Best start/end city for Pamir Highway

[dude]

I'm planning a 1 month trip in August to visit the Pamir Highway between Dushanbe and Osh, including a couple of multi-day side treks such as in the Fann Mountains.

As I see that Smarkand is not very far away, I'm wondering what would be the best city to fly in and out between Samarkand, Dushanbe and Osh considering:

- The number of flights and their price from Europe
- Ease of border crossings and getting visas on the spot
- Chances of finding travel buddies and/or hire a car and driver

I will have to do the highway both ways, I guess, as it's probably too complicated to fly out from another city than where you landed, but I don't mind, as I'll have time and I'm interested in visiting various itineraries of the road anyway.

Thanks!

[steven]

It's not complicated to fly out from a different city than where you landed.

You can for instance do Bishkek - Osh - Khorog - Dushanbe - Samarkand- Tashkent. If you have an extra day or 2, flying out again via Bishkek will be cheaper. You can check for Almaty as well.

or

Dushanbe - Khorog - Osh - Tashkent - Samarkand - Dushanbe. This will probably a bit more expensive in terms of flights, but then you don't have to visit Bishkek if you are short on time.