Having discovered that the flights from Dushanbe to Khorog had failed to depart for 3 days due to bad weather, on 26th June I left Dushanbe in a 4x4 for the 21 hour journey direct to Ishkashim, the first village on the Tajik side of the Wakhan valley - which divides Tajikistan from Afghanistan (the border runs through the centre of the Wakhan river).

The journey was quite incredible - we crossed a 3200m pass into the Badakhshan region, and were constantly surrounded by huge peaks. The road follows the path of the Pyanj River which forms the international border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan. At times the Afghan side was just a few meters away, but the contrast in progress between the two sides of the river was clear - whereas the Tajik side had electricity, telephone lines and a road, the Afghan side looked unchanged for centuries.

There were 9 people crammed into the car, so although it certainly wasn't the most comfortable journey that i've ever undertaken, it was fun. After around 18 hours on the road (at around midnight), we arrived at Khorog, still 3 hours from Ishkashim. Our driver, who had hardly taken a break at all, was understandably tired, so we spent the night at his home in Khorog before heading to Ishkashim the following morning, via some hot springs.

The following 3 days we spent walking and hitching up the spectacular Wakhan valley, which affords views of the 7000m peaks of the Pamirs and Hindu Kush, in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Yesterday morning we left the Wakhan valley for Khorog, the administrative capital of the Badakshan region. I plan to leave here tomorrow, for the trip along the Pamir highway to Murgab, before in turn heading north across the 4600m Ak-Baital and 4300m Kyzyl-Art passes to Kyrgyzstan.