If you look at a satellite image of the Pamir Mountains you will see a large quadrangle framed by mountain ranges. Perhaps that is why it was called "The roof of the world".

Most of the Pamir Mountains are located in Tajikistan; the rest are in the western part of China's Xinjiang province, and in north-western Afghanistan (Badakhshan province). The highest peaks of the mountains frame the area: Peak Kongur (7719m) and Peak Muztag-Ata (7550m) to the East, Safed-Khirs Range to the West, Peak Lenin (7134m) and Trans-Alay Range to the North, the stunning icy Hindukush (Tirich-Mir 7690m) to the South. There is an other well-known mountain ? peak Somoni (former peak Communism 7495m), the highest mountain of the former Soviet Union.. Muztag-Ata is clearly visible from the Tajik side and gives the impression of a white mirage on the horizon while traveling among the high Pamir deserts and hills.

Geographically we can separate the Pamir Mountains into two parts: Western Pamir (which is actually Badakhshan ) and the Eastern Pamir. Badakhshan is a country of high steep rocky mountains with small narrow valleys, small green villages located wherever people could find some land for cultivation and irrigation. From high altitudes they look like small green islands among huge rocks and mountains. The climate is continental, dry with warm and sunny summers and comparably cold winters.

The Eastern Pamir is a country of high waste deserts, strong wind, dazzling sun and yaks. The word extreme is best used to describe the area: extreme cold, extreme dry, extreme sun-shine, extreme wind and so on. In fact, the climate is very dry (sometimes it is below 10% humidity) and cold. The minimum temperature in Tajikistan was fixed in Bulunkoul (a village in the mountains) at -63 °C. In summer time the temperature goes up to 25 °C at noon and falls down to 0 °C at night.

Here, in this small area, you will find real unity in diversity, different people, different cultures, different languages, different landscapes and mountains. In the Eastern Pamirs the landscape and climate are quite different than the Western Pamirs, and you feel it as soon as you get there. Sometimes it looks a like a huge high plateau situated at high altitude (3500-4500m) with comparably low mountains (4500-6000m) around. In spite of that there are many interesting animals in the mountain, such as marmot, ibex, wolf, hare, brown bear, snow leopard, and the magnificent Marco Polo sheep.

The Pamirs have been known since the earliest times, when first caravans went to ancient Egypt, bringing sky-colored lapis lazuli to the country. We are very limited on information about that time. But one thing is clear; the country was on the Great Silk Route for a long time. And huge ruins of old fortresses still remain silent about that time. The well-known traveler of the 13th century, Marco Polo, on his way to China, visited the Pamirs and described it in his book.

The Pamir mountains of Tajikistan are, without doubt, the least visited mountain range in the world, yet one which offers some of the most magnificent landscapes, picturesque rural scenes, exhilarating trekking and genuine hospitality to be found anywhere on the planet