When I step off the coach, it’s not the altitude that is taking my breath away – although at 2700 metres above sea level the elevation isn’t exactly insignificant. Nor is it relief at having emerged from the longest tunnel I’ve ever been through, the five-kilometre Chinese-built Shahristan project. No, it’s the panorama in front of me that has me breathless.
Framed by rows of rocky, snow-capped mountains, some standing more than 4400 metres high, Tajikistan’s Maikhura Gorge is stunningly beautiful. Red and yellow poppies, lavender, fennel and mountain sorrel all grow wild here, and these mountains are also home to lynx, brown bear, ibex, wolves – even snow leopards. Today, however, the only animals we see are flocks of Tajikistan’s distinctive fat-bottomed sheep.
“We call them Kim Kardashian sheep,” our guide says, straight-faced. We’re a week into our in-depth, three-week Splendours of Central Asia journey, run by Renaissance Tours, travelling through Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Today’s route takes us from Khujand in the north of the country to the capital, Dushanbe, several hours’ drive south.
Like every other day on this tour, it has brought plenty of surprises. Many of us have long dreamed of exploring the Silk Road – the millennia-old network of trade routes criss-crossing the lands between China and Europe along which everything from silk to slaves, amber to frankincense were transported. Yet, it’s always seemed like a daunting p.