What are the most beautiful places in Tajikistan?

On our list, Karakul Lake ranks first, followed by Vanjyakh (Fedchenko) Glacier and Sarez Lake.

How was Sarez Lake formed?

In 1911 a strong earthquake triggered a huge landslide in the Pamirs that blocked the Murghab River. The landslide formed the Usoi Dam, and the river backed up behind it to create Sarez Lake.

What is the longest glacier in Tajikistan?

The Vanjyakh Glacier, formerly called the Fedchenko Glacier, in the central Pamirs. At around 77 kilometres it is generally described as the longest glacier outside the polar regions.

Why is Iskanderkul named after Alexander the Great?

Iskander is the Persian form of Alexander, and local legends link the lake to Alexander the Great's campaigns in Central Asia in the fourth century BC. The name means Alexander's Lake.

What kinds of places are there to see in Tajikistan?

In our collection, the places in Tajikistan are most often lakes (4), glaciers (1) and nature sanctuaries (1).

The 5 Most Beautiful Places in Tajikistan

Tajikistan is almost entirely mountains. The Pamirs in the east, often called the Roof of the World, rise into a cold high plateau ringed by peaks above seven thousand metres, while the Fann Mountains and the ranges of the west are steeper, greener and cut by deep valleys. Young, still-rising mountains mean glaciers, earthquakes and landslides, and these forces have made the country's most memorable scenery: lakes dammed by fallen mountainsides, lakes in vast dry basins, and some of the longest ice streams outside the polar regions.

The Vanjyakh Glacier, long known as the Fedchenko, is the giant among them, a river of ice running for around seventy-seven kilometres through the central Pamirs and usually described as the longest glacier outside the polar regions. Sarez Lake has a younger story: it formed after an earthquake in 1911 brought down a mountainside that blocked the Murghab River, creating the Usoi Dam, the tallest dam on Earth, natural or man-made, and a long turquoise lake behind it.

Karakul lies in the high eastern Pamirs at roughly 3,900 metres, a wide lake in a stark basin surrounded by bare mountains, where the air is thin and the water an intense blue. In the west, the Fann Mountains hold two very different jewels. Iskanderkul, named after Alexander the Great, is a mountain lake beneath rocky peaks with a waterfall on its outflow. Nearby, the Seven Lakes, Haft Kul, form a chain of lakes stepping up the Shing valley, each a different shade from turquoise to deep green.