Hi guys

we've just returned from Tajikistan. We did Bartang valley as well.
7 bikes (1 gs 800, 1 gs 650, 1 660 tenere, 1 990 adv, 3 690). The waters were low. No problems at all.

Between Gudara and Karakol we saw a sheepfold, in the upper part of the valley, between the steep descent.

We stayed also at that family in Savnov, very nice people.

In the villages in the lowest part of the valley, somebody invited us in their house and they gave us fruits and some food they had cooked in that day. Very nice people there.

In Gudara you have to pay (if I remember well) 8$ for pers + bike for visiting the national park.

Some pictures will follow.
Regards,
Cristian / Bob

Good to hear. I am heading there this Saturday. Where are you?

Now, I'm home (back in Romania)

Cristian / Bob

3 of us did the bartang last week, a cg125, a BMW r80 and a transalp 600

No real problems with the road

Was a real highlight of Tajikistan for me! Way better then the wakhan!

Hi all, I am proud I have done the Bartang!
Did it alone with a rented Honda NX 650 Dominator, this valley is really marvellous, and yes, much more scenic than Wakhan.
But even with the Zorkul permit from PECTA in Khorog militars didn't let me cross from Khargush to Zorkul, so I had to go up to Khargush pass and further Alichur southbound to reach Jarty Gumbez (on September 9 the hunting camp was closed, so I stayed in some people's house - much more typical).
Cheers!

This summer (end of July) we had this problem at Kargush. After one hour of negociation they let us go (we had the permit from Pecta, but they said that that permit is for Zorkul only, not further, where is border zone).

Cristian / Bob

Happy for you!
Now we need pictures!

Just a question: where did you rented the Dominator?

Myself and my mate did the Bartang Valley in late June on KTM 690's over the course of 2 days.

We'd really been blown away by the Wakkan Corridor and didn't think it could get any better until we did the Bartang. Best 2 days riding I've ever done.

I think looking at the pictures we were luckier with the weather and the water levels.

A real highlight of the trip.

How to pick the road from Karakul
 

Hey guys,

Definitely, the bartang is a top highlight of the trip. Quite challenging, as already said. (i did with a DRZ, first week of October).

I just wanted to share some details on where to get the road from Karakul.

From what i gathered there are 2 tracks from karakul lake:

Road Number 2 is the main road shown on main maps. However, when i got to karakul village, everyone said it was totally flooded, and also on the forum people said it was sometime flooded. I didn't try it.

I got intel that i should take another road (shown also on the most detailled pamir hiking map). road number 1 on my diagram.
its lots of small tracks exiting pamir highways, 10-15k from karakul village, they merge into a bigger one that's easy to follow, it goes along the lake. The track is very fine until it gets to the river crossing. Here the water flows from the lake into a river, so the river is madeup of 20 small streams that get bigger afterwards.
The tracks seems to be quite very very muddy when temperatures are higher. As for me the mud was frozen, so quite ok to pass.
After you crossed all the small streams (took me an hour) you have to find the small track that goes left, (you need to exit the main tracks that goes right otherwise). After 10k along the river you get to the "main" bartang valley track. (you passed the river, so river on your left, mountain on the right)

sorry i had no GPS so i can't give you the dots. Don't hesitate if i can help, it would be sad to miss the bartang valley.

Based on comments i quite hesitated to take it, so here are my comments for those who hesitate:
About me (very important to weight what i say, often tricky on HUB because there are some super good drivers and some uneperienced, so what they say about being "easy" or "hard" is just totally different).

Im french 28yo, 80kg,1m96. good health, but not strong arms (to lift up the bike!), DRZ400S, no motorcycling experience prior to starting my trip, but i build up a lot in mongolia (sands, rocks, 3000k) during 1 month), very very light package: 1 top bag 50Liters, 10kg(?), cautious way of driving. tires: shinko 700.
i passed in October, so it was 0/5 degrees celcius during the day and moderately windy.

-it has been described in some posts as a super hero trailblazing path, I mean it has been in the lonely planet for years guys, come on don't exagerate ;)
-when taken easy and slowly i found it challenging but ok to pass. The first 150k from karakul are the most challenging, lonely and daunting (high altitude, windy). The hairpins with many many rocks on the narrow road were where i felt it was a bit dangerous (as im not super experienced driver). If I had had a heavier bike (say DR650, or africa twin) with lots of luggage, i think my driving skills would have been too low and put me in danger (too heavy for my body build / skills).
- at 4000m altitude, you feel that weather could blow you away, really. It is super important to check weather i think. I mean if it gets windy, or snowy when you are on the cliff stretches with rocky hairpins, it is really dangerous. weather change quickly in the mountain.
- its cold and windy there (in October at least), you need proper gear, and frequent breaks, otherwise your driving gets lower. you need to be clear-minded for the technical stretches.
- i felt extreme lonelyness, and nature felt strong and daunting there, this is what i enjoyed most.

hope this can help :)

all the best, dont rush, take care, enjoy :)

Thanks for the info.

Bartang track update
 

I rode from Rushan to Kara Kul on June 2 and the track was in decent shape. I believe i may have been a bit early, as the water crossing were a little high, the mud a little deep and very little track to follow on the approach to the switchbacks (I rode from the bottom up).

The rocky cobble crossings' before the switchbacks were quite broken up with several washout sections to pick through and no established route yet. Switchbacks were in good shape, but once to the top, the gullies still had a bit of snow and were a tad sketchy.

The rest of the track was in good shape. I rode the route solo on my KTM 1190 with long range travel gear. It was challenging on the big bike, but good to go.

Thanks for posting these stunning photos guys. I thought I rode the extreme of all the extremes when riding through the Wakhan valley between Langar and Alichur...No! Bartang Valley seems more like the real deal. Gotta come back here..soon..