16. July 2026

Day 71: Tajikistan

Overview

Driving duration: 6:51 h
Distance: 141 km
Avg Speed: 21 km/h
Start: Artuch Basecamp
End: Alauddin Lake Basecamp
Night Location: 39°14'57" N 68°16'2" E

Tajikistan

It was time to say goodbye to the Artuch Basecamp and also Juerg and Ulla, who stayed behind and will later go to Iskanderkul Lake. But we will meet them soon again for the Pamir Highway. Our goal, together with Fabi, was the Alauddin Lake Basecamp, which we knew is quite a gnarly track of close to 30 km. But first we had to make our way back to the main road from Artuch Basecamp. On the way we picked up a couple and had some interesting conversations, with the help of Google Translate, about life and the differences between Tajikistan and Switzerland.

After we dropped them off, we filled up water and restocked on cash. Here it’s often only cash and no card, quite unusual for us. We also stopped at a supermarket, which had non-alcoholic beer, yeah!

Then it was time for the track, which was really impressive! Crazy sights of the valley and getting further and further into it. But sometimes it was quite exposed and steep and we were thankful for our all-wheel drive and the high clearance of Sprinty.

It took us over 3 hours for the track from the main road to the Basecamp, 3 hours for 28 km, crazy if you think about it.

Now we are at our new spot, in the depths of this valley and here are still some small settlements. Super simple huts, with really friendly people. The children always shout “Hello” and “Welcome” and one of the shepherds even came by and had a small English/Russian mixed chat with us.