Born in the Pamir mountains of Tajikistan at an altitude of 2500 m, Sharaf has been hiking since early childhood. He is a seasoned alpinist and trekking guide, and a pioneer in tourism development of both Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
He nursed snow leopards as a member of the Snow Leopard Conservancy team and trained Afghan village kids to become ski guides in Bamiyan. After climbing every peak of significance in Tajikistan, his favourite is lonely Kizil Dong.
From 2008 Sharaf has been guiding for international trekking companies and organising bespoke trips in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan’s Wakhan.
What Sharaf says:
Our team take a personal approach to each and every client. We try to let each participant to take home the best experience from our service.
We offer the following services:
- Adventure tours in – Stan countries of Central Asia
- Horse riding tours in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan
- Trekking and Horse riding in Wakhan of Afghanistan
- Rock climbing and mountaineering expeditions
- Wilderness trips to Big and Little Pamirs
- Rent of camping and climbing gear
- Transportation, hotel bookings, logistics service.
We have had several wonderful trips with Sharaf and his team as a couple and later with a group. He has tremendous local knowledge both of the physical terrain, and natural environment as well as of the history and culture of different regions of Tajikistan. He has a clear interest in protecting the environment and in supporting the local economy. His English is excellent as well as his Tajik, Russian and Pamir. He has been flexible in addressing our particular interests and changing plans when needed. We’ve always had great adventures with him and his team, learning a lot, and meeting wonderful people along the way. Tajikistan is such a beautiful hospitable corner of the world.
My wife and I went on a 10-day trip travelling through the Wakhan Valley and along the Pamir Highway with Sharaf and had the time of our lives. Sharaf is not only a skilled and knowledgeable guide, but also just a great person to be with and spend time with. He put together for us a tailor-made trip that included all the things we wanted to do – trekking, camping, yak riding, bathing in Soviet-style springs, visiting cultural and historical sites, … – and let us stay in friendly, family-run homestays which made our experience even more personal and unforgettable. He’s also eco-conscious which was quite important to us, and made sure we had a safe and comfortable car with a skilled and responsible driver. We will definitely call on Sharaf’s services again next time we visit Tajikistan – he comes highly recommended!
We, two women from Amsterdam, have been travelling with Sharaf last summer. We had a custom made trip in Tajikistan and it was the best! I will definitely travel in Tajikistan again and will plan my trip with Sharaf. I can recommend his company to everyone!
He is really reliable, speaks good English and is just a really nice person to deal with. He is really good in handling unexpected difficulties. Like with us, our hike in the Yaghnob valley was impossible due to a landslide and instead of being stuck for two days, he instantly changed our itinerary and we went hiking in the Varzob valley, which was great!
He knows so much about the country, has an eye for the environment and by working together with local people, not only him but also the less developed villages / people benefit from the upcoming tourism, which makes Sharaf for me an even more good-natured person.
I hope to travel to Tajikistan again and will definitely travel with Sharaf again!
I went on a custom made trip with Sharaf last year in September, mainly as I wanted to go to Afghanistan. Here Sharaf is just great, knowing all about what to do and how, and with very good contacts in Afghanistan, I had a most interesting time there.
Also, Sharaf has a very good view on things, like the environment, and he is very knowledgeable.
What I personally liked about travelling with Sharaf, was that the itinerary was not carved in stone, but things changed, as they do when travelling in Centra Asia, and Sharaf just adjusted and found a solution.
Don’t hesitate to go with Sharaf, you’ll have a great time.
I have been travelling 3 times with Sharaf. He is a very relying men. We’ve been in Kirghizistan with him and changed our program once in the country and he really did a good job changing every thing always with a “no problem” reply!
His organisation for the trip in Tajikistan is perfect too.
I highly recommend his company.
Corinne Vachon from France
The scenery is fabulous with wild, partly snowcapped mountains, dry landscapes in all nuances of brown-greyish with green patches, green to yellow fields and the Panj and Wakhan rivers flowing in greyish to blue. In this scenery smallish cattle, goats, cows, yaks and the one and other Bactrian camel, lively children, colorful, red dressed women and small partly goat like men with weather-beaten faces are appearing as we move slowly forward on challenging “roads”. All people are busy with harvesting before the winter comes – with methods that make me feel like taking a step 150 years back in time – mixed with the one and other Afghan man with beard and the famous, flat beige hat as if stepping out of a TV program. How lucky I am to have had this unique experience! One recommendation for anyone who wants to go there: bring your thermarest for a soft sleeping comfort so that you are well fit for the days.
Berit Askheim
Wakhan of Afghanistan Expedtion, UK.
Our guide was wonderful and I really enjoyed our destinations. I think that I would have liked a little more to do during the long drives. It would have been cool to learn more about the countries more recent political history during that time Anyway, Sharaf puts together a really interesting & varied itinerary. Tons of thanks to Sharaf for solving the problem with my Afghanistan visa! This was surprisingly quick!
Reinhold Gerharter
Germany
We had no real feel for whether it was a good idea or not (we hadn’t had recommendations) to visit Wakhan of Afghanistan, but once we engaged with Sharaf by phone, it rapidly became apparent that there was a genuine desire on the company’s part to provide a genuine service where the travelling customer is at its heart. The local people that we met, especially in the upper Wakhan valley, were so keen to meet with us and communicate through gestures and smiles. We highly recommend Sharaf and his company for Silk Road adventures!
Bruno and Eva Fitzgerald
Germany
he Wakhan area at the border to Afganistan is like a different world with an impressive landscape. And the Pamir Highway never feels like a highway :-) But the scenery is absolutely breathtaking and exceeded my expectations. The travel days and long and bumpy, but you are rewarded with spectacular views and local hospitality. I can highly recommend this company!
Gerhard Maier & Silvia Maier
Austria
This is not a review. It is a comment for the company. The trip was seamless and so enjoyable. We had a genuine experience of Central Asia that was varied and fun. Great choice of places and good company! Special thanks to the drivers for their help with our luggage and accurateness! Highly recommended!
Eugene Cheong
Singapore
If you enjoy off-the-beaten-track travel, you won’t be disappointed. Go now. We two French men age of 70 and 68 did the trek over Vrang pass 5070 m! The nature is fantastic! Linguistics and support was excellent, thanks to Sharaf! Our donkey drovers understand everything upside down but it was fun!
Christian Morere
France
The Afghan Wakhan Expedition group tour to Tajikistan and Afghanistan was the most challenging and culturally rich travel experience I have had to date. My favourite part of the trip had to be the spontaneous interactions with the local Wakhi people. Everywhere I went I carried around a sheet of translations which I often added to with the help of locals in each village. It was a most enriching experience to exchange some simple ideas with these beautiful, gentle people in their own language!
Sophie Oeppen
France
Our fantastic guide, Khooshruz, and excellent driver Gulnazar, really helped make this an unforgettable experience. Tajikistan is a visually stunning country with a fascinating history. And whilst there are certainly long travel days on this trip, the time passes by pretty fast as you become totally absorbed by your surroundings. This is our second trip to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and for sure the best one!
Marie-Pierre RECEVEUR
France
I am sorry that we didn’t really have a chance to say good bye to you. We decided that it wasn’t worth leaving Khorog at 6:00 to do so; I hope you weren’t offended. We thought that we should write to you to give you our assessment of the trip.
As you probably guessed, we all had a wonderful time in Tajikistan. It started in Khujand, where we thought that Farhat was a good guide, and enjoyed getting to know that northern city. Your flexibility, allowing us to include Akbar and Liliya in the group, and arranging a visit to the lake where Liliya used to work and then to visit Akbar’s brother, was much appreciated. We also enjoyed our time with Heydar and Marouf.
The two drivers in the Pamirs were first rate. Both Navraz and Nazrullo were careful and considerate. I asked Nazrullo early to stay behind the dusty cars, and he did that when he could. Navraz was clearly in charge, leading the way, and he did a good job of that. Again, there was some confusion when we got to Dushanbe, but that worked out okay. Peter K. wished that we had English-speaking drivers, but David and I were happy that we had good drivers. Finally, the Uzbekistan team was awesome. Ruslan, our Samarkand guide, was excellent, although he had trouble shortening his presentation when we asked him to make sure that we would have time to get to Tashkent. The food was excellent for both lunch and dinner, and the Hotel Arien Plaza was the best hotel that I have seen in Central Asia.
Finally, David points out that it would have been more fun to make a loop through Murghab and Kyrgyzstan, rather than driving that miserable Khorog to Dushanbe twice. That was our fault, because I bought my ticket based on being in Khorog for the Festival. Would it be easy for you to arrange such a trip?
Thanks for putting together such a good tour. We hope that you can work with us and Nate in the future.
Rett Ertl, with comments from Sophia, Peter, David, Peter, and Nate from USA
Thank you guys for perfect trip! Coming home is always bittersweet, a mix of being delighted to be back among family (my new nephew was born in London as we crossed the border at Kyzyl Art), along with missing the mountains and music, the amazing hospitality, and the weather, obviously.
Susanna Walker
BMC team, UK
Pamir Highway tour
Absolutely incredible trip and one which I will remember forever. The Silk Road has been something that I have wanted to do for some time and Sharaf’s itinerary was impeccable. I only wish it went for longer.. I learnt so much about our world and had to pinch myself everyday with how lucky I was to be travelling through the region. As a matter of fact, the age range, added to the fact that we hailed from three continents, enhanced our experience. One piece of advice is not to eat for about a month before the trip because Central Asian hospitality is epic.
Maria, Dominic, Eleanor and Kathryn
France
It wouldn’t have been such an incredible trip if it hadn’t been for the wonderful company of the guide and Gulnazar. They were both brilliant and made every effort to ensure our trip was unforgettable. Gulnazar was an absolute hero and it’s a great testament to your operations that you employ such a skilled driver. Highly recommend this driver!
Our group of seven ranged in age from the mid-thirties to mid-seventies and all got along very well.. The guides were excellent, so enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the history of their countries. One of my most favourite holidays ever! On some of the long drives, there was little choice but to eat at pre-arranged spots because of the scarcity of stops along the road. However, we were given freedom to choose where to dine at our evening’s destination. For the more timid of us, that was a challenge, but having to make oneself understood is part of the fascination of travel and offered more opportunity to interact with Tajik and Wakhi people.
Our experience with the staff of Sharaf was excellent. Our representative went far beyond the call of duty helping us arrange pre and post tour travels and our guide was knowledgeable and helpful. The drivers were amazing with good sense of humour, patient and with lots of info. We’d rate our experience an “A.”
Lena & Graig Odell
Netherlands
You have to visit the Pamirs with the guides of Sharaf! He really shows you the best places en goes for the right trails. He takes his responsibility, is a good host en does everything to make your trip unforgettable!
Ellie Potiec
Greece