Paris to Irkoutsk through Pamir
 

Hi everybody,

I am my trip from Paris (France) to Irkoutsk (Russia) starting en of March and ending middle of July.

My biggest issue is to define the "big steps" to apply for visa. Here is my forecast, could you please tell me if my rough estimates are good ?

I ride a 400 cc royal enfield himalayan, average speed loaded 90 km/h, don't have a 6th gear to speed on highway in europe.

Idea is :
- Start Pamir Highway in Dushambe beginning of May just at the end of winter.
- Be back in Paris in mid of july maximum.

#From Paris to KZ : 3 weeks
Paris to Istanbul : 1 week
Istanbul to Tbilissi : 1 week
Tbilissi*(Georgia) / Baku (Az) / Ferry / Aktaou (Kz) : 1 week

#From KZ to KZ through OZ, TAJ and KZ : 1 month and 3 weekds
Aktaou to Dushambe : 2 weeks
Technical break in Dushambe(and security buffer) : 1 week
Dushanbe*to Osh through Pamir highway : 2 weeks
Osh to Semei through KZ altai : 2 weeks

#From East Russia to West Russia through Baikal : 1 month
Semei to Irkoutsk : 1 week
Enjoying Irkoutsk and Baikal Lake : 1 week
Transsiberian from Irkoutsk to Moscow : 1 week
Security buffer : 1 week

#From Moscow to Paris : 1 week

Thank you in advance for your help

Best
Marc

Hi,

I am curious about your route from Moscow to Europe because you probably know that you cannot cross from Russia into Belarus. This means either going through Latvia into Europe or staying south through the Ukraine.
I am going the other way in July and going through the Ukraine.

Hi GPZ,

At the moment, I'm thinking of Latvia instead of Ukraine for two reasons :
- Conflict in East Ukraine
- Never been in Latvia
Maybe one week is a bit short.

Most of the Pamir highway past Khorog is 4000+ meters in elevation. I would be surprised if it wasn't still winter there on the first of May.

I've not been on the Pamir Highway in the spring, but I have been there in August when it snowed twice.



May 1, crossing the Alps into Italy....
https://i831.photobucket.com/albums/...oPassIT014.jpg


August 15, in the Pamir............

https://i831.photobucket.com/albums/...6/DSCN0215.jpg

...................shu

Hi shu...

Many thanks for your reply.

If I understand what you say, I could snow even in summer on the pamir highway.

The thing is I'll be there in May, can wait one week for good conditions but no more.

My other option is to avoid mountains and don't take the pamir highway : from dushambe to samarcande and then Tachkent but I would be so pissed off to miss the Pamir Highway.

How many days did you take to drive from Dushambe to Osh on Pamir Highway ?

Cheers
Marc

I didn't actually do that route. In 2016 we rented Yamaha 600s in Osh and spent a month exploring in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. We basically made a loop from Osh to Khorog on the Pamir Highway and then returned to Osh via the southern Wakhan Valley route (through Ishkashim.)- making many detours from the loop as we went.

I would guess that 5 days of moderate riding would get you from Dushambe to Osh. The Pamir highway is not tough to ride, but it is in very poor condition and you can not go very fast on it.

.............shu