Pamir Mountains, Tajikistan

Tajikistan, the smallest country in Central Asia, is renowned for its 7,000m+ mountains. I travelled here to spend time with Orozbek, a Tajik–Kyrgyz hunter and herder living in the remote Pamir region of eastern Tajikistan, just 15km north of Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor. Below is a collection of Pamir Mountains photos and scenes from everyday life in this remarkable landscape.

Like all inhabitants of the far eastern Pamirs, Orozbek is Kyrgyz, an ethnic group that makes up only 2% of Tajikistan’s population of 8 million. After the 1992 Civil War, the Eastern Pamirs briefly declared independence, and organisations such as the Murghab Ecotourism Association were later established to support community-based tourism initiatives in this overlooked region.

Animal husbandry is a primary source of income, supplemented by the collection and sale of fodder. Alongside sheep, yak are reared in the valleys, and the eastern Pamirs hold the largest yak population in the region. Pastoralists and nomads — whether Tajik Kyrgyz, Afghan Wakhi, or Pakistani Balti — all rely on yaks for meat, butter, cream, transport, and hair for clothing and rope.

During our month with Orozbek, our aim was to document and share daily life for an ordinary family living on the “roof of the world.” For more Pamir Mountains photos and insights into life in the region, see my e-book Eastern Tajikistan — A Visual Exploration of Life in the Pamirs, published by The Ripcord Adventure Journal.

Looking out from inside of an old tin mine towards the exit which is walled up with stones.
Two men crouched over a dusty marmot hole pull on a snare trap wire.
A man with a metal stake for digging plants throws a teresken shrub through the air.
A hunter holds a pair of binoculars in his hands in between looking for Argali mountain sheep.
A man scythes tall green grass on the Alichur Plains.
A Tajik-Kyrgyz man wearing camouflage carries a big bundle of teresken shrub on his back.
Close-up look at three brown rocks made of clusters of little balls known as mumya, which has medicinal properties.
A collection of remains left in the dirt by ancient hunters living in Tajikistan.
A single yurt in the dry Pamir mountains bellows smoke from its chimney.
A low roofed house bellowing smoke into the early morning light.
A graphic look at a red-gloved hand holding a glob of white marmot fat that's being stuffed into a glass bottle.
Two guys crouched beside a white Lada car in the Pamir Mountains.
A woman and two children mix a giant bowl of flower in the open air of the Pamir Mountains.
The silhouette of a man at the entrance of a massive cave high in the Pamir Mountains.
A fisherman walking away from the camera, towards a lake, with a net slung over his shoulder.
An old Soviet-era military gun station in southern Kyrgyzstan overlooks the road leading to Tajikistan.
Two Tajik truck drivers stand beside three others for a photo and wave.
Two men scramble up into a cave system at the foot of massive cliffs in eastern Tajikistan.
Two men, one holding a fishing net, lean into a small river to catch fish.
Two men lean on the side of a wooden truck fence posing for the camera.4
Close-up photo of teresken shrub, used for firewood, poking out of the dry earth with little red flowers.
Looking up towards tall limestone cliffs showing the entrance to two big cave entrance in eastern Tajikistan.
Three men stood around a yak which has its horns tied up with rope.
A Kyrgyz man wearing camouflage bundles up teresken shrub on the high Pamir Mountains plateau.
A glass bottle filled with marmot fat sits next to the dismembered remains of a marmot.
A small white Soviet-era Lada car parked on a dirt track in the Pamir Mountains.
Black and white photo of a yak with a rope through its nose.
Two men and a dog scramble up to the entrance of a Pamir Mountain cave.
Man stepping on a hunting trap and pulling with hands to engage it.
Wide angle view of southern Alichursky Mountains covered in snow with a tiny village in the valley.
A black and white wide view of the ancient remains of Bazar Dara caravanserai, nestled in a Pamir Mountains valley.
The crumbling, ancient remains of a caravanserai overlooking a craggy alpine mountain range.
A small slab of rock with dried mumya secretions stuck on it, which can be used as a medicine.
A farming man drags a sled of cut grass across a flooded swampy plain in eastern Tajikistan.
A man pedals a bike with his friend on the back as they ride past a radioactive warning sign in the Pamir Mountains.
A young dog sits in front of a dead marmot.
A man holds out a collection of handpicked green tea in his palm.
Black and white landscape photo of three yurts in front of moody, shadowy mountains.
Kyrgyz fisherman smiles as he holds up two large fish caught in the Pamirs.
Two men crouch down next to a dead marmot caught with a snare trap.
Portrait of a young girl with short hair beside the road, gazing into the distance and wearing a bright red t-shirt.
Three men clamber up the side of a truck laden with cut grass.
A large collection of peppercorn-like balls scattered over the ground of an abandoned Pamir Mountains mine.
A Tajik hunter in a mountain valley looks through his binoculars.
A hunter crouching on the ground demonstrates how to use a handmade wire snare trap for marmot hunting.
A man crouched down plants a snap trap on the edge of a marmot hole.
A dog walks past the camera as one man inspects the entrance of a large mountain cave.
Black and white image of a Kyrgyz herder surrounded by dust and yaks, measuring his lasso rope.
A green UAZ Buhanka truck descends down a dirt track in the Alichur Mountains.
A yak with rope looped around its horns puts up a fight as its pulled towards a truck.
Small shoots of green tea leaves poking out of the dry soil.
Three guys pull a yak as two guys push it towards a truck.
A Kyrgyz man and European tourist pose for a photo in front of a mountain yurt.
Close-up photo of a petroglyph on shiny graphite dog. A small dog is barking at an ibex.
A group of eight Kyrgyz-Tajik people pose for a photo outside of a yurt.
An enormous storm front passes over a stretch of desolate Pamir plateau.
Three men looking down into a long and uninhabited valley in Tajikistan.
A man poses in front of a stone wall forming the entrance of an old Tajik tin mine in the Pamir Mountains.
Two men huddled over the remains of a marmot that's been caught for its meat.
A single plant stem with dried red berries on it which are used for making tea.
A sign leading from Kyrgyzstan to Tajikistan reads "Kyzyl Art Pass 4282m".
The remains of stone walls which formed an old caravanserai.
Black and white photo of a wild valley descending into the horizon towards Tajikistan's remote mountainous interior.
A Tajik hunter wearing gloves stands on a small sprung trap to catch marmot.
Wide angle view of Bazar Dara ancient caravanserai tucked away in a remote Pamir mountain valley.
A group of men try to control a wildly bucking yak.
A group of boys, one with a bicycle, stand in front of an unusual and massive Soviet-era dome.
Three men holding up archaic, homemade fishing nets used for mountain fishing.
A man stands at the entrance to a tall vertical cave entrance.
Portrait of two men fishing on a sun-kissed Pamir mountain plateau.
Golden, grassy humps stretching across a big plateau and filled with mini ponds.
An open palm holding a cluster of bones, firewood and charcoal left behind by ancient Pamir Mountains hunters.
A man standing around a cut pile of teresken shrub bundles it together for transportation.
A Kyrgyz herder holding a lasso walks towards a large herd of Pamir yaks.
A view of a remote peak with a giant snow-covered face, with a sandy desert in the foreground.
Close-up photo of a long horned goat petroglyph.

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