Holiday in Central Asia (15) Istaravshan in Tajikistan
It was another day (Day 14) in Tajikistan and consisted of a long road journey south-west to Iskander-Kul with a major stop at Istaravshan. In fact, our first (short) stop was to view cotton-picking in roadside fields – a really tough occupation carried out by women and supervised by a man.
At Istaravshan, we started with a quick viewing of a structure called Mug Teppe. This blue-domed gateway was constructed in 2002 (and then extended in 2019) to mark the 2,500th anniversary of the founding of the city. Next we looked at a mosque complex with a minaret built in 1999. At this point, our guide Shahbaz added something to the programme: a demonstration of the making of wooden combs by the master Sadiq.
Still in Istaravshan, it was time for lunch and this was in a self-service establishment called “Faroyon”. For the first time on our trip, we were able to choose both what we wanted to eat and how much of it we wanted. I even managed to find a little baklava for dessert. Before leaving town, we had a look at a block of workshops opposite the main bazaar which is dubbed Blacksmiths Arcade because here local artisans with their own forges craft everything from nails to knives.
At this stage, we headed off for a tunnel through rock built by the Chinese called Shahriston Tunnel. Located at an elevation of around 2,600 metres (about 8,500 feet), it is 5.2 kms (over 3 miles) long and poorly lit but it does the job. Once out in daylight again, the road plunges downwards in a series of tight twists and turns overlooking precipitous drops. In 45 minutes, we descended almost 1,300 metres (about 4,300 feet) to the Zerafshan River. Anyone would find this an awesome experience and, sitting in the ‘drop’ side of our vehicle, I certainly found it exhilarating.
With comfort stops and a final three quarters of an hour along the kind of rough-roading that we experienced in Kyrgyzstan, we finally reached Iskander-Kul (Alexander Lake). We had left Khojand at 8.30 am and reached Iskander-Kul at 5 pm, so it was a journey of around 200 kms (about 120 miles) that took us eight and half hours, but we had spent around four hours in Istaravshan and had a number of comfort and photo stops.
Even before entering our accommodation, Shahbaz offered us a walk to a waterfall. Of the eight members of the group, only four decided to set off and a mere two actually made it – ironically the two oldest members of the group: me (74) and Philip (77).
The chalet-like accommodation was clean and comfortable but very basic – with no WiFi! Dinner was served on-site in what looked like a large empty greenhouse.