There are 2 towns with the same name, one in Afghanistan, one in Tajikistan. They are opposite each other across the river so if you have found the one in Afghanistan, you have also found the one in Tajikistan

Ok :) I had my map details set to normal in Mapsource. When i set them to highest i got small villages visible.

OSM maps
 

yes with OSM maps, both on mapsource and on the Garmin unit, you have to switch to most detail to really get normal use out of them

We too were on this road last year (2010).
The Zorkul area is a natural park, but you can get the permit easily in Khorog. We asked at pecta, and the lady from the zapovednik administration even drove to the pectad infromation center (as her office seams to be a bit outside), to give us the permit.
The problem in Khargush was, that we were ok with the permit for the natural park, but the military wanted something more (2 years ago , they only wanted the propusk for the park). After some discussions, we could pass. There is another military post at the other end (after Zorkul).
As rivers were high, when we were in the region, we took the road from Djarty Gumbaz out to the M51 (near Karasu). The road was ok and no bad river crossings (we were on bikes).
Our pictures of Zorkul region are here: Kurze Sommertour durch Mittelasien: An der afghanischen Grenze entlang durch den Zor Kul Nationalpark

Concerning the GBAO, we had problems when driving up the Shuqdara Valley, in fact this district was not listed on our GBAO stamp (done by Vienna consulate), but after some long lunch, we could continue our journey.

Kind regards

Christian

Howmany days does it take from Khargush to Dusbane? We ship our bike's to Almaty and perhaps the Pamir road is a road to do.

Thanks, Ad

With bicycles
 

Christian,,
Amazing adventure and wonderful pictures. Inspirational,,,,