Pamir Highway

One of the coolest scouts we have ever done, for a long term project: The Pamirs are beautiful, wild and harsh, where dusty roads snake through the ever growing mountains between Tajikistan and Afghanistan and turquoise lakes formed by meteor strikes add colour to the landscapes. This is a violent piece of earth plagued by earthquakes, landslides and flash floods that serve as a firm reminder that your concept of time is irrelevant – short journeys are often interrupted by natural disasters and delays. This is a place so high in the mountains that only a few brave humans and animals inhabit the beautiful but harsh landscape.

The air is thin and brings visions and hallucinations, with a night so dark it will swallow all your fears. The second highest highway in the world used to be an ancient route used by travellers + traders following the Silk Road – all that is left now is the last disintegrating Soviet tar telling the story of another time. Chinese construction companies are building a new road that will eventually reach the Pamirs and heavy equipment is on standby to clear any of the landslides that may block the road for days on end.

Everything here is a bit topsy-turvy, with rivers that have tides and lakes that are saltier than the ocean – this is home to a small population of kind and gentle mountain people and nomads, where little grows and all supplies have to be trucked in.

We cannot wait to get back.