Khorog

The town of Khorugh – the capital of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast, with a population of about 30,000 – is situated on high narrow terraces 2,060m above sea level near the confluence of the Ghunt and Shohdara rivers on the border with Afghanistan. The river valley here is narrow, so the town is actually two large streets lined with poplars. (www.tdc.tj)
In 1895, when the state border between the Russian Empire and Afghanistan was finally decided, a Russian boundary fortification of three houses and a barrack emerged in the small mountain village of Khorugh.
A road from Osh to Khorugh was built, but it was only possible to go on horseback to deliver goods from camel caravans. There were no more than 90 households here in the early 20th century. The Russian authorities opened a school and a clinic for the local population. These features made Khorugh stand out from the other villages of Shughnon (the name of the Ghunt and Shohdara river basin area). (www.tdc.tj)
From the mid-1920s, when Khorugh was made the administrative centre of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast, it began to grow and develop. The first apartment buildings were built in 1926. In 1929, the first plane arrived in Khorugh. The first car arrived two years later. The construction of the Khorugh hydropower station, the first in the Pamirs, began in 1934. (www.tdc.tj)
Nowadays Khorugh is the scientific, cultural, educational and economic centre of the oblast. The city hosts the Humanities Institute, the Pamiri Biological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, Khorugh State University, a vocational school, a medical college, and a Music & Drama Theatre, as well as a hospital with modern medical equipment. 
The University of Central Asia is now being built. Opposite the stadium in the town centre, the Museum of History and Regional Studies displays materials on the ancient and modern history of Pamirs, its natural resources, and scientific and cultural achievements. 
About 2km from the town centre on the right bank of the Shohdara River (a tributary of the Ghunt River) are the well-known Pamiri Botanical Gardens – one of the most mountainous in the world. The Pir Shohnosir Chashma holy spring, situated 12km north of Khorugh in the scenic area of Midenshor, was so named in commemoration Nosir Khusrav’s stay in the Pamirs. Khusrav was a celebrated scholar, theologian, and poet of the East. In addition to his monument being located here, a small museum named after him has been opened and a hotel is being built. Nine kilometers northeast of Khorugh, above Bogev village, it is possible to see the ruins of the ancient fortress Kafir Qal’a (Fortress of the Faithless). Below this can be seen the remains of two temples of fire – round buildings with sufa (raised seats), a dais for the priest, and a fireplace in the centre. In Vozm village in Porshnev, 15km north of Khorugh, there is a semi-precious stone- and gemprocessing factory. Here, one can buy goods and souvenirs made out of famous Pamiri gems – precious spinel, lapis lazuli, amethyst, amazonstone, and others. (www.tdc.tj)
Khorugh is approximately halfway between Dushanbe and Osh, Kyrgyzstan or Kashgar, China along the Pamir Highway (М-41). Khorugh is 525km from the capital of Tajikistan, 825km from Osh, and 615km from Kashgar. In May 2004, the Khorugh-Murghob-Kulma Pass highway (the border of Tajikistan and China) was opened, extending the Karakoram Highway. (www.tdc.tj)
Driving south from here, you can reach the nearest Chinese town of Tashqurgan, populated mainly by Tajiks. Kashgar is on the northern route. Recently, a new bridge over the Panj River was opened in Khorugh, connecting Tajikistan with Afghanistan (Badakhshan Province). At the same time, the Consulate of Afghanistan began functioning on left bank of Khorugh in Shosh district. There are regular flights between Dushanbe and Khorugh. Yakovlev-40, Antonov-26 and Antonov-28 planes, and Mikoyan-8 helicopters are used for these flights. This air route is one of the most technically difficult and, at the same time, the most scenic and impressive in the world.