We had such a nice trip ! First, we are very grateful that Visit Alay managed to customize the trip to accommodate our schedule. Then we had 2 great drivers (one in Tajikistan and one in Kirghizstan) along the way. We found friendly people ate each of our homestays. Also, we especially want to thank our Tajik driver, Mahmad : he had very good suggestions on what to do/see on the road (slowing down/stopping whenever possible so we could take pictures) and managed to be both eager to talk about his country, and not overwhelming with info or small talk. And he was also helpful when passing some of the checkpoints, in assisting with the bureaucracy, and generally made the trip as pleasant as could be. All in all, if we ever get to come back, hopefully we'll meet again !

Our trip was absolutely fabulous, thanks to the fabulous drivers - notably Shamil Nasirov on the Tajik side (drivers change at the border, and the chap on the Kyrgyz side was excellent too). Alay Travel's arrangements worked very well and, despite my slight fear sending a deposit to an organisation I didn't know, the jeep was waiting on the day planned. Better still on the day before, we were given a helpful chat by the organisers. Most importantly though, Shamil (driver, vet and all round good fellow) was utterly delightful - very responsive to our suggestions and requests and drove calmly and responsibly. He was obviously well connected locally, a few times stopping to help out other road users who had problems and he spoke some English which was helpful for those whose understanding of Russian was zero. However, it's clear that we were lucky. A a different group in a second jeep that left on the same day we did, had a driver who spoke minimal English, and according to their stories, would simply refuse to slow down, driving at a crazy pace and seemingly unaware of some of the interesting stops/viewpoints en route. My suspicion is that this driver was brought in at the last minute as a replacement - or perhaps the ride was booked relatively late so the best drivers had already been allocated. Essentially my takeaway point was that it is probably worth booking well ahead and you must accept that driver quality can vary enormously. A couple of general points. > The schedule on the first day changed somewhat from what was noted in the original listing - we did a short hike from a yurt camp near the Lenin Base camp rather than sleeping early then walking to Travellers Pass. That suited me fine (I was not acclimatised to the altitude so the longer walk would have been too much for me) but this change might have been a disappointment to some. > There's a snow leopard rehabilitation centre just west of Murgab town - worth going around 5pm as in the morning you won't see the animals feeding > If you have US$ cash it's worth bringing enough with you to pay the balance directly as otherwise you'll have to pay a credit card supplement even when paying in situ, and while one of the banks in Osh does dispense US$ from its cash machine, that machine sometimes runs out of $ bills. Remember also that once in Tajikistan, MasterCard is essentially hopeless - Visa usage is better but still not ubiquitous. > I did the 9 day Osh-Dushanbe route. If I were to make a suggestion it would be to add one extra day in Khorog so that one could enjoy that relative oasis of a town for two nights but still leave early enough to have a decent time in Jizeu. Another interesting possibility would be to add another day to take the back route from Kulob to Dushanbe via Childuktaron (the hotel there is luxurious yet great value) then continue via Khovaling and Baljuwon with its new ancient fortress-palace. The road is nicer than the main road and while narrow in parts, only a few km are not fully asphalted and some of the views are lovely. In summary, doing the Osh-Dushanbe trip with Alay Travel was a highly recommended experience, prices are fair and I would do it all again if I had a chance. Thank you to the whole team but especially our wonderful drivers.

I had the absolute best time on the Pamir Highway trip I did in September 2024. Made some really great new friends, enjoyed the marvelous views and time spent in the mountains. Moreover, all guest houses we stayed at were great and the food was excellent. Also big shout-out to our driver, Kokan, who made our trip even better. He speaks English quite well so it was never boring in the car during the sometimes long hours of driving and told us so much about this region and its culture. Thank you for everything, Kokan, you're the best!!!!