Wakhan corridor, how long?
 

Hi
I hope to ride the Pamir highway next year & would like some advice as to how long I should allow for riding the Wakhan corridor. I may well be coming from Murghab & travelling west to Khorog (not that this will make any difference, I guess) & will probably be in Tajikistan in mid July.
Has anyone ridden this road recently, any advice will be gratefully received.

Andy

Not sure but i will be in Khorog friday and will go see the market at ishkashim and will speak to the locals how safe it is and then i will see. i have heard mix views of Wakham corridor from tourists and locals, some say it is safe some (from tourists) and locals say it is safe but can also be very unpredictable.

All the tourists i met have had tours arranged or guides waiting for them at the border. if i make/find a good contact i will get a visa and go over into Wakhan corridor but i am a lone rider so really i would rather go with some one else not due just to thinking about safety but more due to if my bike breaks down.

Well anyway from Osh to Murghab i did this in one day, and then rode to Khorog the next day. if you need any work on your bike get this sorted in Bishkek as you can get most things sorted there and i know a great bike repair dude.

Cant get much if anything in Tajikistan for your bike there

Also Andy i sometimes stay in Suffolk and i see you are also another carrot cruncher :D

2 to 3 days was enough for most of it for me. I didn't feel rushed... I do ride at a pretty fast pace though. :innocent:

4 days by bicycle to Sarhad, but one week waiting at the border for getting out (only with consular help). The frontier was closed suddenly from Tajiks for unknown time. Official cause: Cholera. But Tajikistan is also very unpredictable, so they might find other causes. With this experience I would not advise to change the river side any more, the Wakhan can be a mouse trap.
And if you go don't rely on agents, they rip you off and lie (from what we saw from other tourists)

If you want to ride the tajik side, I think 2 or 3 days are enough.
We rode 1 day from Khorogh to Langar and 1 day from Langar to Murghab two weeks ago withouth any problem.

If you want to ride the Afghan side, I can't help with info because I didn't rode it....yet

The Tajik/Afghan border at Ishkashim was closed 3 days ago. Went there and was not allowed to cross.

Other than that, in the end I was not ok with paying 430USD for just a few days in the Wakhan Corridor on my own bike alone. Wakhan Corridor is not better than Wakhan Valley as I heard from a few people who did both and paying such an amount of money just for the paperwork is not my kind of thing.

But to answer your question:
Ishkashim to Sarhad is two days. And then two days back.

But on the other hand, did you mean the corridor or the valley? As Wakhan Valley = TJ and Wakhan Corridor = Afgh. :helpsmilie:

write up and pics of our 2011 trip taking in the valley here
Home MOTOLOCO.EU

Agreed that 2/3 days would be more than enough. Just did it in a truck and that took a bit longer.

Hi Andy. I agree that you can do it in a short time. But: we just spent 12 days in the Pamirs and we all agreed that this was not too long. 2 friends of us did 16 days in the Pamirs and did not regret it. The landscape is extraordinary, the people friendly, the travelers getting more and more.
Also agree that spare parts are not available in Tajik. We do have some in Osh.
CHeers.