Zerafshan Trek

Departure from Dushanbe in the morning, where you are picked up at your desired location. In about 2 hours, we then drive to the village of Ziddi. In the afternoon, we hike up the first part of the Anzob Pass. After a few kilometers, we pitch our tents to spend the first night under the stars.

On the second day, we continue climbing the Anzob Pass with nice views over the Ziddi Valley. The height difference of this climb is 700 meters. The Anzob Pass is an old car track, so the trail is easy to walk. We take a rest at the meteorological station on the top (3370 m) and then begin heading down the north flank. After having descended approximately 800 meters, we set up camp next to a river.

We hike further down from the Anzob Pass to eventually reach the Yaghnob Valley. From this point, we follow the Yaghnob river further upstream for the next few days. We pass through the village of Margheb and finally reach the small village of Khisortob. This evening, we sleep in a homestay in Khisortob (2400 m).

Today, we keep following the Yaghnob river upstream. The path is relatively easy and ascends gently throughout the day. Half-way, we reach the first Yaghnobi villages. Overnight is again in a homestay – this time in the village of Bedef (2550 m).

After a few more kilometers through the Yaghnob Valley, we take a turn to the right and head into the Tagobikul Valley. In this valley, we pass along the last few Yaghnobi villages before finding ourselves alone in nature again. The trail through the Tagobikul Valley gets more difficult as we move up. In the afternoon, we pitch our tents along the river at an altitude of 2700 meters.

The sixth day is the toughest of the entire trek. From the camp site, we climb high up through the valley towards the Leila Pass. This pass is with 3900 meters the highest point of the trek. Altogether, the vertical ascent this day amounts to 1200 meters. From the top of the pass, we go down over the south flank to reach the Leilakul lakes at an altitude of 3400 meters. We set up camp on the shore of one of the lakes to spend the night.

Today we are mostly hiking down. Throughout the day, we descend through the the Ziddi valley towards the west. The narrow trail runs along the Ziddi river for most of the day. There are various nice viewpoints on the way and we also pass the Khoja Sanghok shrine – a source of mineral water. After a last climb at the end of the day, we prepare to spend one last night in our tents.

From the village of Ziddi, we go by car back to Dushanbe. The drive again takes approximately 2 hours. In Dushanbe, you are dropped off at your desired location.