Murghab

The highest town in Tajikistan. Murghab is also one of the highest permanently inhabited places on earth. At 3,600 meters above sea level, with a population around 4,000, Murghab (Murghob) has no trees, no agriculture and half the oxygen of sea level. Populated mainly by Kyrgyz, the town serves as a cultural and economic hub for the region. Located on the Pamir Highway, one of the world’s highest international roads, Murghab was an important stop on the ancient Silk Road.

The area relies heavily on livestock herding and small-scale trade, most of which takes place out of a container market with an abundance of cheap plastic goods imported from nearby China. There was very little in the way of fresh produce – we had to haggle over three rather sad looking tomatoes and were lucky to find a small shop selling local bread and eggs.

Yaks wandered freely about outside of town and the place was rather full of border guards and Tajik army personal due to an ongoing ‘disagreement’ with Kyrgyzstan, which is a little further down the Pamir.  Diesel, of rather dubious origin, was sold by the bucket and poured by hand into our Land Rover, which remarkably didn’t seem affected by either the altitude or whatever was being added to the tank.

Sleeping at that altitude was interesting and we had to take altitude sickness tablets daily, making sure we didn’t go over a recommended 200m increase per day.  I am pretty sure that dinner at the local hotel included marmot, disguised as stuffing in a paprika (red pepper) shell and served as a soup … Facilities in town really are a little basic due to the extreme environment – the town runs on solar panels, satellite dishes and the sheer determination of the people who chose to live there.

You would have to be determined to film there, but the town and surrounding areas are so incredible visual that it’s well worth the trip. It’s a unique place. And the marmot wasn’t really that bad.