Tajikistan

A true kingdom of mountains, Tajikistan lies along the mythic trace of the Silk Road and is splendidly rich in scenery, history, and culture; despite being economically depressed in the still-potent wake of its post-Soviet civil war. Whether you’re pondering millennia-old ruins, sharing a meal with a Tajik family, or trekking through glorious alpine valleys, this little-known country is sure to captivate.

You’ll discover some of the loveliest scenery in the world in Tajikistan’s vast highlands, dominated by the Pamir-Alay Mountains. A mighty spur of the Himalaya, these are some of the planet’s loftiest peaks, including 24,590-foot Ismoil Somoni and 23,406-foot Lenin Peak. For those willing to rough it and rent their own 4x4 transportation, Tajikistan trekking delivers landscapes of spectacular scale and wildness. Tajik National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, protects part of the jumble of outsized summits called the Pamir Knot, where, if you’re lucky, you might chance upon a snow leopard. The high-elevation lakes, winding rivers, and massive heights of the Zeravshan sub-range, meanwhile, compose one of Tajikistan’s most beautiful and adventure-rich districts. And a stone’s throw from volatile Afghanistan, within view of the Hindu Kush, the Wakhan Valley greets the intrepid sightseer with a genuine back-of-beyond atmosphere.

Fast-modernizing Dushanbe, the country’s capital, doesn’t bowl you over with signal landmarks, but does provide fascinating insights into contemporary Tajikistani culture (not to mention a lot of Soviet-era architecture holding on amid modern infrastructure). Echoes of the Persian roots of most ethnic Tajiks crop up in traditional art, customs, and cookery, closely linked with the cuisines of Russia, Afghanistan, and the rest of Central Asia.

Tell your friends you’re off to Tajikistan and you’re likely to receive a few quizzical, even uncomprehending expressions. Sure, it's obscure to most Western travelers, but that should be more intriguing than anything else. Open yourself to this noble landscape and its fertile history, and you’ll come to know one of the world’s isolated jewels.

In Tajikistan’s austere, semiarid landscape, relics of the deep past marinate across the centuries. Outside Panjakent, striking ruins of the Iranian Sogdia civilization lie within easy reach. Even older is the archaeological site of Sarazm, which reveals plats and mining operations from the 4th and 3rd millennia BCE.