Tajikistan: Iskanderkul, the Fann Mountains and the Road to Khujand
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In September 2022, a week into 5 weeks across Central Asia, I flew from Almaty to Dushanbe. Kyrgyzstan had been yurts and high pastures. Tajikistan turned out to be something else again: a new capital of giant monuments, then a turquoise lake high in the mountains, then two of the oldest cities on the Silk Road.
We had 4 days, from 11 to 14 September, with a small group and a minibus. We started in Dushanbe in the south and drove north through the Fann Mountains to Khujand. This is that route, from my photos.
Why Tajikistan?
Tajikistan is the smallest of the Central Asian countries, and more than 90% of it is mountains. It was part of the Soviet Union until 1991.
It also sounds different. The Kyrgyz and the Kazakhs speak Turkic languages, but Tajik is a form of Persian. So you might be thinking, does that change much on the ground? It does. The names change, and the heroes on the plinths are Persian poets and kings.
What is Dushanbe like?
Dushanbe means “Monday” in Tajik, after the Monday market that once stood there. Today it is the capital, and the centre is a long run of marble, fountains and gold.
The first stop was the National Museum of Antiquities. Its star is a reclining Buddha, about 12 metres long, found at Ajina Tepa, a Buddhist monastery in the south of the country from about 1,300 years ago. It lies in a room of its own on a red carpet.
The next morning was the monuments. On Dousti Square, which used to be called Lenin Square, Ismoil Somoni stands under a tall gilded arch, with stone lions at his feet. He ruled the Samanid state at the end of the 9th century, and the Tajiks count him as the father of the nation. The statue went up in 1999 where Lenin used to stand. The country’s currency, the somoni, is named after him too.
A short walk away is the flagpole. It is enormous. At 165 metres it was the tallest in the world when it went up in 2011, until a taller one went up in Jeddah in 2014. In the park beside it, the poet Rudaki stands in gold under an arch.
What is the Istiklol tower?
The newest thing in the city. The Istiklol Complex, the Independence tower, is 121 metres tall with a crown on top, and it opened in 2022 for the 31st anniversary of independence. We saw it only days after the anniversary.
At night, the whole square in front of it was lit up blue, with dancing fountains and the tower glowing pink and gold behind them. The next morning, in daylight, I found the carved wooden doors at its base, covered in gold patterns.
How do you get to the Fann Mountains?
By road, straight up.
On 12 September we left Dushanbe around midday and drove north into the mountains. The road climbs through steep, bare gorges, and by about 14:00 my phone put us at about 2,600 metres, looking down into a canyon full of haze. Then it drops into a valley of fast turquoise rivers.
What is Iskanderkul?
A glacial lake at about 2,195 metres, named after Alexander the Great. Iskander is the Persian form of Alexander, and “kul” means lake. One legend says his horse, Bucephalus, drowned in it.
Before the lake, we stopped at the waterfall where it drains. The Fan Niagara drops about 38 metres into a narrow rock gorge, and a small viewing platform hangs out over the drop.
We reached the lake shore at about 17:00. It is a deep turquoise. Bare grey and red mountains rise all the way round it, and on the far side the slopes run straight down into the water.
Where did we sleep?
In a village higher up the valley called Sarytag, at about 2,400 metres. It is a few stone and wooden houses on a dirt road, with goats grazing on the grass.
The next morning, we walked further up the valley along the river. We crossed a wooden footbridge strung over the water, and the valley opened out into a wide gravel riverbed with mountains on both sides. The water was so clear you could see every stone on the bottom.
Lunch was plov, the rice dish of Central Asia, cooked with carrots and big pieces of meat. In the afternoon we went back down to Iskanderkul for a picnic on the shore. By 17:14 the water was still enough to hold a perfect copy of the mountains.
What is in Istaravshan?
On 14 September we drove north out of the mountains to Istaravshan, one of the oldest towns in the country.
In the centre is a mosque with a tall brick minaret, its prayer hall held up by rows of carved wooden columns.
Then Mug Teppe. This is the hill where the old citadel stood. Alexander the Great took it in 329 BC, and the Arabs stormed it in AD 772. Little of the original is left. The gateway on top, with its blue dome, was built in 2002 for the town’s 2,500th anniversary, and in front of it was a bed of red roses.
What is in Khujand?
Khujand, in the far north, is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia. Alexander the Great took it too, and renamed it Alexandria Eschate, “Alexandria the Furthest”. It sits where the Syr Darya river leaves the Fergana Valley.
The fortress stands on the bank of the river, with two round towers at its gate. Inside is the Historical Museum of Sughd. It runs in order from ancient history to the recent past, with mosaic battle scenes of Alexander’s army, a cave scene, a map of the Samanid state and a red star of portraits from the Soviet years.
In the evening, a cable car runs over the Syr Darya, from the fortress side to a park on the far bank. That was the last evening in Tajikistan. Next came Uzbekistan.
How did the trading fit in?
The same way it always does, in about 15 minutes a day. In September, Tajikistan is 9 hours ahead of New York, which put the US open at 18:30 local time, after each day’s driving.
One frame from Iskanderkul has my laptop open on a picnic blanket by the lake at 16:29 on 13 September. That was the day a hotter-than-expected US inflation number came out at 17:30 local time, and the S&P 500 fell about 4.3%, its worst day since June 2020.
I wrote up how the routine works, the watchlist, the alerts and the time zones, in how I trade while travelling.
Where does it fit in the trip?
Tajikistan was the third of the 4 Stans. Before it came Kyrgyzstan, which has a post of its own, and Kazakhstan. The rest of the 5 weeks, through Uzbekistan and Turkey, is in Exploring Central Asia. Every trip is on the travel log, and more photos are on Instagram, @iamrecneps.
Would you go for the lake or the old Silk Road cities first? Let me know in the comments.
Spencer Li
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