Karakul Lake

Somewhere along the Pamir Highway, amongst the highest peaks of the Pamir Mountain Range and close to the Tajikistan borders with Kyrgyzstan and China, lies Karakul (or Qarokul), a large, high-altitude, hypersaline lake. Saltier than any ocean or sea, it is near impossible to launch any sort of boat as this will immediately roll over and throw anyone silly enough to be sitting in /on the thing into the lake. There used to be an occasional competition to see how far across one can travel on something that floats but these attempts are generally not successful, although it seems a few crazy windsurfers are still willing to brave the icy water for short bursts.

Formed some 5 million years ago by a massive meteor impact, the Karakul lake sits within a vast national park and freezes over from November to April, at which point it will appeal only to yaks + those visitors on ice-skates with a lack of feeling in their fingers + toes.

Our recce there was pretty wild as there is very little in the way of accommodation after Murghab, although there are a couple of homestays within the small and largely abandoned settlement of Karakul, where most of the remaining inhabitants only speak Russian. Shortly after we left the nearby border with Kyrgyzstan reopened after a period of angst between the ex Soviet nations which means the trip can be done as a direct route by road from Khorog to Osh.

It’s a very different type of location, for sure!  Eerie, majestic and breathtakingly beautiful, only the most dedicated film makers (and their yurts) will brave the trip.