タジキスタンの天然記念物・トップ9

Beautiful view of Lake Karakul and the mountains. A quick descent on asphalt to the village of Karakul.

Kyzyl-Art, Kyzylarth (Kyrgyz: Kyzyl-Art; Tajik: Surkhkotal) is a mountain pass in the Zaalai Range on the Pamir Highway on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The Osh-Khorog motorway passes through the pass. The pass is 4,280 metres above sea level.

If you cross this border post, enjoy the journey, but keep in mind that it can get complicated at any time due to the weather, it is very changeable and could put you in serious difficulties if you cross it and are not well supplied and equipped.

The spring water is slightly fizzy and contains a little iron. Even the locals stop here to tap some of the healing water. There is also a bus stop and an outhouse next to it.

It's about one and a halt hour hike to get here, but it's worth the hike. You need some time and focus but the you can see the triangular footprints of dinosaurs. On the way up you will also see and pass petrified seabed and shells. Really interesting but please don't take anything with you! Best is to get some guide or join an organized trips as Tajik national parks don't really have an infrastructure. There are groups going from Dushanbe in a minibus. But the hike itself is not difficult. So if you get a car, you could give it a try.

This lake can be a nice day trip or the start of a multiday hiking trip. I only spend a day here, took a swim and enjoyed the landscape. During holidays it can get crowded, in the off season it seems almost extinct.

The 3510 m high Mutnyi Lake (Cloudy Lake) offers a fantastic panorama of mountain giants over 5000 m, including the Chimtarga, at 5489 m the highest mountain in the Fan Mountains.

It is fascinating how the clear water of the Sarymat and the cloudy water of the Archa Maidan, enriched with sediment, flow together here.