Return to the roof of the world – Polly Crathorne

It is our pleasure to once again join the Crathorne family on their latest journey along the Pamir highway, to the roof of the world. The 1000km journey from Dushanbe – once part of the historic silk route – took us along dirt roads through steep-sided mountain valleys, alongside raging rivers and over high mountain passes, including the Ak-Baitel pass at 4650m.

The destination? The Roof of the World Regatta, an extraordinary event on a high altitude lake in a remote part of Tajikistan, home to the Karakul community. At almost 4000m altitude, the weather at the lake is notoriously fickle; iced-over for eight months of the year the water is close to freezing, storms can appear suddenly with no notice and the area is liable to snow in the summer. This makes kiting conditions on the lake unpredictable and challenging but the ridiculously beautiful surroundings and the people of Karakul make this such a special event and I am hopeful for good conditions at the 2017 Regatta this summer.

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