Cycling The Fann Mountains: Artuch to Panjakent

This is the first of three parts detailing my cycling and hiking tour around Tajikistan's Fann Mountains in August 2025. Here are links to Part Two and Part Three.

I arrived in Dushanbe from Almaty and was pleased to see that my bike had also made it safely. At the airport, the worker who brought the bike box to the luggage ramp suggested that I give him something for doing his job. Unfortunately, I had no Tajik money with me and only some large denomination euros and dollars, so I had to leave him empty handed. Curiously, this first impression was not repeated throughout my trip. I can't recall any other occasions of being explicitly asked for tips or bribes anywhere in Tajikistan or Uzbekistan.

I spent a couple of days in Dushanbe, putting my bike together and looking round the city. I had read a rather disparaging comment likening Dushanbe to a 'Temu' Doha. While this is rather harsh, I can see the reasoning behind the comparison. Tajikistan has received significant investment from Qatar and UAE, which has seen many shiny new high-rise buildings appearing in the capital.

As a result, Dushanbe has quite an impressive appearance in the centre, while being quite run down in other districts. The archaeological museum was a particular highlight, detailing some of the Sogdian and Persian history of the region, but there wasn't a whole lot to see in the city itself.





After a couple of days I got a lift out of the city to Artuch (there are buses and shared taxis that run between Dushanbe and Panjakent which, upon negotiation, may take a bicycle). Having driven on the main M34 road, I felt vindicated in my decision not to ride it. There was too much traffic, too much dust and too many tunnels for my liking.

I stayed in Artuch for two days, in one of several guest houses in the small village. The guest houses here typically provide meals (usually plov), and there was also a small grocery store where you could get basic supplies, however, it is better to bring most food you need with you from Dushanbe.



My first route was cycling to the Koulikalon Lakes - a spectacular mountain plateau half way up Chimtarga mountain. This is a very popular route with hiking groups, who do multi day treks to the Alauddin Lakes before either returning to Artuch or continuing on towards Sarytag.

I was aware that this route would also involve quite a bit of hiking with the bike, but wasn't sure exactly how much would be rideable. Fortunately, it turned out that I could do around 85% of the route on the bike.

From Artuch, the road to the Alpinist Tourist Camp was all rideable and very scenic, as it climbed mostly gently through a deep valley.




Shortly after the tourist camp, the surface became more rocky and the gradient steeper. Before long the inclines were over 30% and it was impossible to ride, so I shouldered the bike and hiked for a little less than 2km (from around 8.8 to 11.6km in the route). As I was doing an out and back ride, I didn't have full panniers with me so it was not too arduous.

From the plateau I spent hours riding along relatively flat trails around the Koulikalon lakes, regularly stopping to take in the breathtaking views. There was a small cafe where I stopped for refreshments, which looked slightly incongruous with the remote surroundings. I initially wondered what it was doing there, but as the afternoon wore on, hikers gradually arrived and set up camp around it. By the time I left to descend back to Artuch, there were around 40 tents all pitched around this spot, which rather spoilt the atmosphere!

The descent back to Artuch was very quick, and mostly followed the same trail I had cycled and hiked up. The gradients were so steep, that I still had to hike down most of the 2km that I had walked earlier, but after that it was a very fast descent on the dirt road back to Artuch.

It was a fantastic day out, even though the entire route was only about 34km. The views around the lakes and of the high peaks were stunning, and everything I had hoped for when deciding to visit the Fann Mountains.

Panjakent

My initial plan had been to ride from Artuch to Haft Kul (The Seven Lakes) via Gazza and the Tovasang Pass. I still think this is fantastic option if you enjoy mountain biking and don't mind a few kilometres of hike-a-bike on the ascent to Tovasang. The only reason I chose not to do it, was that I had planned to hike much of this route a few days later from Nofin (Haft Kul), and also that I was meeting up with Lucia in Panjakent for a few days, and so it made more sense to head directly there.

The route I ended up riding descended from Artuch to the main road, and then crossed to the quietnorth side of the Zeravshan River, where I followed dirt roads most of the way to Panjakent.



The first part of the descent from Artuch was extremely scenic on a well surfaced gravel road. After Kuloli the road was paved but was still picturesque, following the small river as far as Dashtikazy.

Here I crossed the mighty Zeravshan, before joining a fantastic dirt road through the villages of Veshist, Mingdona and Yori. The road was gently rolling and the surface varied from smooth gravel to quite bumpy and rocky at times, but it was so much fun to ride, with great views throughout.

From Amondara the landscape became more fertile and the road was paved as it served several larger villages. There was still little traffic though and it was easy riding all the way to Panjakent, where I crossed a small wooden bridge to enter the city.



In Panjakent I stayed at Hotel Sugd, which was pretty much in the centre of the town. The owner was very friendly, and I ended up staying there on two other occasions later in the trip, as well as leaving my bike there while I took transport into Uzbekistan.

I liked Panjakent a lot as a city, probably more than Dushanbe. It was small, but lively, with a very interesting and chaotic market on the main street, as well as several good and friendly restaurants. The town is also a transit hub for crossing to Uzbekistan, with many shared taxis and minibuses making the short trip to and from the border.

The main highlight was visiting the small museum and ruins of the great Sogdian city that thrived here in the 5th to 6th centuries CE. Similar to the Afrosiyob in Samarkand, the houses here were made of mud bricks; over time they returned to mud and so are not overly impressive individually. However, you can appreciate the scale and shapes of the important trading city, and some buildings have been reconstructed to get a feel of the site.

Tickets to explore the site can be bought from the museum, or you can just ride through and enjoy it from the outside.

Seven Lakes

After enjoying Panjakent and meeting up with Lucia, I was back on the bike, heading to Haft Kul (The Seven Lakes), a very beautiful valley stretching south into the Fann Mountains.

I left Panjakent on dirt back roads, before joining a relatively busy paved road to Chorog. This was not the most enjoyable section of the ride, but was pretty flat and so it didn't take long to get through Chorog, after which it became significantly quieter.

After Chorog the dirt road turned into a gravel road with a rough and corrugated surface. There is a large quarry just before Bogdah which is heavily used by trucks which have damaged the road. It was still fairly enjoyable to ride, and not busy, but it was after Bodgah that the route turned from OK into spectacular.



Riding through Shing, the gradients started to increase. The road became narrower and significantly more picturesque as it headed towards the lakes. The surface was all unpaved and varied from fairly smooth dirt, to quite bumpy and rocky at times, particularly on the sections that climbed up to each lake in a series of steep ramps.

The main highlights were riding alongside the third, fourth and fifth lakes, which were stunningly beautiful. As I continued further along the road towards Marguzor, the villages became smaller and seemingly more detached from the modern life down in the main valley.

I spent three nights in Jumaboy Guest House in the village of Nofin, which was a wonderful place to stay, surrounded by incredible nature. Situated at around 1800m (6,000ft) elevation, temperatures were perfect here in August, both during the day and at night. The food here was very good and was served on charming tables next to the stream running through Nofin.

I met up with Lucia again here and we did a couple of superb hikes, including a long one around the lakes and up to Tovasang peak (which I detail in the next section).





I had been slightly concerned that the route to Haft Kul could be busy with day trippers from Samarkand, but from the fourth lake onwards, I was passed by barely a handful of cars each hour.

The climb from Panjakent to the lakes seemed harder to me than it looks in the profile. This was probably due to a combination of the heat, the at times rough surface, my lack of fuelling and some steep gradients in places. However, the long flatter sections by the lakes allowed time to recover and there was every incentive to just stop and spend time admiring the jawdropping scenery.

After my three days in Nofin, I descended back to Panjakent, leaving my bike there, before we headed to the border with Uzbekistan. We would spend the following few days visiting the cities of Samarkand and Bukhara - two places that had long been on my wishlist to explore.


Part 2 - Hiking Seven Lakes & Samarkand

Part 3 - The Yaghnob Valley

Tajikistan Fann Mountains Tour Overview

Cycle Touring Guides