£4,299

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Accommodation will be in a basic guesthouses in Tajikistan and the Wakhan valley on the drive at either end of the trek. These often have communal rooms where everybody sleeps. While trekking for approx. 11 days, you’ll wild camp. If lucky, the team might be invited into a yurt or small nomadic shelter for the evening. There are few frills up in the mountains, but what you will witness in these rugged valleys will leave a lasting impression.

In Tajikistan, food is usually kebab and bread-based. In Afghanistan it is rice and bread based, with occasional yak-milk yoghurt. While trekking a cook will prepare rice, potato and pasta dishes which are basic but good. Most meals tend to feature milky tea and bread, with cheese or stew for special occasions. While the organiser will provide enough calories throughout, teammates are advised to bring their favourite trail snacks along to supplement provisions and to keep individual morale high when the going gets tough. Due to the reality of this expedition, as outlined in these pages, accommodating special dietary requirements is a challenge (beyond straight vegetarianism which is easier as meat is not plentiful nor usually included in meals in the region) as the team leader will be limited in-country to what is available.

This expedition is achievable by anyone with a healthy lifestyle and a good level of general fitness.

Team members should be willing to be part of a team working together to achieve the goal of the expedition. As a team member, you should have an adventurous and robust spirit. The biggest challenge on this expedition will be the many consecutive days of challenging trekking across rugged terrain, much of which at altitudes of 4000m+.

Applicants that make an enquiry will receive a Handbook with further expedition information.

The organisers offer Expedition Training Advice and are happy to speak to you about any fitness, health, training or kit questions that remain. Teammates who arrive without meeting the agreed minimum fitness requirements can jeopardise themselves and the expedition’s goal so do take training seriously, prepare as appropriate and arrive fit and ready to go! Teammates must be comfortable with the following.

Minimum fitness requirements

• Trek: up to 25km per day
• Daily activity: up to 10 hours’ trekking per day.
• Carry: up to 12kg in a day sack.
• Terrain: remote, uneven, snowy, icy, rocky, sometimes exposed terrain at up to 5000m.
• Climate: Can be sunny in valleys and cold and windy at altitude. Averages are 3000m, 5 to 25C; 4000m, 15 to -2C; and 4500m, 10 to -7C.
• Swim: not required though there will be river crossings to make.

The Wakhan Corridor

The Wakhan Corridor is a finger of land pointing eastwards from Afghanistan towards China, sandwiched by Tajikistan to the north and Pakistan to the south. The mighty ranges of the Hindu Kush, Karakoram and Pamir converge at the eastern end of the corridor, known as the Pamir Knot. In the Afghan Pamir, steep valleys open up to form wide, high-altitude valleys, the Big and Little Pamirs, where Wakhi and Kyrgyz nomads take advantage of lush grazing for their herds. The region is believed to have changed little since Alexander the Great’s army came close in 326 BC.

Geology of the Pamir

The Pamirs are characterised by large U-shaped mountain valleys that provide abundant grazing grass during summer, but are covered by snow for six months of the year. In the Wakhan, two such large areas of grassland exist, the Big Pamir (Pamir Kalan or Pamir-e-Buzurg) and the Little Pamir (Pamir Khurd or Pamir-e-Kochak). These valleys are used by the semi-nomadic Wakhi for summer grazing, who return to the main valley in winter. The hardy Kyrgyz spend their time here all year round, suffering the cold and brutal winter. The Little Pamir is actually larger in area than the Big Pamir, but the higher altitude of the Big Pamir gives it its name.

Tajik, Kyrgyz and Wakhi groups

Afghanistan is a multi-ethnic society, and as part of this expedition you’ll meet people of many ethnicities. The Afghan national anthem mentions 14 of its cultural groups to give an idea of their importance. This expedition begins in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, whence the group sets off by road to reach its entry point into the Wakhan Corridor. The Tajiks are of Persian origin, and are found across the region. Wakhi people live around the Badakhshan region of north-eastern Afghanistan and are also found in Pakistan, Tajikistan and north-western China, where they, confusingly, are called Tajiks. In Afghanistan, the Wakhi folk themselves are known as the Pamiris. Kyrgyz folk are another prominent group in the region. A Turkic people mainly found in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, you’ll meet and camp near many who now call the Wakhan Corridor pastures their summer home.

Will we ride horses?

I’m a vegetarian. Can I join?

Can I charge all my electricals?

Will there be telephone signal?

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