Khorog
The capital of the Pamirs, a town of about 30,000 above 2,000 metres where the Ghunt runs into the Panj and Afghanistan is the far bank.
- Arrival
- Dushanbe International · DYU
- To the town
- 525 km by road, or a small plane from Dushanbe
- Private jets
- Dushanbe, open around the clock
- Best time
- June to September
The city
On the Panj, facing Afghanistan.
Khorog is the capital of Gorno-Badakhshan and the main stop on the Pamir Highway. The town follows the Ghunt down to the Panj, the river that marks the border, and a bridge crosses to the Afghan side. The University of Central Asia has one of its three campuses here.
June to September is the time to come: the valley is dry and the days reach the low twenties. Winters are long. The Shohdara valley runs north from town, past the botanical gardens towards the spring of Pir Shohnosir.
- Pamiri Botanical Gardens Gardens about 2 km from the centre, on the right bank of the Shohdara.
- Regional museum History, natural resources and local science, in a building opposite the stadium.
- Pir Shohnosir A spring some 12 km north, with a small museum to the poet and scholar Nosir Khusrav.
Arriving
A mountain flight, or the Pamir Highway.
Khorog is 525 km from Dushanbe. The drive follows the Pamir Highway; the alternative is Tajik Air's small Antonov, which has flown the route three times a week since September 2024 and takes about an hour and ten minutes through the mountains.
- Tashkent 1 h 00
- Delhi 1 h 50
- Amman 4 h 35
- Istanbul 5 h 05
- Zurich 6 h 55 long-range jet
When to go
June to September.
Dry summers and hard winters. From June to September highs run from 19 to 23 °C and the rain all but stops; from December to February the days stay below freezing.
- -6° J 52
- -5° F 64
- 1° M 88
- 9° A 81
- 14° M 63
- 19° J 18
- 23° J 9
- 23° A 4
- 19° S 4
- 12° O 31
- 4° N 39
- -3° D 53
Elsewhere in Tajikistan
More reasons to come.
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