From Jelondy, we ascended Maisara Pass by bike towards the Roshkala Valley. From there we saw – former Sowjet Union naming relics – Karl Marx Peak (6700m) and Engels Peak (6500m). The road was rough, the weather good.

This is the view from the Gorno Badakhshan side towards Engels Peak is breathtaking. These peaks are tall (6500 – 6700 m) and the Wakhan corridor lies behind it. It is the historic border of East and West conflicts.

The road was quite a challenge, it’s one thing that the road is rocky, but sometimes, you can’t even see the road; only the GPS map tells you that it’s there. The place is empty, lonely and the high-altitude is breath-taking, literally.

Reaching the high-altitude plateau (4000m) beyond Maisara pass takes you to a large lake (couldn’t find the name, most maps don’t have a name). The road is wash-boarded beyond annoying. The solitude, though, is inspiring, thought-provoking. It lets you respect nature, for a while. Glad, I am carrying a water filter.

One can approach Engels Peak better on foot from the South side, so a few days later, from Langyar, we hiked up, following the aqueduct. It’s a steep hike from 2700m up to 4200m, then reaching the valley floor at the top.

The path is not well marked, but you climb straight up until you hit the aquaduct; then the path follows this km-long aqueduct, it’s narrow with cliffs and excellent vistas; round-trip to the Langyar base is about a 20km walk, easy one-day hike. Some folks camp at the glacier lake at the end at ~4200m altitude, nice flat meadow.

On the right is the aqueduct, the background drops towards Langyar and then across towards the Wakhan strip in Afghanistan.