The Oxus Expedition has been many years in the making. Oxus explorer Bill Colegrave laid down the challenge to Sophie at the Royal Geographical Society back in 2014, and in summer 2021, we finally thought we had all our ducks in a row to travel. Then the Taliban re-took control of Afghanistan, the government collapsed, and travel in and out of a deeply unstable country was the last thing on our minds.Three years on, the security situation in Afghanistan has improved. A small number of tour operators – including some from the UK – are even bringing foreign tourists to explore historic sites like the Bamiyan Buddhas, the Herat Citadel, and the Minaret of Jam. We planned, we liaised with local fixers, and decided it was time to try again.We booked flights for 23 July, late enough in the summer that the spring meltwaters would have subsided and the tributaries of the Oxus would be low enough to cross on pony or on foot. Everything was packed, the insurance in place. But less than 48 hours before departure, we received a message from our fixer, Azim, in Ishkashim:
I have very bad news for you that the Taliban closed the Wakhan Corridor for all travellers due to some issues with the Pakistan border at the Broghil Pass […] Emergencies happen, I don’t know how long it will be closed for all travellers.
Fighting back tears of frustration and disappointment, we had to make a decision fast. Should we cancel now, and maybe recoup some money on the flights, or fly to Dushanbe anyway and hope the problem would soon be resolved?
We flew. We called numerous contacts in Afghanistan and abroad to try and discover what was going on. Official information was hard to come by, so we pieced together a story from phone calls and tangentially related local media coverage. The road to the Wakhjir Pass – Afghanistan’s border with China – was finished. Taliban officials had conducted a border survey, and the Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan had paid a visit to the Wakhan, too. Probably they are preparing to open the border crossing and allow the truck traffic to flow. Wary of foreign surveillance or interference at this sensitive time, the Taliban announced that nationals from NATO member countries would not be allowed to enter the Wakhan.
We could get a visa on arrival at the Sherkhan Bandar border post between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. We could enter Afghanistan, travel around, and visit any part of the country except the Wakhan Corridor, the one area which had always been accessible for tourists, which had a small but developing tourism sector, and was the only place we needed to visit. It seemed laughably unfair (though, for perspective, plenty of people – women in particular – have much bigger problems than this). There was, and still is, no indication as to when the restriction will be lifted.
For the first four, five days we stayed in Dushanbe, waiting. We repacked the expedition kit and caught up with friends and colleagues. We visited the Museum of Antiquities to see the 13m-long sleeping buddha from Ajina Teppe, and admired copies of the Oxus Treasure in the national Museum. We spent an evening at Hisor Fortress, watching couples in love take photos as the orange sun sank behind the mountains. There was time for a last visit to Rokhat Teahouse, a Dushanbe icon which has sadly been earmarked for demolition. Dushanbe is a pleasant enough city, and Miskola’s home town, but in late July 2024, it was not where we wanted to be. With no promising updates from Azim or anyone else, we rewrote our plans. We would travel the Tajik section of the Oxus, and if we heard that the Wakhan had reopened, head straight to the border. The Oxus Expedition would take place, but out of order.