Along the Pamir Highway

On my way to Khorog and back to Dushanbe I traveled over the Pamir Highway. It is a roadway that extends from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan to Tajikistan to Kyrgyzstan. It is an ancient route that has been in use for centuries.

The roadway is narrow and not well-maintained and is usually a gravel surface with perpetual bumps and potholes. Much of the problem with the highway is that the rocky slopes lining the roadway are predisposed to landslides. Along almost every kilometer a passenger can notice a place where a landslide has taken place in the not-too-distant past.

Perhaps the most fun presented by the Pamir Highway is the drop-off into the river that one must avoid while driving. Seldom is there a guardrail present and much of my entertainment on the trip consisted of peering out my back seat window over the cliffs we were avoiding by mere centimeters. Our trip from Khorog to Dushanbe was made during the day, but our journey in the reverse direction happened in the night. The evening we traveled was dark--as I gazed out my window toward the river I could see nothing but a black void as I looked down. It is unsettling to know that the void exists, but cannot be perceived.

Safely back in Kyrgyzstan. To commemorate my successful journey across the Pamir Highway, I have been researching the road and learning more about it on a cheery website I discovered tonight: dangerousroads.org.