Beautiful and mysterious, one of the most remote corners of the planet - the enchanting Wakhan Valley. Traveling with us, you will see the ancient culture and lifestyle of the two countries divide by Great Game, explore the Tajik and Afghan shores of the Wakhan corridor. We offer a unique tour and trekking to the romantic and most inaccessible destination of the world – Little Pamirs of Afghanistan.
Afghan Wakhan – a piece of land between the Pamir and Hindukush ranges, surrounded by highest snowcapped peaks with spectacular landscapes and breathtaking views of green pastures. This remote area inhabited by two ethnic groups – Wakhi people, living in lower valleys, cultivating the small piece of land along the Pamir river and Kyrgyz – nomadic people, living in yurts and moving their yaks and sheep to different valleys depending on season. The majority of population raises livestock for living, they trade animals, skin and meat with Pakistan and China and get food, clothing and good from these neighbor countries.
Afghan Wakhan is panhandle of Badakhshan province and located in northeast of Afghanistan. A narrow part of mountainous territory about 16-64 km wide and about 220 km long wedged between Tajikistan from north and Pakistan on south, borders with China from east. As a “Wakhan corridor” it become popular from 1873, after the Great Game – the intense competition between the Russian Empire and Great Britain for influence in the region. The main reason for creating the corridor was that the British wanted to avoid having a direct border between these two Empires.
The easiest point to access the Afghan Wakhan is from Ishkashim of Tajikistan, crossing the bridge to Sultan Ishkashim of Afghanistan. The car road into Wakhan is quite rough track from Sultan Ishkashim to Khandut (an ancient capital of Wakhan) than ends in Sarhad – e – Brughil. From Sarhad, the pathes lead to different directions: towards Chaqmaqtin lake 4015m to the east, Zorkul (Victoria) lake 4125m to the north and Wakhjir pass leading to Chine, which is closed for travelers.
Due to the remoteness and untouched nature, Afghan Wakhan become one of the world’s famous destinations for adventure travelers in recent years, but only very few companies can offer a trip to this area. Even though Wakhan is inhabited mostly by Ismailies (who practice a moderate form of Islam and very hospitable) and the region is terrorist free, (for now) still, it is not a hot-spot destination for tourists. The top are about one hundred tourists every season.
Pamir Trips highly recommends organizing your trip to Wakhan only by trusted operators, paying attention to all details from visa and special Wakhan permits to food and all cooking and camping equipment. Currently, we organize trips in Wakhan of Afghanistan to two different trekking routes starting from Sarhad: Little Pamirs (to Chaqmaqtin lake and beyond) and Great Pamirs (to Zorkul lake by lower route)
We will help to get your Tajik Double Entry Visa (if your will leave Afghanistan through Tajikistan as well) and organize getting your Afghanistan Visa from Afghan Consulate in Khorog and all other necessary Wakhan permits you will receive from our guide in Afghanistan.
As most of the things are not available in Afghan Wakhan, all the food and suppliers we prefer to get from Dushanbe. We use our own camping and cooking equipment in Afghan Wakhan and use only 4x4 vehicles for transportation. After Sarhad, the luggage would be carried by pack animals: donkeys, horses and yaks with the help of porters. We only use the service of trusted locals, the people we well know and used to work with before.
We always try to keep the planned itineraries, but due to remoteness of the area and weather conditions the itinerary can be changed, the safety of the group is the first priority of our company.
