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 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.).
Communication Officer: Ms. Rohila Nazarbekova
Tel. (mobile) +992 91 926 2965
To send an e-mail click
here [tourinfo(at)pamirs.org].
There are several ways of getting to Tajikistan and Gorno-Badakhshan.
N.B. For general (and very useful) travel advice, see
here.
1. via Dushanbe
a) Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul: in summer outward on Sunday,
Monday and Wednesday (return the following day) - see the Turkish Airlines website for details:
http://www.thy.com/en-INT/index.aspx.
N.B. This is by far the most comfortable (and probably safest) option,
and relatively cheap fares can be obtained through booking well in advance.
b) Air Baltic flies twice a week Monday and Friday (from 1 June 2009) from Riga to Dushanbe:
Boeing 737, Dep. 19h55 Arr. 03h10 the next day. Return Tuesday and Saturday Dep 05h20
Arr. 9h10. This schedule gives adequate time for connections from and to other European
destinations. The online booking price for economy is extraordinarily cheap and Air Baltic
could become the preferred option. See
http://www.airbaltic.com/public/timetable.html.
c) The Asia-Plus news agency announced on 20 May 2009 that Tajik Air plans to resume
flights Dushanbe-Munich-Dushanbe from June 2009. The new flight will be on Monday and
will be direct (not via Istanbul as previously). The Tajik Air website is impenetrable on the subject
and appears now to be down at the time of writing.
d) Domodedovo airlines and Tajikistan Airlines fly daily Moscow-Dushanbe from
Domodedovo Airport in Moscow (on some days more than one flight). The schedule can be
found on
http://www.domodedovo.ru/en/main/timetablenew/.
Most of these flights allow an onward connection to Dushanbe the same day from
international flights arriving in Domodedovo. For flights arriving in Sheremetevo,
at least 2 hours travel time - not counting immigration and check-in - must be
allowed for the airport transfer (expensive by taxi), otherwise, on the way to
Dushanbe, travellers must spend a night in Moscow, which can be expensive and for
which a Russian visa is required (also expensive). The timing of the return flight,
however, makes it possible to connect the same day with flights to most international
destinations. Several international airlines now use Domodedovo rather than
Sheremetevo. A complete listing can be found on
http://www.domodedovo.ru/en/main/timetablenew/.
e) Other connections:
Dushanbe can be reached from other airports in the CIS and elsewhere.
Probably the best alternative route to those listed above is via Bishkek
in Kyrgyzstan. This is particularly useful for travellers planning to combine
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan on their tour. N.B. It is possible to buy a return ticket
from Turkish Airlines Istanbul/Dushanbe and Bishkek/Istanbul or vice versa.
It is very hard to find
information on flights from Kyrgyzstan to Dushanbe and vice versa. They exist but you must get
confirmation from the airline or from a local travel agent before believing any information
you may find on the Internet. The following airlines have/had connections from Bishkek to Dushanbe:
Tajik Air (if you have the patience to wait for the Tajik Air website to load, it contains a list of their offices - try
here).
Avia Traffic Company (See
http://www.aero.kg/index.php/flight-schedule - Russian only).
Kyrgyzstan Airlines (website impossible to find)
N.B. All air carriers certified by the authorities with responsibility for regulatory oversight
of the Kyrgyz Republic are banned by the European Union (see
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air-ban/list_en.htm).
In February 2008 a new private Tajik airline, Somon Air, was announced. It used to have
an online timetable but this has disappeared. Somon Air announced in June 2009 a new
flight Dushanbe-Frankfurt-Dushanbe (Boeing 737-800) on Wednesday and Saturday starting on
25 July 2009. Wednesday depart Frankfurt 15h30 arrive Dushanbe 00h30 - Saturday depart
Frankfurt 15h20 arrive Dushanbe 00h20. Return Wednesday depart Dushanbe 02h35 arrive
Frankfurt 05h50 - Saturday depart Dushanbe 03h10 arrive Frankfurt 06h30. It is not clear
where tickets can be bought except in Dushanbe - try asking them at
info@somonair.com.
Wikipedia is a useful source of fairly up-to-date information on these and other airlines.
My best advice is to contact a travel agent in Bishkek or Dushanbe for these connections.
One of the most reliable is Dima Melnichkov of Tajikaviatour in Dushanbe - 32 Bukhoro Street,
Dushanbe-734025 phone: + 992 37 227 4725, fax: + 992 37 221 1934 - e-mail
here [dmelnichkov(at)hotmail.com]. Dima is the author of the
booklet Travel through Tajikistan published in Dushanbe - see section
References, bibliography and links.
Dushanbe-Khorog
Once in Dushanbe, unless they have been able to obtain a mention of
Gorno-Badakhshan on their visa, travellers must spend up to three days
obtaining a special stamp in their passport authorising them to travel
to Gorno-Badakhshan. (See the section on
Visas
for help in obtaining this.)
From Dushanbe, travel to Gorno-Badakhshan is either by air to Khorog
or by road (approximately 16 hours in a modern four-wheel drive
vehicle, longer in a commercial bus). Subject to the provisos listed
below, there are one or more flights every day to and from Khorog.
Flights to Khorog are in a small plane that only departs Dushanbe if
there is no cloud cover on the mountains on the way into Khorog and if
Tajik Air determines that there are sufficient passengers to make the
flight economical. All flights originate in Dushanbe, which means
that there is only a flight Khorog-Dushanbe if the flight Dushanbe-Khorog
has taken place. In the absence of flights, arrangements must be made
for travel by
private car or bus.
The Lonely Planet guide describes the flight as “one of the main
attractions of Khorog” and “one of the most exhilarating or terrifying
experiences of your life” – the plane “flying in the shadow of the
rockface with its wingtips so close you could swear they kick up
swirls of snow”.
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In Dushanbe and Khorog there are a few acceptable hotels: information can be
obtained from several websites (search on Dushanbe/Khorog and hotels).
2) via Osh in Kyrgyzstan
Osh, the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan, is situated in the South
of the country. A paved road runs South from Osh to the last Kyrgyz
checkpoint, Sary Tash (190km, 4 hours by private vehicle). From there
a partially paved road leads across the Pamir plateau to Khorog
(540km, 12 hours – several passes at altitudes higher than 4,000m).
The various checkposts will not allow travellers to pass unless their
Tajik visas
mention specifically the destination of Gorno-Badakhshan.
There is no public transport available between Osh and Khorog.
Travellers must try to make their own arrangements either with private
vehicles or with one of the trucking companies operating out of Osh.
N.B. There is only one human settlement (at the Kara Kul lake) between
Sary Tash and Murghab (230km, altitude 3,640m).
3) via Tashkent
Transiting via Tashkent requires travelling by road to Khujand in
Northern Tajikistan and then flying with Tajik Air to Dushanbe or
continuing by road; an Uzbek visa is required. Until the Uzbek
frontier posts are more accommodating to international tourists,
travel via Tashkent to Dushanbe and vice versa is not recommended.
TOUR OPERATORS
For foreign and Tajikistan-based tour operators, use your web browser to find existing
tours – for general information
begin with the search terms Tajikistan and tours – refine your search
with one or more specific locations, e.g. Pamir, Somoni, Pik Lenin, Sarez,
Bartang, Zorkul.
Several European agencies now organise tours to the Pamirs. See
http://www.horizonsnouveaux.com/
http://www.globotrek.ch/
http://www.indoorient.ch/
For trekking, contact:
Surat Toimastov in Dushanbe
e-mail
pamirad@tjinter.com or
info@pamir-adventure.com; tel (00 992
372) 23 54 24, mobile 00 992 95 151 7567
(See also his website
http://www.pamir-adventure.com).
– see section on
Trekking,
and
Goulya Petrova
goulya@tajiktraveller.com
For trekking in the Bartang valley, including Sarez, and around Bulunkul, you
could contact Odina Murmamadov, who comes from the village of Bassid in the
Bartang, on
odina.nurmamadov@yahoo.com.
If you are a hunter, or want to see Marco Polo sheep - or just want to
visit one of the most remote corners of the Pamirs and stay in a hunting
camp (Jarty Gumbez) with a hot spring, get in touch with
Atobek Bekmurodov
Tel Murghab (+992 3554) 333
Khorog (+992 35222) 3333 / 2982 / 4113
Dushanbe
(+992 372) 23 34 00 / 21 17 43
Moscow (+7495) 362 0830 / 361 42 84.
e-mail
murgabhunt@mail.ru.
or
Tolibek Gulbekov
66 Lenin Street Murghab
Tel (+992 3554) 21 639
Also in Dushanbe:
Dekhoti Street 21/3 Apartment 33
Tel (+992 372) 34 06 20
Links :
http://www.eurasianet.org/resource/tajikistan/links/travel.shtml
All text and
photographs (c) Robert Middleton 2002
Web master Romanyuk
Mikhail
