Somehow we slowed down, getting into Tajikistan. Day five already, and we are still at the second place, only. Remains the question, why? Well, first of all the landscape is absolutely impressive and there are so many beautiful spots and hiking opportunities, but on the other hand, the roads are really bad as soon as you leave the main roads. That also slows you down, but also leads you to fantastic spots, like this one, in the middle of the Fann Mountains, close to the Alaudin Lakes.
Still, the main reasons getting out here are the Alaudin Lakes. Couple of lakes in a beautiful valley, all looked over by the Mount Chapdara with an altitude of 5.050 metres. Hiking up the valley offers so many stunning views, sometimes hard to keep at least some pace, getting closer to the lakes.
But we made it, after couple of kilometres (we parked further down the road), we reached the first lake and from here it is just a bit more uphill and you reach also the second and third of the Alaudin Lakes.
Unfortunately the weather changed and got really rainy, not so nice in the mountains, but nothing you can do about. On our way back we still came by some summer-villages, used by the locals during the summer while the animals are feeding on the fresh grass in the valley.
So definitely worth the trip up here, but based on the current road conditions, only come here with a high-clearance 4×4 as the road is really bad in some parts. There are so many opportunities, of course don’t expect marked trails, but plenty of hiking options, so that one could spend at least a week up here.
For us the journey continues after two nights towards Iskanderkul Lake and Dushanbe to do some shopping again and stock up some spare parts for the car for the months to come. Hope you will join us on the next step of this trip, too.
