We drove to Hojand (280km?) in a van that sits 14 more or less comfortably. It was a big vehicle and barely fit on the mountain roads that were basically just rock ledges. The whole way there were signs for falling rocks and we were amazed at the trucks and old russian cars that travel this pass. It was almost as scary as the time I went from Pristina to Durres, Albania by bus --- through the north of Albania with their narrow roads over mountain drops. I understand that this road through the mountains will soon be closed because they are building a tunnel that will open this year...we may have been some of the last foreigners to have traveled these winding mountain roads.