There is increasing interest today in the Afghan Wakhan and many travellers either combine travel in the Pamirs with a visit to the Afghan Wakhan or access it directly via Ishkashim on the Tajik side. In recognition of this trend, the new edition of the Odyssey guidebook Tajikistan and the High Pamirs includes a section on the Afghan Wakhan with an excellent map by Markus Hauser showing historical monuments and guesthouses on both sides of the Panj. If you have the book, you will find the section on pages 606-611 - if you don't have the book, please buy it.

Below are the most useful links I have found on getting to and around the Afghan Wakhan:

A beautiful brochure published by the Aga Khan Foundation, a little outdated but with a good map of the little Pamir: http://www.akdn.org/publications/2010_akf_wakhan.pdf  

Trekking information by Julien Dufour, who has probably the most informative website on the Wakhan: http://www.juldu.com/Pamir/index_pamir.html  

Very practical travel advice: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2229124  

More practical travel advice by the authors of the AKF brochure (see above):
http://www.mockandoneil.com/wakhan.htm  

http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/documentary-wakhan-culture/  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM72c1AlIQY  

http://wakhanexpedition2012.jimdo.com/blog/  

http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Afghanistan/North/blog-735013.html  

http://www.pilk.net/update4.centralasia.html  

Superb photos:
http://paleyphoto.photoshelter.com/gallery/Forgotten-on-the-Roof-of-the-World-Afghanistans-Pamir/G0000pVqpSuunA3o/  

and
http://www.destinasian.com/countries/east-southeast-asia/afghanistan/frederic-lagrange-in-afghanistan-wakhan-wayfaring/  

Swiss newspaper report in German by the founders of the charitable association "Pamir Bridges" http://www.pamirbridges.ch/presse/PDF/LU-Little%20Pamir130311.pdf  

"I am proud that I am Wakhi, I was Shepherd, I am Shepherd
I am the language of absolute faith, I was Shepherd, I am Shepherd"
– Nazir Ahmad Bulbul (Article in the Express Tribune of Pakistan) http://www.secretcompass.com/mountain-bike-afghanistan/  

Plan for a group tour by mountain bike in the Wakhan in July 2013 http://www.secretcompass.com/mountain-bike-afghanistan/  

Article in National Geographic February 2013 http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/02/wakhan-corridor/finkel-text  

Article in DestinAsian December 2012 http://www.destinasian.com/countries/east-southeast-asia/afghanistan/frederic-lagrange-in-afghanistan-wakhan-wayfaring/  

IMPORTANT NOTICE ON SAFETY

The Pamirs - and especially the Wakhan - are very much "virgin territory" for tourism. Make certain that you know the conditions of the tracks, rivers and bridges that you envisage taking and check meteorological conditions. Take a good driver and a reliable vehicle - if your route includes uninhabited territory, it is advisable to travel with at least two vehicles. For example:

a) in summer in the Great Pamir there are large areas of treacherous terrain where a mud-slide has been covered with a baked clay surface that looks stable but is not;

b) many mountain sides are covered in scree (broken rock fragments) that is unstable and very slippery.

c) flooding/flash floods can destroy roads and make driving dangerous

d) unseasonal snow can block the Pamir Highway and other roads

See photos below and the note on safety on the trekking page.

 

 

 

 

 

The sponsors of the present website decline all responsibility for accidents.

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All text and photographs (c) Robert Middleton 2002

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Web master Romanyuk Mikhail