Tip of red arrow above marks Ishkashim.

Ishkashim is a district of Badakhshan province in northeastern Afghanistan. It borders Tajiksitan to the north and Pakistan to the southeast.  The main town of the district is also called Ishkashim and is located just a few kilometres from the Tajik border, which is demarcated by the Panj River (Amu Darya).  A remote, impovershed  district in one of Afghanistan’s poorest provinces, Ishkashim boasts breathtaking mountain scenery, with the Pamirs visible from the north, just across the border on the Tajik side, and the mighty Hindu Kush towering over it from the south.  Despite its remoteness, it’s relatively easy and safe to access from Tajikstan (much more so than from, say, Kabul), which has a border crossing with the district over the Panj River, just a few kilometres from the town of Ishkashim. Ishkashim district is also the gateway to the Wakhan Corridor and various permits need to be obtained in the town of Ishkashim before traveling into the Afghan Wakhan.