With support from the European Union,
the Mountain Societies Development Support Programme (MSDSP - a project of
the Aga Khan Foundation) has opened a Tourism Information Centre in Khorog
located in the Khorog Central Park.
The Centre provides general travel advice as well
as information on local tourism service providers (tour operators, hotels, home stays, drivers, guides
etc.). See the PECTA list of tourism service providers in Khorog
here.
Manager: Mrs. Zhandiya Zoolshoeva
Tel. (mobile) +992 93 557 59 03
To send an e-mail click
here. N.B.
Because of spam, this contact address is frequently changed, so even if
you have used it before and saved the address,
please click again to be sure your mail gets through.
NEW STRUCTURE FOR MURGHAB ECOTOURISM ASSOCIATION
On 28 April 2012, the members of the Murghab Ecotourism Association (META)
decided to demerge the commercial and non-commercial aspects of the association
and return META's scope to its original objectives of tourism development,
ceasing all commercial tour operations with immediate effect. The original objectives
of META have been re-confirmed as:
- Develop and support community-based tourism activities that educate community members
and tourists to build capacity and increase knowledge of biodiversity, traditional
culture and the flora & fauna of the East Pamir;
- Maximize benefits to the local communities by developing linkages between tourism
and other businesses related to the sustainable management of natural resources and
livestock breeding in the local economy.
For further information see
here.
META has also published new maps for tourists:
Murghab town (see
here);
Rangkul (see
here); and
Karakul (see
here).
NEW TOURISM OFFICE IN MURGHAB
A new Tourist Information Centre has been set up in the centre of Murghab town.
The Centre, which will be open from June to October, is a cooperative effort
by the villages of the Murghab district and will be staffed by ten volunteers
from all over the district - they will maintain and make available to tourists
free of charge a data base on the tourist services available in each village
(e.g. homestays, yurtstays, guides, interpreters, drivers, vehicles, rental of
bikes, donkeys and camels). The office does not organise tours or act as an
intermediary with the various service providers - this is left to the interested
tourist. However, photocopying and Internet facilities are available against payment.
The development of this project has been supported by the Foundation "Kyrgyz Ate - YKA"
over the past three years with supplementary funding from the Christensen Foundation.
For further information see
here.
e-mail: infomurghab(at)mail.ru
tel: +992 935 47 56 82
HOTELS
A new website offers information on a selection of hotels in Tajikistan - see
here
. N.B. The
list is far from complete and excludes the major hotels in Dushanbe such as the
Serena and Hyatt.
TOUR GUIDES
The University of Central Asia offers courses for tour operators and guides on the
Khorog campus. These courses are structured as follows:
The certificate programme ”Mountain Tour Operator” is directed at developing practical
skills in organizing and developing operational business activity with specific focus on
mountain tourism as well as business theory. The students are expected to
gain skills in the following areas: Essence of mountain tourism, Development of
tourism routes and related services, Marketing and promotion of tourism services,
Safety, Legislation matters, Business and Finance management, Information technology
in Tourism, Business English in tourism, Final project on developing a business plan
on initiating and operating tourism service.
Guides training is a short program and consists of two modules:
1. Natural, cultural and historical heritage of the Pamirs, and
2. Guides training: (mountain excursion tourism guides; horse tourism; auto tourism; educational tourism; eco-tourism; ethnographic tourism).
Click
here
for a list of persons who have completed these courses and are available as guides/facilitators.
IMPORTANT NOTICE ON SAFETY
The Pamirs are very much "virgin territory" for tourism.
Large tracts of the territory are uninhabited and, as in any mountain
environment, weather and temperature are subject to sudden changes.
This can result in avalanches, mudslides, flash floods, and damage
to, or destruction or blockage of, pathways and bridges. Visitors, especially trekkers,
should act prudently at all times and ensure that they have adequate
equipment, supplies and warm clothing.
Make certain that you know the conditions of the tracks, rivers and bridges on your route
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
The sponsors of the present website decline all responsibility for accidents.
All text and
photographs (c) Robert Middleton 2002
Web master Romanyuk
Mikhail
