Murghab - Karakul lake (GBAO)

We begin our day in Murghab, the remote Kyrgyz town at the heart of the Eastern Pamirs. After breakfast with our host family in a traditional house of Eastern Pamir, we set off northward on the M41, leaving behind the village's market and flat-roofed homes. The road follows the South Ak-Baïtal River upstream as the valley gradually narrows and the altitude increases.

After a short detour, we stop to visit the hidden lakes of Shorkul and Rangkul, two isolated alpine basins nestled between stark ridges and windswept plains. We then rejoin the highway and continue climbing toward the Ak-Baital Pass (4,655 m), the highest point on the Pamir Highway. The road becomes steeper and more dramatic, surrounded by jagged peaks and shifting rock formations. To the right, we catch a view of Ak-Baital Peak (5,102 m), towering above in front of the rugged Tuzkol massif.

Beyond the pass, the road descends into a long, lonely valley carved by the Northern Ak-Baital River, fed by glacier meltwaters. We drive for 22 kilometers through this high-altitude corridor, where only lichen and hardy grass survive. The plateau then opens up as we cross another 22 kilometers of silent, desolate land—broken only by wandering yaks or the distant silhouette of a nomadic camp.

In the final stretch, we follow the shoreline of Karakul Lake for about 7 kilometers before arriving at Karakul village, perched on its eastern edge. Surrounded by barren hills and vast skies, the village lies at over 3,900 meters—one of the highest inhabited places in the region. We settle in with a local family for the night, just steps from the icy, shimmering waters of the lake.