The Pamir Highway leads through the Pamir Mountains in Central Asia. The bulk of the Highway runs through the Tajik portion of the Pamir Mountains, and extends into Kyrgyzstan to the north and Uzbekistan and, briefly, Afghanistan towards the south-west.

The Pamir Highway (M41 highway) is the longest and most easily traversable road through the Pamir mountains. The principal stretch of the highway runs east to west through Tajikistan, and extends northwards through Kyrgyzstan to Osh, and southwest into Afghanistan, to Mazar-e Sharif.

At its highest point, the Ak-Baital pass, the Pamir Highway reaches 4,655 m (15,272 ft); Altitude sickness poses a risk for those unaccustomed to the altitude at several points on the highway.

A GBAO (Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast) permit is required for the Tajik portion of the Pamir Highway. These can be purchased online for $50 including the general Tajik e-visa, and are valid for 60 days. The permit is also available at various OVIR (immigration) offices in Tajikistan, though the cost and time needed to issue one reportedly varies.

The GBAO permit can be obtained online even for nationals of countries that do not need a visa at the same cost.

The permit and visa are checked upon entry and several more times at military checkpoints along the highway. Bring at least 10 physical copies of the GBAO permit and your passport since the guards will likely keep them. If you need to make more copies while in Tajik Pamir, you can visit a mobile carrier store (Megafon or TCell) or a bank.

Osh is the largest hub for setting out on the Pamir Highway from the Kyrgyz side. Marshrutkas are readily available to Sary-Tash from the bus terminal just off Ak-Burinskaya Street. Haggling is not standard for marshrutkas here.

Several methods of travel on the Pamirs are possible. Cycling is increasingly popular, as is renting a car and driving. Hitchhiking is less common but perfectly achievable, as is regular hiking.

Cannabis is obviously and widely available on the Pamir Highway. Taking advantage of this opportunity is a bad idea: it is very much illegal and due to the high volume of drugs trafficked through Tajikistan from neighbouring Afghanistan, possession penalties in the country are liable to be unpredictable and often severe.

• Osh is often seen as the northernmost point of the Pamir highway.
• Samarkand can be reached via the road from Dushanbe.