It is the variety of experiences along the Pamir Highway that impresses. The two nation journey from Dushanbe in Tajikistan to Osh in Kyrgyzstan has taken us along the mountainous border with Afghanistan with exquisite views of the Hindu Kush. There are ancient fortresses, caravanserais, glacial rivers and lakes through to hot springs and geysers. When we do ascend up to the Pamirs proper we experience a bleak, haunting but beautiful “moonscape” of sculpted rugged hills and snow capped mountains on the 4000metre altiplano.
The people also change with each variation in scenic tableau from Tajiks to Afghans to nomadic Kyrgyz with their whimsical peaked white felt hats. We have spent the night in a massive Kyrgyz yurt in the tiny hamlet of Keng Shiber at 4200metres above sea level.
Today’s 5 hour walk begins with a hearty cooked breakfast served on the yurt floor seated on magnificent deep red patterned traditional hand woven carpets and mats. A 10km rugged jeep ride takes us to the trail head for our walk up the Belainik valley to the high pass at 5000 metres.
We started at the terminal moraine of what must have been a massive glacier during the last ice age. The scalloped grassy U shaped valley is 1 km wide here and the snow covered mountainous walls rise 600 metres on each side. Yaks graze freely around a large yurt.
There is no path here, these are yak pastures in the warmer months and this is not on any well worn tourist track. At first we pick our way through rocky, grassy slopes pockmarked with marmot burrows. We hear the distinctive chirps of these shy furry little rodents but fail to see one.
More taxing on the feet is the transit through the frozen bog where we have to hop onto tussocky mounds which are islands in a large frozen pond. The occasional loud snap of frozen ice cracking warns us we have landed close to the edge.
Finally we pick our way up the rocky scree of the lateral moraine of the glacier, the tiny remnant of which we spy up high on the left hand side of the valley. The altitude is really taking its toll now and it is slow baby steps up punctuated with forced sucking in of the oxygen depleted air. Head down, concentrating the arrival at the top comes as a pleasant surprise. We are literally blown away by the biting icy wind roaring off the snowy slopes, and, more importantly, the panorama of snow capped mountains and the deep blue Zorkol lake beneath us figuratively blows us away.
Exhilarated we turn back to partake of the picnic lunch at the trailhead and a well earned rest in our yurt.