With Tajik driver to Afghan Wakhan?

[ralphcope4]

Hello everyone!

If I have a Tajik driver from Dushanbe, whom I hired to do the Pamir Highway (ending in Osh, Kyrgyzstan), can this driver enter the Afghan Wakhan and drive us around? Would like to use the same driver for both the PH and Afghan Wakhan. Haven't found anything definitive on the web yet and it seems the police in the Wakhan are particular about making sure people are paying.

Any advice helps!

[bwv812]

Even if your driver is able to enter Afghanistan, I suspect he would decline to drive you up the afghan wakhan for various reasons including lack of familiarity with road and it's conditions and the wakhan taxi "mafia." And from a tourist perspective, it likely better to get a local driver who knows the conditions and has local contacts and experience in order to ensure everything goes relatively smoothly.

[steven]

I know some Tajik Pamiri guides who guide hiking and climbing trips in the Afghan Wakhan, so that's definitely not an issue. I don't see the problem with having a Tajik driver either, but I will ask one of them what they normally do for tours.

[steven]

Here is the answer:

Hello Steven,
Well, officially the tajik drivers are allowed to drive on the Afghanistan side, but the drivers will need to fix many papers which are very expensive.
This procedure was created specially by the Afghanistan Government to give opportunity for their own drivers to earn some money.

About 6 years ago we used our own (tajik drivers) to drop our tourists to Sarhad, but after they invented all these permits and paperwork now I prefer to use their cars, as it is more cheap and reliable in case of safety (they know their roads better and can solve any troubles or replace the car if it breaks) as they know everybody on this route.

The number two problem is the condition of the road in Afghan side. Almost nobody from tajik drivers will agree to go there again (when he see the road)

**

in short: you'll have to switch to a local driver.

[samsung]

How about taking my private KG registered landcruiser, and just hiring a driver/guide?

[ccc]

Tajikistan border is still closed due to Covid.
Btw you can try to organize a local Afghan driver, after passing the border.