Altyn Air
flies from Bishkek to Osh and used to have a flight from Osh to Dushanbe
but this is no longer on their website (see
http://www.altynair.kg/en/).
Avia Traffic Company also flies several times a week from Bishkek to Osh. See
http://www.aero.kg/eng/.
N.B. Both airlines are on a list of carriers banned by the European Union.
The following e-mail addresses of Central Asia Tourism may be helpful in obtaining
current information on flight schedules (it is not easy on the Internet!):
fvk@centralasiatourism.com
in Almaty and
cat-dushanbe@tajnet.com or
cat-valeria@tajnet.com,
in Dushanbe (branch manager: Victoriya Nearonskaya).
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 western 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 there are a few acceptable hotels: information can be
obtained from several websites (search on Dushanbe and hotels)
There are at present only a few hotels of acceptable standard in GBAO:
the Serena in Tem, just outside Khorog, run by the Aga Khan Development Network;
the Parinen in Khorog, 69/50 Lenin Street (in the centre of town, near the bus station
and main market); the Pamir Lodge, at Kuchai Gagarin 46, UPD Microrayon; and the
Bizmitch Hotel, Karamshoeva Street 17/4, Khorog. This situation is rapidly changing,
however, and a number of new bed-and-breakfast places are being opened.
The Serena offers the high quality associated with the Serena group (see
here )
and is recommended for those seeking the best comfort available in the
Pamirs. See pictures below:
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The 2008 basic room rate for tourists is USD 80 for a single and USD 100 for a double
room - including breakfast, but not tax - with substantial discounts for groups of
three or more and for stays longer than a week. The Serena also offers four-bed tent
accommodation for USD 120, including breakfast. Reservations can be made at the following address:
Serena Inn,
Tem (Khorog)
Tel (local line): +992 35222 3228
Satellite Tel/Fax : +882 1689 802184
Mobile : +992 93 511 4474
e-mail:
khorogserenainn@akdn.org.
At the Parinen, room rates are USD 35 for a single and USD 50 for a double room.
Reservations can be made by e-mail:
parinen_hotel@mail.ru;
or by phone: 00 992 35 2220 54 99.
The Pamir Lodge is a bed and breakfast, run by a married couple who know western
tastes well; he is from the UK and she is from Khorog. Reservations can be made by
phone +992 35222 6545, mobile + 992 93 592 1004 - e-mail
pamirlodge@hotmail.com.
Their website is
http://www.geocities.com/pamirlodge/. 2007 room rates at the Bizmitch
were USD 25 for a single and USD 50 for a double including breakfast (tel. +992 35222 6492 or
mobile + 992 93 581 4696 - e-mail).
The Aga Khan Foundation and its local NGO the
Mountain Societies Development Support Programme (MSDSP) have just supported the
establishment of a Pamirs Eco-Cultural Tourism Association (PECTA) that will be the central
point for marketing and information on local tourist service providers (travel agencies,
homestays, drivers, guides etc.). During the course of the next few years PECTA will be
establishing quality criteria and training programmes for the improvement of these services.
Pamirs Eco-Cultural Tourism Association (PECTA)
c/o MSDSP
Lenin Street 50
Khorog
Telephone: +992 35222 2647 (MSDSP Office) or
+992 93 598 4410 (mobile)
e-mail:
pecta@pamirs.org
Updated infornation on PECTA's activities will be posted
here.
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 is not recommended.
TOUR OPERATORS
Local tour operators in the Pamirs are listed in the section
Help for Tourists
For foreign and Dushanbe-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.
Two Swiss agencies, "Horizons Nouveaux" in Verbier, and "Globotrek" in Bern organise
tours to the Pamirs. See
http://www.horizonsnouveaux.com/
and
http://www.globotrek.ch/.
A French agency has just added the Pamirs to its programme - see
http://www.oriensce.fr/tadjikis.html.
Central Asia Tourism Corporation in Almaty, Kazakhstan, may also be
able to help – (see
http://www.centralasiatourism.com/)
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 (00 992 3554) 333
Khorog (00 992 35220) 2982 / 4113
Dushanbe
(00 992 372) 23 34 00 / 21 17 43
Moscow (00 7095) 362 0830 / 361 42 84.
e-mail
murgabhunt@mail.ru.
or
Tolibek Gulbekov
66 Lenin Street Murghab
Tel (00992 3554) 21 639
Also in Dushanbe:
Dekhoti Street 21/3 Apartment 33
Tel (00 992 372) 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
