A country · 42 places · 2 regions

Tajikistan, all of it.

42 curated places across 2 regions — photographed, mapped, and noted with the season each is best in.

Wakhan Corridor · via Wikimedia Commons

Tajikistan reads below in 2 chapters — Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region and Sughd Province — in any order you like.

Chapter I · Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region · 9 places

Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region

The Wakhan Corridor is a narrow strip of Tajik territory stretching eastward between Afghanistan and Pakistan toward the Chinese border, bounded on all sides by some of the highest mountain ranges in the world — the Pamirs, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush. The valley floor follows the Panj and Wakhan rivers, lined with small Wakhi and Ismaili villages whose stone-and-mud architecture has changed little for centuries. Ruins of Alexander-era and medieval fortifications are scattered along the valley, and the corridor offers some of the most dramatic high-mountain scenery accessible by road in Central Asia.

Wakhan Corridor

Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, Tajikistan

✦ June to September · $

Karakul (Tajikistan)

Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, Tajikistan

✦ June to September

Bulunkul

Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, Tajikistan

✦ June to September

All 9 places in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter II · Sughd Province · 9 places

Sughd Province

Iskanderkul is a glacially formed lake at 2195 metres in the Fan Mountains, its name derived from the local tradition associating the site with Alexander the Great. The lake's deep green water is framed by steep limestone peaks, and a waterfall at the lake's outlet tumbles dramatically through a rocky gorge. The Fan Mountains surrounding the lake are a popular destination for trekkers and mountaineers seeking technically accessible peaks above 5000 metres within a relatively short distance from Dushanbe.

✦ June to September · $

Meet Iskanderkul All 9 places in Sughd Province →