Central Asia - Part 5 - Iskanderkul

Wednesday was the daytrip to Iskanderkul! We booked it from Advantour. They picked us at 9, or actually they were at the hotel already at 8.30. It was a private tour, and we had a driver and an English speaking guide. We stopped several times so we could take pictures and we sure did… I took 130 pictures that day :D. If you don't want to see lots of pictures of mountains, you should stop reading this post right now.

It is 130 km from Dushanbe to the lake and it takes about 3 hours to drive. The road in the mountains is really serpentine road, up and down, and at some places in quite bad condition that you can hardly even call it a road. But the scenery is just breath taking all the way! The day was sunny, didn't see one single cloud all day. Bottled water was also included. The guide told us a lot about the history (he had studied foreign languages and history at uni), and also about the present, and answered our questions. They really took good care of us the whole day :).

Pics on the way there

 

 

 

 

 

We walked first to the waterfall, that is 38 m high, but you can see only a part of it. It is a bit of a hike to get there, mostly rocky narrow trail, so bring good shoes and watch your steps.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that we had lunch in the small restaurant in the tourism centre, included in the tour, we were served traditional tajik dishes (3 courses meal), tea and water. And this is the view we had when having lunch

 

This was at the wall in the terrace



 

Lovely tea pot... in Central Asia people drink hot tea with meals, no matter how hot it might be outside.



 

More pics of the lake and the tourism center 

 

 

 

 

 

They had nice wall paintings there 



 

 

 

 

 

After lunch we walked to the Snake Lake, that is just a short walk from the tourism centre. Didn't see any snakes (in that case I would probably still be screaming), but I was told there has been a lot of snakes, that's why it is called Snake Lake (finally something logical).

 

 

 

From the tourism centre they can also take you to the lake by boat, but unfortunately I didn't have enough cash with me :(. The price for the boat tour is 25 USD. So we started to drive back to Dushanbe.

The guide told us that the highest peak in Tajikistan is 7400m, and there are many 6000 and 7000 meter peaks there. Easy to believe… 93% of Tajikistan is mountains. I would think it is a heaven for mountain and rock climbers. There's also lots of lakes and rivers. I have never seen that high mountains, and they were just everywhere around you all the time. It made me feel so small, those huge mountains that have been shaped for millions of years, not giving a crap if humanity exists or not.  

When I saw this cow in the middle of the bridge (we had to cross that), the first thing that came to my mind "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!".

 

 

We were back at the hotel after 17, so it was a long day… and at the hotel we realised we had lots of sunburns. I burned my arms and I never burn my arms! And also my shoulders, but didn't burn my face, which usually burns first. Weird. We needed a little rest before going to dinner, and to update travel diaries and upload photos etc. And to have a beer. We walked to Rohat teahouse, because we wanted to have traditional tajik pilaf, which we tried to order at that one cafe but they didn't' have it. And Rohat didn't have it either. They recommended the national soup, which we already had for lunch. We ordered something else then, and wine. And soon the waitress came back that they don't have that wine. Then I asked about other wines if they are red or white, but she didn't know! And they had just 5 wines on the list, shouldn't be too difficult to know even if they are red, white, rose or sparkling! She finally brought all the available bottles to the table, and I chose the lovely Georgian wine I had already in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. I also brought a bottle back to Ireland, and shared it with my flat mate.

My friend waited for his beer, and finally had to remind them. He got his food a lot before I got mine, had to remind them about my food. So the service was not that great, they just forgot our orders or they didn't have what we wanted. Too bad because it is a lovely place! Thursday was the Victory Day, so the rest of the stay in Tajikistan is in Part 4.

 

If you are into mountains, this country is a dream destination for you; mountain climbing, rock climbing, river rafting etc. According to our guide there's a lot of possibilities for extreme sports. Nature is just amazing, me and my friend just sat in the car quiet because we were admiring the gorgeous mountains. And because we're Finns.