Central Asia Tour, Central Asia, Info Locations
About this map: www.zweiradlertouren.de/en/zat/faq/#route.
Tizian Römer and Belinda Benz from Zweiradlertouren (www.zweiradlertouren.de).

Dushanbe: Department of Visas and Registration (OVIR)
A special permit is required to enter the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (short GBAO, which covers all of the Tajik part of Pamir) (Nov 2022). It costs US$20 and is available online (for nationals of countries eligible for the e-visa) or in Dushanbe OVIR for about 70 somoni. It is not available on arrival, if you are asked to pay for a "permit" when crossing the internal border, this is a blatant bribe.
Department of Visas and Registration (OVIR), 5 Mirzo Tursunzoda street, Dushanbe. M-Sa 08:00-17:00. Go here to get your GBAO permit. If it's not too busy and you arrive before noon, you will be able to pick up the permit in the afternoon of the same day. If you stay in Tajikistan on a Visa on Arrival, more than 10 days, you will also have to register here. (updated Nov 2022)
Taken from https://en.m.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Pamirs.

Karakalpakstan: New Road Constructions (East End)
When we cycled here in March 2024, a new road was being constructed parallel (though up to 5 km apart) to the old one between the Kazakh border and about 30 km north of Kyrykkyz (at 43.40425, 58.13314, to be specific). That is about 230 km distance.
Between the border and the town of Karakalpakstan (44.78156, 56.20727), the new road is north of the old road. At Karakalpakstan they cross each other and henceforth the new road is south of the old one.
We cycled in the new road for about 95% (just for a few kilometers immediately after the border we stayed on the old road).
From what we saw of the old road, it was paved, but often in a very bad condition with a lot of pot holes and cracks. All lorries and most cars drive on the old road.
The new road was about 50% concrete and 50% not yet paved. BUT almost all of the unpaved distance was already dense/compacted/rolled (using a road roller) soil, which was basically just as good for cycling as the already paved sections. Like a very, very good gravel road. Even if you go 30 km/h (if you have tailwind, for example) it doesn't feel too bumpy.
There is one annoyance, however: In order to prevent cars from using the new road, they blocked the new road in uneven intervalls with nasty heaps of earth. With the bicycle you will somehow be able to get over all of them; but it will always slow you down and sometimes you will have to push the bicycles over a 1 m high heap. Sometimes it was so steep that we had to both push one bicycle after the other.
Still, we would definitely recommend to take the new road instead of the old one! Of course, the old road might also be in a not too bad condition where we didn't cycle it – we can't know – but even then there will be much heavier traffic there (although a few cars also somehow manage to circumvent the obstacles and drive on the new road; the road workers don't seem to care about them and they were always happy to see us on the bicycles on the construction side).
The only exception was a section of about 20 km length between the train stations "Kiyiksay" (44.66186, 56.39371) and "Aqtobe" (44.55109, 56.58684). Here, the obstacles were particularly annoying and we had to deviate to a small dirt track adjacent to the new road for a few kilometers. Here, the old road might be the better option. We marked this section with a warning.
DISCLAIMER: It is in the nature of a road construction that the circumstances change quickly and the information above will be outdated soon. Luckily it should rather get better than worse – at least, until the new road opens for the heavy traffic. However, even before, especially the locations of the obstacles may change very quickly and if you're unlucky they can be very nasty and annoying for sure.

Karakalpakstan: New Road Constructions (West End)
When we cycled here in March 2024, a new road was being constructed parallel (though up to 5 km apart) to the old one between the Kazakh border and about 30 km north of Kyrykkyz (at 43.40425, 58.13314, to be specific). That is about 230 km distance.
Between the border and the town of Karakalpakstan (44.78156, 56.20727), the new road is north of the old road. At Karakalpakstan they cross each other and henceforth the new road is south of the old one.
We cycled in the new road for about 95% (just for a few kilometers immediately after the border we stayed on the old road).
From what we saw of the old road, it was paved, but often in a very bad condition with a lot of pot holes and cracks. All lorries and most cars drive on the old road.
The new road was about 50% concrete and 50% not yet paved. BUT almost all of the unpaved distance was already dense/compacted/rolled (using a road roller) soil, which was basically just as good for cycling as the already paved sections. Like a very, very good gravel road. Even if you go 30 km/h (if you have tailwind, for example) it doesn't feel too bumpy.
There is one annoyance, however: In order to prevent cars from using the new road, they blocked the new road in uneven intervalls with nasty heaps of earth. With the bicycle you will somehow be able to get over all of them; but it will always slow you down and sometimes you will have to push the bicycles over a 1 m high heap. Sometimes it was so steep that we had to both push one bicycle after the other.
Still, we would definitely recommend to take the new road instead of the old one! Of course, the old road might also be in a not too bad condition where we didn't cycle it – we can't know – but even then there will be much heavier traffic there (although a few cars also somehow manage to circumvent the obstacles and drive on the new road; the road workers don't seem to care about them and they were always happy to see us on the bicycles on the construction side).
The only exception was a section of about 20 km length between the train stations "Kiyiksay" (44.66186, 56.39371) and "Aqtobe" (44.55109, 56.58684). Here, the obstacles were particularly annoying and we had to deviate to a small dirt track adjacent to the new road for a few kilometers. Here, the old road might be the better option. We marked this section with a warning.
DISCLAIMER: It is in the nature of a road construction that the circumstances change quickly and the information above will be outdated soon. Luckily it should rather get better than worse – at least, until the new road opens for the heavy traffic. However, even before, especially the locations of the obstacles may change very quickly and if you're unlucky they can be very nasty and annoying for sure.

Karakol: Visa Extension
OVIR Kushtobaev/Kutmanalieva (50 m NW of militsia/police). 09:00-17:00. 1 month visa extension at the same day. Bring your passport, two passport-pictures, one copy of the relevant pages in your passport and fill out two forms. Go to the RSK Bank (Toktogul 271, near Turkestan yurt camp, 42.494933, 78.398250), go to the counter on the right, write on a piece of paper your name and the sum you have to pay (1,000 som as of Aug 2001), then you’ll get a form and can pay the money on counter "1“. There is an 15 som fee for the transaction. Back at the OVIR you’ll get your passport back, but you’ll be asked for another 153 som fee for the sticker. (no receipt, of course).
Taken from https://en.m.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Karakol.

Khorugh: PECTA Office
The PECTA office in the central park is the best resource for information to plan your trip. Here you can buy detailed maps of the Pamirs, enquire about hiking trails and transportation, and find up-to-date information about the Afghan visa and safety situation for those interested in crossing the river.
They can also help you with permits for Zorkul nature reserve at a cost of 17 somoni per day (not date specific), and the permit takes about 5 minutes to receive. The same building houses a souvenir shop, and coffee and Wi-Fi are available. Apart from a few hotels, this is the only place in town to find halfway decent internet.
Taken from https://caravanistan.com/tajikistan/pamirs/khorog/.

Kyrgyzstan: Mountain Routes South of Issykkul
There are four main river valleys that you can cycle in the mountains south of Issykkul:
1. Barskoon River Valley
Entrance at Barskoon town: 42.11296, 77.59664
Exit at Barskoon pass: 41.88755, 77.71095
Very good and big gravel road that is well maintained, because it's the main access to the Kumtor gold mine. If you choose this route for going downhill towards Issykkul, you can almost go as fast as if it was paved (the road is flat enough for cycling 40–50 km/h most of the time). The traffic level is medium, maybe one vehicle every 5 min. It can be dusty in some sections, if trucks overtake you. The slope is up to 10%. If you want to go up from Issykkul, it's probably the easiest route road-wise, but the traffic will make it a rather uncomfortable ride.
2. Burkhan River Valley
Except for the last 1 km of the pass (which took us 30 min due to its steepness), it's a pretty flat river valley with only moderate slopes (or only very short steeper ones occasionally). There are a couple of river crossings where we had to push our bicycles through the ice-cold water, but if you are okay with getting wet feet, none of them is really difficult. More often than not, the road is pretty bumpy, though, so even if there's no gradient, it's usually impossible to cycle faster than 7–10 km/h. Stock up with enough food so you don't need to do more than 50 km per day. Water is no problem, there are plenty of clear streams (better filter, though). Landscape is scenic, though a bit boring (little change). Only the ~15 km before the pass and then the top of the pass are truly amazing.
3. Tosor River Valley
Entrance at Tosor village: 42.16623, 77.39542
We have not taken this option ourselves. We met a cyclist who told us it was pretty bumpy (well, that doesn't need to mean much, as it's bumpy everywhere except for the Barskoon Valley road). We also met a local in the Eki Naryn Valley who recommended us going via Burkhan River Valley and Arabel Pass and Barskoon River Valley, because he said the road will be better (less stony) than the Tosor pass road.
4. Djuuku River Valley
We have not taken this option ourselves. It's part of the Tian Shan Traverse bikepacking route, but the last part of the ascent to the Djuuku pass is so steep, they added the attribute "hike a bike" to this section. The rest of the valley is actually less steep than the Barskoon Valley and the Tosor Valley. Unfortunately, we don't know details about the road quality.

Sagirdasht Pass: Shelter Hut
There is small shelter hut at this location. It is a brick-built, closed hut (i.e. not only a roof, but walls, glass windows and a door). The door was unlocked when we were there in May 2024. The hut was in a pretty good condition and seemed rather new. It has a small "foyer" (maybe 1.5×2.5 m²) and a main room with a carpet floor (maybee 2.5×3.5 m²). There is even a stove, so if you carry wood up here, you have heating. Would definitely be an iconic place to spend the night. Unless you are unlucky and it's already taken by a shepherd. But so high up here, chances for that seem rather low to me.

Uzbekistan/Pitnak: Visa Run
A lot of locals on our way to this border station warned us that the border is closed and our road is a dead-end. And they were right, the border is closed and apparently you cannot cross into Turkmenistan here anymore.
We went to the border station anyway and simply explained to the border guard that we want to leave Uzbekistan and enter again right away (without going to Turkmenistan) to get the stamp in our passports so that we can stay for another fresh 30 days visa-free. They readily understood and after two phone calls they allowed us to push our bicycles into the border station area.
They did the whole emmigration and immigration process with us at the otherwise totally deserted border station building. They also put our panniers through the scanner again (we hid our drone somewhere in the bushes 1 km ahead of the border). And finally we got an exit and entry stamp and the visa run was complete.
In the end, we asked (out of interest) if the border is closed permanently, and they said yes, but it's open for visa runs. So apparently we were not just lucky, but chances are high that it will work every time for others as well.

Uzbekistan: Drones
Note that it is forbidden to bring drones into Uzbekistan. Several signs at the border are telling you this and the border guards will scan your panniers and ask if you carry a drone. If they find a drone, they will take and maybe destroy it.
That being said, many people managed to still smuggle their drone through the border. We had the drone itself in a sleeping bag, the controller and batteries in other panniers. We put other technical/metal stuff into those panniers as well, to camouflage it in the scanner pictures. When they asked about a drone, we said "no". They didn't find it on the pictures and didn't check any pannier by hand.