"This plain, whose name is Pamir, extends fully twelve days journey. In all these twelve days there is no habitation or shelter, but travellers must take their provisions with them. No birds fly here because of the height and the cold. And I assure you that, because of this great cold, fire is not so bright here nor of the same colour as elsewhere, and food does not cook well."
- Marco Polo, The Travels

Badakhshan, Afghanistan's mountainous north-east is one of the most beautiful parts of the country. It is also one of the most remote. As part of the Pamir mountains that knit together Tajikistan, Pakistan and China, it is wild and stunning, and holds great future potential as a trekking destination, particularly in the Wakhan Corridor, that thin tongue of land that sticks out of Afghanistan, a hang-over of British and Russian imperial borders. Afghanistan's lapis lazuli is mined in Badakhshan, and is home to small populations of snow leopard and Marco Polo sheep. Entering Afghanistan from Tajikistan is possible here, at the border crossing of Ishkashim.

Badakhshan's provincial capital is Faizabad, which served as the Northern Alliance capital when they had been driven out of the rest of the country by the Taliban. Several NGOs are also based here, along with a German-run PRT base. The town is based in a valley along the Kokcha River, and has a small but interesting bazaar. There are a couple of hotels, including the recommended Government Guest House and Hotel Ishan Awliyan. There are reports that the Aga Khan Development Network may also be opening a guesthouse in the town.

East of Faizabad is the junction town of Baharak. From here the road splits south to Sar-Sang, site of the lapis lazuli mines, or continues east to Ishkashim. Ishkashim has a border crossing to Tajikistan, and is also the gateway to the Wakhan Corridor. Permission is currently required from the governor of Ishkashim to continue on into the Wakhan.

Transport connections
Ariana fly several two or three times a week between Kabul and Faizabad.The planes are small and the flights often heavily booked. Faizabad is also the hub for road transport, and minibuses run from here to Taloqan and on to Kunduz. Heading further into Badakhshan, it is possible to arrange transport to Baharak and Ishkashim. From Baharak, it may also be possile to hire a vehicle to take you south to Sar-e Sang. The terrible road (all roads in Badakhshan are bad) continues over the Anjuman Pass into the Panjshir Valley. Access to the Wakhan Corridor - from Ishkashim to Qala Panj - is by four-wheel drive only, or by horse.

For more on crossing the border into Takjikistan's Gorno-Badakhskan region, see Getting in from Tajikistan.

Security
Badakhshan has traditionally been one of the safest provinces of Afghanistan to travel in, as it largely sat out the civil war - it was the one corner of the country never captured by the Taliban. That said, local trouble can easily flare - international NGOs were briefly targetted in early 2004 for alleged improprieties with local female workers; German ISAF soldiers have also been attacked for photographing local women. Badakhshan is one of the centres of Afghanistan's opium industry, and smuggling is rife along the Tajik border. A more traditional hazard is that of floods and landslides which may be particularly common during the spring and early summer snow melt, sometimes closing the roads from Faizabad to Taloqan and Ishkashim.

Other information
Two online resources are particularly worth checking out by those planning to visit the Wakhan Corridor.The first is the UNEP Wakhan Mission Technical Report, an account of a 2003 UN Environment Programme expedition to survey wildlife in the Wakhan. The second is A Journey to the Wakhan Pamir, a report on a 2004 trek to the source of the Amu Darya (Oxus) river by John Mock and Kimberely O'Neil, authors of Lonely Planet's Trekking in the Karakoram and Hindu Kush. Both reports contain useful travel information for travelling in this most remote part of Afghanistan.

Odyssey's 2005 Afghanistan: A Companion & Guide is notable for its excellent coverage of Badakhshan, including tantalising ideas for trekking in the Wakhan, and is highly recommended. The relevant chapter in Nancy Dupree's An Historical Guide to Afghanistan is also still highly useful, showing how little has changed in this corner of the country. John Simpson's News From No Man's Land contains an interesting account of the drive from Faizabad to Charikar via Sar-e Sang, the Anjuman Pass and Panjshir, while covering the anti-Taliban war in late 2001.