideable road in that area: I definitely saw cars going to what I suppose was the yellow road in this map along the Tajik border.
I heard that on Afghan side they are working hard on the buildings around the border crossing from Langar, so I'm pretty sure it is possible to reach at least that point.
I also heard that in the next few years is possible that the Langar border crossing will be open to foreigners: no idea about if and when this will happen, but it would be a great option for people who wants to visit the area.

A good article about the area is available here and a very nice brochure here.

As for other roads in Afghanistan, situation is more "fluid": I think the hardest thing is to find recent and reliable infos.

There was a great report on advrider forum of a guy who was already in Afghanistan when Ishkashim border closed; he waited a few days there and then decided to continue to Kabul and managed to make it there: I will search for it and link it here...

Here is it: unfortunately the pictures are gone, but there is a link to the instagram page where they are still on...

Great to hear that the Afghan Wakhan was still open back in September.

I am also contemplating going there next summer so all relevant, up-to-date info posted on this thread/forum is very useful !

I assume the Afghan visa is valid for a stay of up to a month ?

What about the Tajik visa ? Can you get a double entry one ? Or apply for 2 single entry e-visas at the same time ?

L.

Correct: our visa was valid up to one month (Khorog consulate)

We were able to apply for 2 evisas (and obtain them).
Our friends applied later than us (just a couple of weeks) and did not succeded.
They had one evisa and applied for a second visa (the normal one on the passport) in Bishkek at the start of their trip.