Tajikistan Things to Do

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Murghab village – Pamir’s eastern hub

by Trekki

Murghab, meaning “the river where the birds drink” in ancient Persian, is the second bigger village of the Pamir region. It has in between 4000 and 6000 inhabitants (the sources vary here) and is located along the Pamir Highway in the very east. From there it is easy to set out for day hikes or longer hikes along Murghab river for example, which eventually leads into the famous Sarez Lake. META (Murghab Eco Tourism Association) is very active in helping travellers to plan and organise trips. They also offer assistance (planning, jeep and driver) for travelling along Pamir Highway to either Khorog, Dushanbe or Osh. I can highly recommend them, they are very much reliable and have fair prices (as opposed to Traveltajikistan/Great Game Company, which are purely rip-offs). Also, they are a local organisation, and I prefer to stick with locals when it comes to learning about a...

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Fly to Khorog and spend some days there

by Trekki

I already mentioned this in the previous tip – you should not only NOT rush along the Pamir Highway, but also spend some days along in the villages and landscapes.Khorog is a possible starting point for the trip, and it is worthwile to stay here for at least 2 days. The village is the capital of the Pamir region, very much supported by the Aga Khan Development Network (and proceeding links in there), a non profit organisation. It has a university, schools and a very good hospital, people speak very good English (mainly the young ones, but the elder as well). In Khorog, you can learn so much about the region’s history and peoples former life in the museum – highly recommendable. And some kms east of town is a Botanical Garden, which is said to be the highest on our planet. Khorog has a big bazaar where you can get any supply you can think of, excellent local dishes (oh yummmmm….) and you...

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Dushanbe – the capital

by Trekki

Tajikistan’s capital is Dushanbe, situated in the western part of the country. The name simply means Monday, as it used to held market on Mondays. I can’t judge anything of its sights, as I was mainly occupied with getting hold of a flight ticket to Khorog, capital of the Pamirs, and trying not to waste too much money to the biggest rip-off company on the planet, Great Game Travel. This, as my reason for going to Dushanbe (and staying there 1 night) was to get hold of the Pamir (GBAO) Permit, which I got through a company I cannot recommend (see my Dushanbe travelogue). Nowadays it is no longer necessary to stay in Dushanbe to pick up the Pamir Permit, as it is much more reliable dealt with by either Stantours or by Tajik Embassies (namely the one in Vienna, Austria and the one in Berlin, Germany).But for hikers, Dushanbe is starting point for hiking in the northern Varzob mountains and...

Stay with Kyrgyz nomads in their yurt

by Trekki

The eastern Pamir Mountains are characterised by high plains and are therefore ideal ground for Kyrgyz herders to let their animals graze. Don’t miss to plan a stay with them for a day or even more. META (see above or below) can organise this for you. Kyrgyz nomads mostly have yaks, but often also sheep, so this means also very much delicious food, you’ll have whilst your stay.Don’t expect luxury, the nomads won’t have electricity, but expect the highest class of hospitality, so friendly and warmhearted people, a warm bed to crawl in at night (in a yurt), excellent food and a most magnificent star sky in the night. You won’t hear any noise except the animals talking to each other, and the occasional creek, flowing over the rocks.I had one of my best culinary experiences there, a youghurt that tasted like heaven !If you haven't organised your yurt stay through META, but stay in one during...

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Travel along the Pamir Highway

by Trekki

Even if you won’t have that much time to do long hikes or treks in the Pamirs, a travel along Pamir Highway is highly recommendable. BUT: please be fully aware that there is no air conditioned bus, but (old) jeeps to travel along with. The Pamir Highway is the part of a Central Asian road, which connects Dushanbe with Osh (Kyrgyzstan). Some sources also mention Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan being the westernmost starting point. The road has been built during Soviet times, to connect parts of their imperium in this region. Since the breakdown and Central Asia’s independence, not much coherent maintanance has been done to the road, only in spots, where damage has been caused by flash floods or scree. In total length, it is 1252 km long; the leg between Khorog and Osh being 728 km. With Ak-Baital Pass, 4665 m, it is said to be the second highest international highway. I cannot say...

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Amazing flora and fauna – to behold

by Trekki

The flora and fauna in Tajikistan and the Pamirs are very much unique due to their altitude. In the website’s brochure below (from ACTED, Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development), page 6, it is said that the region has 2 main terraces – alpine and sub-alpine, below or above roughly 4500 m. Depending on the terraces, all different kinds of species grow there. On 4000 m, near the Kyrgyz settlement, I stayed at, I was amazed to find edelweiss flowers (photo 1) and a whole bunch of other tiny flowers I know from the alps (well, maybe not exactly the same plants, but similar families). All have one thing in common, which is that they can live with only a small amount of water. Water is scarce in these higher regions. In the lower parts in the valleys, like in Khorog on 2200 m, the climate is ideal for growing all kinds of fruits, and cherry and apricot trees are very much abundant....

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Petroglyphs & Geoglyphs all over in the east

by Trekki

ACTED’s website has a wonderful detailed brochure (27 pages) about the Pamir region and their settlement. It is fascinating to learn how much back the early settlements date – as far as 8500 B.C. ! These very old ones are very much rare, though. But witnesses of Iron and Middle Age are widely scattered in the Pamirs and give fascinating insight into the days of these early settlements. During my trip, I saw and visited three of these and will describe them in the Pamir section or on the village pages. Thanks to the ACTED brochure I am even able to name them correctly:Petroglyphs of Jalang, northwest of Murghab, the burying ground of Shurali close by and the kurgans (circular burying grounds) of Karaart near Karakul village.

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Geothermal activity all over in this area

by Trekki

The Pamir Mountains are part of what has been the result of Indian subcontinent collision with Eurasia long time ago. And as the plates of our earth are still moving, a lot of “action” below the surface takes place. This is most obvious, where the plates are “touching” each other. Ok, this was now very simple explained, and I hope, geologists won’t tear me apart. What I want to say is that this region, as well as others in the circumfence of Himalaya region, do have a lot of geothermal activity. On Markus Hauser’s map, you can see so many icons marking hot springs along the Pamir Highway and also deep inside the mountains. Given the low amount of constant electricity in the Pamir Mountains, these hot springs are very important for the locals to take their hot bath.It is a marvellous experience to dip into warm or even hot water, after a smaller or longer hike.BUT: please understand how...

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Go to the Pamirs – and touch the sky!!!

by Trekki

Why going to Tajikistan ? Well, there are a lot of very simple answers – it has one of the most beautiful mountain ranges on our planet, and the hospitality of the people is just incredible ! A bit high, but…. we all have to make compromises :-) and suffer from time to time (I did, my nice travellers diarrhoea did not enhance my “body feelings” in 4200 m altitude).Go to Tajikistan and touch the sky, as I called my chapter about this fascinating country.The eastern part of Tajikistan is an autonomous region, with the – for westerners - unpronouncable name of Gorno Badakhshan Avtonomnaya Oblast, better known as the Pamirs, offers you anything you like when it comes to spectacular landscapes, very high mountains (up to 7400 m), hot springs, lakes, ancient history with petroglyphs, animal riding on horses, yaks or camels, long and short trekking tours, mountain climbing – you name it.I will...

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Experiance Tajikistan!

by Firdavs

Welcome to Tajikistan!Tajikistan is a place where you can study culture and traditions in reality.The best way of getting know people is-visiting them. In order to understand Tajik culture it is necessary to look back to the time of Transoxiana, (an area that lies between the Amu Darya and Sir Darya rivers and modern north-west Afghanistan), and the centres of civilization of the Nile, Mesopotamia and the banks of the Yangtze. The Tajiks' ancestors were from Scythian proto-Indo-European tribes who were nomads of the Eurasian steppes and were among the first to settle in Central Asia about 4000 years ago.The Culture of Tajikistan has developed over several thousand years. Modern Tajik literature and its history is wound up with the standardisation of the Tajik language. Tajik literary centres include the cities of Bukhara and Samarkand, currently in present day Uzbekistan.Tajik's...

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Reviews and photos of Tajikistan attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Tajikistan sightseeing.

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Things to Do: Cities in Tajikistan
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  3. Khorugh Things to Do
  4. Panjakent Things to Do

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Questions and Answers

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Q:  I am planning to travel from Kyrgyzstan to Tajikistan around 26 April this year. Given the weather and road condition, where in... 

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A: Accessibility will vary greatly from year to year. you will likely struggle getting around most of the Pamirs. But most of the Fan mountains should be accessible. The... 

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