After trying to catch what could have been one of the most exhilarting flights in the world from Khorug to Dushanbe - the planes do not fly if there is any sign of cloud on the route - we arranged for a Landcruiser journey in one bumpy day. The 16 hour journey took us along the Afghanistan border for miles, following a steep valley and river, with troops patrolling at regular intervals. We could see Afghan villages and people, horses and sheep being driven along a path that at times clung to the rock faces. Our route then turned northwards to cross an area of very unstable geology where the road was washed out in a number of places, climbed a mountain range, went through a 2.5 kms tunnel and emerged again onto unsurfaced roads. This was the longest road journey I have ever taken in one day and very tiring, but our driver was good and the total cost of $500 seemed worth it for the relatively comfortable 10 year old Toyota LandCruiser for the 4 of us and our luggage.
The journey really brought it home to us how isolated Khorug and the GBAO area in the east of Tajikistan is. If tourism is to develop further here I suspect that the old airport at Murghab will have to open again (there used to be flights from Dushanbe and Osh in the old Soviet days). Dushanbe is the capital of Tajikistan and where most of the investment seems to have been made. More to follow, but I must mention that we were stopped 14 times for police and army checks on the journey, most as we approached the capital and this ended by us having to go to a police station for a farsical registration process (which we subsequently learnt was not required). Dushanbe is awash with police stopping a fining people! Our driver passed over the necessary bribes as we went along.
It was difficult to take pictures on the journey but here are a few.
I just tried following the route on Google maps. It's not particularly easy because so many of the names on the map are different to the names Graham is using. However, it became much simpler when I realised that they have been following the M41 for the past 1000 miles or so! Tim
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