Pamir Highway Day 2: Kalai Khumb to Jizeu Village

The alarms were set.  And the four of us were ready at 04:30.  Nothing else was.  Now that we’re awake, it turns out breakfast is takeaway. No bad thing — no one is particularly hungry anyway. By 05:00, we’re rolling out of Kalai Khumb in convoy. Two Toyota Land Cruisers disappearing into the dark.  This is Day 2 of our 7-day Pamir Highway journey from Dushanbe to Osh, and today, the time we set off is decided by the state of the road.

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One of the reasons for the early departure is a tunnel ahead with scheduled works beginning at 08:00. Our drivers need to persuade the night staff to let us through before it closes.  The convincing works.  We drive through.  The tunnel shuts behind us. Until lunchtime.

At any time, if you want the full route overview first, jump back to my 7-day Pamir Highway itinerary here.

Quick Overview of the Route and Statistics

Start: Kalai Khumb, end: Jizeu Village

• Distance (driving): 200 kilometers (124 miles)
• Driving time: Approx. 4 hours including stops
• Bartang turnoff: Arriving around 09:00
• Bartang Valley drive: 45 minutes
• Costs today:  We bought some bread for 10 TJS, our breakfast was included in last night’s costs, and our dinner, bed, and breakfast in Jizeu was 400 TJS for both of us.
• Hike distance: 6 kilometers (3.72 miles)
• Hike time: 2.5 hours
• Overnight location: Homestay in Jizeu Village
• Day Starting altitude: 1,200 meters (3937 feet)
• Highest altitude today: 2,500 meters (8201 feet) – my guide to altitude on the Pamir is here.
• Overnight altitude: 2,500 meters (8201 feet)

The main road was mostly paved; there are rougher sections in the Bartang Valley. The “closed” tunnel that we passed through was pretty rough and mostly unlit.

If you’re reading this without checking out what happened on Day 1, then that’s here.

Day 2 – Pamir Highway, what to expect

Today was one of my favorite days on the Pamir Highway.   We got off the road, drove up the Bartang Valley, and then left the Land Cruiser behind to cross the Bartang River and hike up to Jizeu Village and explore beyond it.

You should expect an early start, a stunning, but “uphill all the way” hike, and a gloriously peaceful valley.

Pamir Highway Day 2: Costs

• Bread for 10 TJS
• Our breakfast was included in last night’s costs
• Our dinner, bed, and breakfast in Jizeu was 400 TJS for both of us.

Pamir Highway Day 2: Road Conditions & Driving Reality

The road was paved for most of the trip today, although pretty rough through the tunnel, and there were potholes bigger than the road once we turned up the Bartang Valley.  It was rough.

Pamir Highway Day 2: Key Stops along the Way

While you’ll drive alongside the river and see some of Afghanistan today, most of it will be in the dark, unless you leave Kalai Khumb later.  The main aspect of today is the hike to Jizeu Village, and while when my alarm went off at 04:00, I wasn’t keen, but I was really glad we did it this way, as we got to explore the valley with no one else around.  It was glorious.

Pamir Highway Day 2: Altitude Notes

Today, you’re essentially doubling the altitude.  You’ll start at Kalai Khumb at 1,200 meters (3937 feet), and leave the vehicle at about 2,083 meters (6,833 feet), hiking up to 2,500 meters (8,201 feet) at Jizeu Village.  You can hike further up the valley (read about that in my guide to the Jizeu Village hike here)

You’re likely to find the hike more difficult than walking around the city; that’s not just because you’re walking most of the way on loose shale, it’s because of the altitude.

Pamir Highway Day 2:  Accommodation for the Night

There are several homestays up here, and you can also camp in the valley, but you’ll have to pack your tent in and out.  If you’re coming with a shared 4WD trip, then your driver will arrange accommodation; otherwise, just knock on doors until you find a bed.  Beds are in dorms.

We paid 400 TJS for two of us to have a bed, with bedding, dinner, and breakfast.  You’ll need to pay this in cash here, so if you didn’t get money in Dushanbe, you should get it before you leave Kalai Khumb. Read my guide to ATMs in Tajikistan here. There were snacks when we arrived, and they were available, as was black and green tea, the entire time we were there.

• There are long-drop toilets (two in one hut — companionship is optional)
• The shower feed is from a barrel storing river water.  Yes, it’s cold

Dinner is served around 19:00: a version of plov. Rice, onions, carrots. Often elsewhere there are hard, unchewable chunks of meat — but tonight there’s none. Bread is everywhere.

More travelers arrive late afternoon, some just around sunset.  In my view, that’s a mistake, because they hardly have any time to further explore the valley, and beyond the village, it is just glorious. They left hours after us. The tunnel reopened at lunchtime for an hour, and some jeeps came the longer way around.

By 20:30, almost everyone is in bed.

Breakfast is arranged: 07:30 for us. 07:00 for another group that needs to descend early, we’re due back at the bottom of the valley by 10:00 to meet Habib back by the suspension bridge over the Bartang River.

Pamir Highway Day 2:  Practical Tips

You’ll need proper hiking shoes for this hike. My specific guide to the Jizeu Village Hike is here for more details, but the loose shale on the way up to the village is hard work.

• You should bring enough water for the hike and the following day. 
• There’s no real signage, a few marks on rocks, and a sign as you reach the village.
• Take only what you need for the night; leave unnecessary weight in the vehicle.  So take your day pack, water, toilet paper, and a small towel if you plan a shower.  Yes, there’s a shower here at Gulsha’s Homestay.
• Keep your passport with you.  You likely won’t need it, but if there are problems at all, it always pays to keep it handy.
• Don’t be like us; start early to avoid heat.

How our Day 2 on the Pamir Highway Unfolded

I mentioned that we left early because there’s a tunnel that we need to get through, and that needs to happen before the workers start on it at 08:00.  There are two Land Cruisers in our convoy and our drivers convince the security that we can go through, I don’t see any money change hands, but we’re through before the work closes the tunnel until lunchtime.

Nigel gets to ride shotgun for the first section and the tunnel section. The rest of us are convinced that once he falls asleep, he’s going to wake up with whiplash from how much his head is bouncing around.

Today we climb steadily today from 1,200 meters (3.937 feet) to about 2,083 meters (6,833 feet) by road — before hiking to 2,500 meters (8,201 feet) for the night.

We stop for breakfast at a café en route.  Where they provide a long drop toilet, hot tea, and preserved cherries.  We eat our hard-boiled eggs and hot dog sausages that came as our takeaway breakfast. 

The cherries are amazing.

 The tea is becoming familiar.  It’s just tea.  Black or Green.  Sugar, if you want it.  But mainly it’s a way of getting boiled (aka slightly safer) water into us as we’re starting to climb in altitude. Today we’re heading up the Bartang Valley, it’s one of the most remote and desolate areas of the Pamir.  We’re not going too far, but we are leaving Habib and his trusty Toyota Land Cruiser behind at a suspension bridge over the Bartang River. 

After following the river, mostly in the dark, and seeing Afghanistan slowly wake up, by around 09:00, we reached the Bartang Valley turnoff.  This is a truly wild part of the Pamirs.

The drive in is about 45 minutes. The road is much rougher, narrower. We have definitely stepped off the main artery of the Pamir Highway into something wilder and somehow more beautiful.

We park near a suspension bridge over the Bartang River.  And that’s where the vehicle stops.  This is the start of the Jizeu Hike, and we’re leaving Habib and his trusty Land Cruiser behind.

Today we’re crossing the Bartang River on foot, and hiking up to the village of Jizeu (pronounced Gee-Sauw) to stay the night, and then we’ll hike back in the morning and meet up with Habib again.  This hike is one of the reasons we wanted to go in this direction on the Pamir Highway.  The village is only accessible by this trail.  There’s no vehicular access at all.

First, we cross the Barstang River by way of the suspension “one person at a time” bridge.  It’s quite disconcerting walking across, as the water is flowing so quickly.  And now the hike begins.  It’s easy at first.  The trail is simple, although there’s no trail signage, just follow the trodden path, vaguely next to the Jizeudarya river.

While I say simple, a lot of the trail is loose shale.  And really rather large bits of loose shale.  It starts easy, and then steadily climbs. Of course, we’ve picked the hottest part of the day to hike.  About halfway to the village, we find the first lake, skirt around it, and then continue upwards.  The hike is about 6 km, and it takes us about 2.5 hours.  The village, when we get there, is small.  We’re staying with Gulsha at his homestay. 

The accommodation for us visitors is separate from the family home, we have a place to sit and eat (and although the tradition here is to sit on carpets, they recognize that seats with backs might be needed by us western visitors.  Tea is provided, and dried nuts and fruits after we arrive.  So we pick a bed, rest a while, and then decide to hike further, up through the village, to the second and third lakes and the upper Jizeu village.  If you ever do this hike, don’t just stop at the village; keep going.  It’s stunning up here, and there’s no one around.

There’s a long drop toilet here.  Two of them in the same hut, so you can long drop with your closest friend next to you, if you so wish.  And there’s a shower.  It’s fed from a barrel that stores river water.  And yes.  It’s cold. 

More travelers arrive late afternoon.  They’ve set off hours after us, the tunnel reopened at lunch time for an hour, and some jeeps took the longer way round.  Dinner is served around 19:00, a version of plov – the rice pilaf dish that’s found everywhere around this region.  Some rice, onions, carrots, and in most places, some hard chunks of unchewable meat.  There’s no meat here.  But bread is everywhere.

We arrange time for breakfast, 07:30 for us, 07:00 for another group who are to be back at the bottom of the valley by 09:30, we’re not due until 10:00.  And then mostly everyone is in bed by 20:30. 

You can read about Day 3 on the Pamir here: Going from Jizeu Village to Khorog.

Final Thoughts on Traveling from Kalai Khumb to Jizeu Village on the Pamir Highway.

This is a fabulous day 2 of the Pamir Highway and truly one of my favorite days.  You’ll need proper hiking shoes, and I do recommend poles as well; the loose shale is, well, very loose.  You’ll need enough water for the hike (and the following day).  Crossing that suspension bridge and hiking into a village without road access means that you’re no longer just driving across the Pamirs; you’re actually in them!

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