Pamir Highway: too cold in May?

[Stijnvvoz]

We're planning a Central Asia trip next year and I just realised that if I move the dates forward I can include 4 Australian publicly holidays (which means I can stay away longer!).
The downside of it is that would bring me to the Pamirs early May, looking at about 8 days from 1MAY21. Will this still be enjoyable? We are looking at hiring a 4x4 (would be nice if we would find some travellers to share with, but not a deal-breaker). We would like to do a few walks, but definitely not doing big or multi-day hikes. Are we just looking at cold nights, but nice days? Or is is so cold it takes the whole fun out of the experience? Any insights into this would be greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks, Stijn (Stan)

[murg]

Hi Stijn,

we did Pamir Hwy 2019 by motorbikes, started in Khorog May 19th. No issues at all, the road was free of mud & snow. Only the stretch of no-mans-land, the first few Km after Bar Dobo border crossing, where a bit snowy.
Plenty of organized tours on the road at that time, all 4WD.
The nights in Alichur & Murghab were cold, below 0°C, and Ak-Baital was rather chilling too.
A week (or 2?) earlier there was considerably more snow in the no-mans-lans, but it was still rideable by motorbikes as you can see here:
https://youtu.be/7mx6o_goqRU

But don't forget:
No one can predict the weather- / road conditions.
Winter may last longer, mudslides might happen,....
Just calculate with a few extra days to be on the safe side.
Enjoy the preparation & the trip

Take Care, Dave

[Christian77]

Another thing to consider is that May is still the tail end of the rainy season for Khorog and areas west. So you should add an extra 24 hours for the Khorog-Dushanbe section (as far as Shurobod Pass) just to be safe (e.g., don't have a plane departure in Dushanbe within 24 hours of leaving Khorog). It's not as rainy as March or April, but you never know when a section of road gets a rockslide or a little flood. And definitely don't do the "real" Pamir Highway section (the so-called northern route that goes north from Qalaikhumb, versus west to Kulob) until it's the dry season. But your driver likely already knows that...

[alexander.sabo]

Hi, I want croising over turkmenistan with my car from Slovakia to pamir highway. You, somebody know how i can in sommer 2022 make this trip? I know, that turkmenistan is now closed, but you know when by open? My way is EU, turkey, iran, turkmenistan, tajikistan, kigistan, uzbekistan and back. About 13000 km. Thank you, Alexander from Slovakia