Seven Lakes & Iskanderkul: 2 Days

An early drive from Samarkand via the Jartepa border crossing into Tajikistan, where the Tajik team meets you. Follow the Seven Lakes valley from lake to lake: turquoise Mijgon, shadowy Soya, wild Gushor, long blue Nofin, small and pretty Khurdak, Marguzor, the largest and most famous, and Hazorchashma, the “lake of a thousand springs”. After a picnic or lunch at a local café, drive to Gazza, a village of about 200 people at 1,700 m at the foot of the Hamid and Obshor mountains, and walk through the village to see how mountain families live. Visit the village of Voru at 1,900 m, whose houses recall 18th–19th-century building styles. Dinner and overnight at a local guest house.

After breakfast, drive to Iskanderkul (about 150 km), the “heart of the Fann Mountains”: an emerald and blue lake about 5 km long and up to 80 m deep, at 2,250 m. Walk along the shore and take a short hike to the 38-metre waterfall on the Iskander-darya river. After lunch, drive back towards the border, visiting Sarazm, a 5,500-year-old UNESCO-listed settlement, and arrive in Samarkand in the evening.