Central Asia - Tajikistan (Chapter)

This is the Tajikistan chapter from Lonely Planet's Central Asia guidebook.

With its roots in ancient Sogdiana and Bactria, modern Tajikistan is a fragile patchwork of mountain valleys, clans, languages and identities, forged together by little more than Soviet nation-building and the shared hopes for a peaceful future.

• experience one of the world’s great road trips along the Pamir Highway, with its jaw-dropping high-altitude lakes and fine community-based homestays
• visit the remote and beautiful Wakhan Valley for Silk Road forts, Buddhist ruins and spectacular views of the snowbound Hindu Kush
• spend a night under a spectacular Pamiri sky, up close and personal with Kyrgyz herders, in a yurtstay
• trek out to the austere but beautiful Fan Mountains’ turquoise lakes

Coverage includes: Itineraries, Climate, History, Current Events, People, Religion, Arts, Environment, Food & Drink, Directory, Transport, Dushanbe & around, Khojand, Istaravshan, Penjikent, Fan Mountains, Zeravshan and Yagnob Valleys, The Pamirs, Dushanbe to Khorog, Bartang Valley, Shokh Dara Valley, The Wakhan Valley and The Pamir Highway.