Cycling Tajikistan: The Fann Mountains

Route Overview

On the map above you can see the overall route that I took. I go into this on much more detail with points of interesting and riding notes on the route review pages, starting with the section from Artuch to Panjakent



In short, I arrived to Tajikistan after finishing a short trip around the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia. There was no direct flight from Georgia to Tajikistan, so I transferred in Kazakhstan, where I spent a few enjoyable days hiking around Almaty.

From Almaty I took a short flight to Dushanbe to begin this tour. The main road between Dushanbe and Samarkand forms the spine of my route, but it also carries quite heavy traffic (including a lot of trucks) and has numerous tunnels, so I wanted to ride on it as little as possible. My plan instead was to explore the various quiet valleys along the Yaghnob River, Haft Kul and towards Chimtarga Peak.

Given this, I began by taking a lift from Dushanbe to Artuch to begin the first section, where I spent several days cycling and hiking around Artuch, Panjakent and Haft Kul (The Seven Lakes). Due to the heat and lack of an interesting looking route in Uzbekistan, I then left my bike in Panjakent and took public transport to Samarkand and Bukhara, doing a couple of interesting hikes on the edge of the city.

On my return to Tajikistan, I took a lift to Takfon and spent a week exploring the beautifully scenic and remote Yaghnob Valley on bike and by foot. The tour finished heading over the Anzob Pass back to Dushanbe.

This was a slightly fragmented route due to the transfers, but it worked out well, as it meant that the vast majority of my time was spent riding on quiet dirt roads in the mountains, with very little traffic. It also gave me more time to explore the historic towns and do some fantastic hiking, which were key aims when planning the trip.

Logistics

As mentioned, I flew to Dushanbe from Georgia via Almaty, having just finished a cycle route through the Upper Svaneti region of Georgia. I used FlyArystan from Kutaisi to Almaty, which was cheap and easy to book with the bike. From Almaty I flew with Air Astana, who charged a small supplemental fee for the bicycle, but which also worked without problems.

My bike for this trip was a custom built Sardinha Nordest, with titanium frame and carbon fibre fork. It had a 1x12 Shimano SLX grouset (34 tooth chainring) and I put on 2.6" Maxxis Forekaster tyres which I ran tubeless. The tyres are the minimum I would consider for riding off-road in the Fann Mountains, especially if you don't have suspension on your touring bike. There were long sections of smooth gravel, but also quite rough and corrugated sections, where the wider tyres were necessary to keep traction.


I didn't carry a tent, and tried to travel light with just two large Vaude panniers. I had rain gear but only limited warm clothing, so there was still plenty of room left in the panniers for food and supplies.

Overall, I was happy with the set up and would probably go with something similar if I did this tour again. Front suspension would have been nice on some sections, but it certainly wasn't necessary. On this route there was enough accommodation (mostly guest houses) that it wasn't necessary to bring a tent, but if you wish to extend the routes further into the mountains (doing more hike-a-bike) then camping gear would become essential.

Alternative Routes

For many years I had been planning to ride the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan, but over time I became less enamoured with the idea. From speaking with people who had ridden it, it didn't sound like the kind of cycle touring that I enjoy so much.

For all its undoubted beauty, long days riding and camping in isolated and often barren landscapes, with limited food options and few interesting towns to explore is not really my thing. The Fann Mountains, by contrast, offered similarly stunning mountains scenery, but with a bit more variety and with the possibility of exploring some fantastic historic towns.

Once I had settled on the Fann Mountains, my initial plan had been to ride from Dushanbe to Bukhara, before looping back to Dushanbe via Qarshi and Termez. I changed this plan for two reasons. Firstly, I was visiting in August and temperatures in Uzbekistan were reliably in excess of 40°C (100°F), this didn't seem very appealing compared with the cooler air of the mountains. It wasn't an insurmountable issue though, I could have started earlier in the day and finished riding before it became too hot.

The bigger reason was simply that the cycling didn't look anywhere near as interesting in this part of Uzbekistan compared with the Fann Mountains. It is mostly desert and often quite flat, with a limited choice of roads in some places. It is often tempting when cycling touring to ride from point-to-point or to do as big a circle as you can realistically fit in the time you have available. However, when planning this route I realised that by far the best riding is in the small valleys of the Fann Mountains, so it made sense to spend as much time as possible cycling and hiking there.

In the Fann Mountains, I had also considered riding to Sary Tag and Iskanderkul. I think this would have been nice, and the only reason I didn't end up going there was that I spent too long in the other valleys and so didn't have enough time.

Overall Thoughts

This was a rewarding trip, where the positives definitely outweighed the few negatives. The main highlight was the stunning scenery throughout the Fann Mountains, but particularly around Haft Kul and the Yaghnob Valley. It was a joy to ride on extremely quiet roads and to appreciate the local cultures, which can vary considerably from valley to valley.

The mountain villages were charming and the cities of Panjakent, Samarkand and Bukhara were as spectacular as their burgeoning reputations suggest. The accommodations were generally simple, but clean and comfortable, with most guest houses providing meals, including the traditional hearty Tajik breakfast.

In general the food was a mixed bag. In the mountains it was mostly meat and potatoes or a simple plov, with salad and fruit. It was tasty, but slightly monotonous. In the larger towns there was much more variety, and I particularly enjoyed local delicacies like Qurutob and the lamb and goat plov.

One of the main negatives was the heat in the lower parts of the valleys. I was prepared for this as I chose to go in August, and it was actually cooler than I had expected at higher altitudes which was a pleasant surprise. Another negative was that there were some large quarries and mines (mostly coal and antimony), which led to a siginifcant volume of trucks in certain places. The mines themselves led to bad local air quality, and the trucks kicking up dust made it even worse. Fortunately this tended to be very localised, on or close to the main road. But it is worth bearing in mind that Dushanbe is frequently high up in the list of the cities in the world with the worst air quality.




I can't think of any other major disappointments. There were a few shepherd dogs who would bark and run alongside me at times, but they were annoying rather than overly hostile.

Overall, my experience on this trip was very positive. The Tajik people were extremely friendly and helpful, even in the more remote areas where foreign tourists are still something of a rarity. I would recommend this trip as a way to combine experiencing the breathtaking mountains of Tajikistan, with the rich culture and history of the region in general.

Having said that, I didn't leave the country with a burning desire to return soon. Although it was fun to explore and I'm very happy to have visited, I wouldn't place it on the same level of places such as Georgia, Thailand or The Balkans or Spain, in terms of the overall experience.

Check out the links below for much more details about the rides that I did...



Part 1 - Artuch to Panjakent

Part 2 - Seven Lakes & Samarkand

Part 3 - The Yaghnob Valley

Overview of the Fann Mountains Tour


Cycle Touring in Georgia


Cycle Touring in Armenia


Cycle Touring Guides