Tajikistan's Loneliest Highway: The Longest Road Through Almost Nothing

The Soviet-era M41 highway climbs above 4,000 metres on the section between Murghab and Karakul. There are no shepherd huts or fuel stations on the horizon, only the rusted wires of old telephone poles.

Drivers use stone cairns known as 'help piles' as reference points; sometimes they are topped with unused jerry cans. Local guides will note the months when snowstorms close the road, and warn travellers not to set out without lodging arranged in Bulunkul, the last village in the mountains.

Tourist interest has grown in recent years, but the numbers remain small. Most travellers are British and Dutch motorcyclists riding the full Pamir Highway, plus convoys of trucks coming in from the Chinese side. Watching this stretch of road is a stark example of how Soviet infrastructure heritage continues to live on.