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The Pamirs - mythical mountain range in the heart of Central Asia

Separating the famed oasis of Kashgar and Turfan in Xinjiang Autonomous Province in Western China and Buchara, Samarkand, Kokand of the plains of what once was Soviet Central Asia.
A huge mountainous knot reaching out to the Tian Shan of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and China, the Karakorum of Pakistan, the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan, the Himalayas.
The playing field of the 'Great Game', geopolitical struggle between the empires of the British crown and tsarist Russia.
Land of huge glaciers, the longest of which is Fedjenko with over 70 km in length
Land of huge mountains with changing names, such as Peak Somoni (7465 m), Peak Lenin (7…m) and of rather easily accessible 6000 m peaks
Land of gigantic mountain lakes of surreal Caribbean colours set in the desolation of a high mountain desert, such as Kara Kul lake,
Land of the Pamiri, Iranian language speakers of Western Badakhshan, famous singers and poets, dwelling in beautiful wooden houses warmly welcoming all visitors
Land of the Kyrgyz, semi nomadic yak breeders, with their yurt dwellings in summer camps (Jailoos) set in flowering alpine pastures,
The land of the famous huge wild sheep (called 'Marco polo sheep') with gigantic twisted horns
Land of scarce vegetation adapted to short vegetation periods and extreme aridity
Land of breathtaking landscapes with wide high plateaus intercepted by snow capped peaks
Land of warm hospitality
For a long time out of reach for tourists, this pearl in the crown of the Central Asian wonders is slowly lifting its veil.
Capacities of reception are emerging
Administrative obstacles are being lowered

Reports to download   Archeology brochure   Ecotourism potential   Energy saving   Nature protection

The Murghab Ecotourism Association is inviting you to come and get to know this still little known part of the world
About ecotourism

"Abandon all hope, thou who enter…" Dante's Inferno evoked "I do not know why the opening words of Dantes Inferno come to my mind: 'abandon all hope, thou who enter,'" wrote Vicomte E. de Poncin, who travelled the region in the 19th century. "Whatever idea one has of desolation, desert and aridity, the view of Kyzyl Art will exceed all expectations…" He went on to describe the unchanging and barren scene: "But it seems that rain does not fall south of the Transalai where the surface is nothing but desert. To the left, a reddish ridge, pealed, burned, frozen, reveals its teeth whitened by snow; at its foot the ridge turns into a mellow slope, where rare signs of vegetation are visible. To the right, a mountain of barren earth, dotted with sparse white flowers; in front, a large plain of grey pebbles bordered by crude coloured and rough shaped mountains dominated by snow-capped summits. In the distance, more white ranges, pointing one after the other into the blue sky: the ranges of the Great Pamirs. There are no traces of life. Rivers do actually flow in these valleys, but all they water is naked earth, sand and rocks: one imagines that one is the only living being to have ever spotted this immense cursed country, but the bleached bones indicating the direction to follow prove that others have passed before you. It is a uniform grey ensemble, monotonous, wild, enveloped in the great silence of the high plateau desert." Vicomte E. de Poncins, " Chasse et exploration dans les régions du Pamir " Paris, 1897, pp. 54-55 (Translated from French by the PHIP project)