What the trek actually looks like

Most treks start from the town of Ishkashim and head up the valley on foot, with pack animals carrying the loads. Two classic routes:

• The Big Pamir, a shorter loop of about a week, through high pastures and Marco Polo sheep country.

• The Little Pamir, a longer expedition of two to three weeks, reaching the Kyrgyz camps near the Chinese and Tajik borders.

You sleep in Wakhi homestays lower down and in tents up on the plateau. The days are long, the air is thin, and the scenery barely lets up.

Getting to the Wakhan and permits

Reaching the trailhead is part of the adventure:

• From Kabul, you fly to Faizabad in Badakhshan, then drive to Ishkashim.

• The region needs permits, which we arrange for you.

Once you are in Ishkashim, the road runs out and your feet take over.

How hard it is and when to go

This is high-altitude trekking on rough trails, often above 4,000 metres, with basic homestays and camps rather than lodges. You do not need to be a climber, but you need to be fit, happy with long days, and ready for the altitude. The window is short, roughly June to September, when the passes are open and the high pastures are green.

The wildlife of the Pamir

The Wakhan is a stronghold for rare mountain wildlife, protected inside Wakhan National Park. With luck and a sharp-eyed guide you may spot Marco Polo sheep with their huge curling horns, ibex on the crags, and the tracks, if not the shadow, of the snow leopard.

One of the safest corners of Afghanistan

Here is the part that surprises people. Thanks to its isolation and its Ismaili communities, the Wakhan has long been one of the calmest and safest regions of the country, far from the troubles elsewhere. For the full picture, see how we handle safety.

Trek the Wakhan with us

A Wakhan trek is not something to improvise. We handle the permits, the guides, the pack animals, the homestays and the logistics, so you can focus on the walking.

• Choose the Big Pamir for a shorter taste, or the Little Pamir for the full expedition.

• Combine it with Kabul and the north before or after.

Join one of our group tours or build a private trip.

What travellers ask us first

How long is a Wakhan trek?

About a week for the Big Pamir, and two to three weeks for the Little Pamir expedition.

How high does it get?

Often above 4,000 metres, with passes higher still, so fitness and acclimatisation matter.

Is the Wakhan safe?

Yes. It is one of the safest parts of Afghanistan, remote, calm and far from any trouble.

When can I go?

June to September, when the passes are clear and the high pastures are open.

Walk the roof of the world

Empty valleys, yak caravans, nights in a yurt under impossible stars. Join our group tours or build a private trip, and we will take you deep into the Wakhan.

The Wakhan at a glance

Where

Far northeast Afghanistan, between Tajikistan and Pakistan

Landscape

The Pamir mountains, the "roof of the world"

Who lives there

Wakhi farmers and Kyrgyz nomads

Trek length

About one to three weeks

Season

June to September

Start point

Ishkashim

A finger of land between empires

The Wakhan exists because of the Great Game. In the 1890s, Britain and Russia drew this narrow strip as a buffer so their empires would never touch. That accident of history left Afghanistan with a corridor of high valleys and two vast plateaus, the Big Pamir and the Little Pamir, ringed by peaks well over 6,000 metres. The rivers born here feed the Amu Darya, one of Central Asia's great rivers.

The Wakhi and Kyrgyz who live there

Two peoples share the corridor. In the lower valleys live the Wakhi, settled farmers and herders, mostly Ismaili Muslims, who will host you in their homes. Higher up, on the windswept Little Pamir, live the Kyrgyz, nomads who move with their yaks and sheep and sleep in round felt tents. Sharing salt tea in a yurt at 4,000 metres is the heart of a Wakhan trek.

Trekking the Wakhan Corridor: into Afghanistan's roof of the world

Far in the northeast of Afghanistan, a thin finger of land reaches out between Tajikistan and Pakistan all the way to China. This is the Wakhan Corridor, walled in by the Pamir, the range they call the roof of the world. It is one of the remotest places on earth, home to farmers and nomads who live much as they have for centuries, and for a certain kind of traveller it is the whole reason to come to Afghanistan. We run guided treks here every summer.