Drive to 7 Lakes

We awoke to a calm lake and blue skies, making the reflection of the mountains in the Iskander Lake truly stunning. After a delicious fresh air breakfast, we hit the road again and travelled by minibus on a route which took us through the Shing Gorge with its famous 7 pearls of Tajikistan - 7 mountain lakes each with its own distinctive colour, micro climate, and flora. Luckily we were able to take a photo stop at each one along the way. We lunched at a guesthouse near the 4th lake, in the village of Noffin. After lunch we drove to the 6th lake and stopped for a short walk through the village of Podrud where we were serenaded by some children playing in the streets. From the 6th lake we hiked to the 7th and last lake where our camp team was setting up for our arrival in Hazorchashma. We are picturesquely situated at the water’s edge and our team of donkeys is grazing and braying to their hearts content. We are thrilled with our luxury loo! In our free time before dinner, we strolled along one side of the lake to the far end and back. We are anxious to see how things all come together tomorrow when we strike out for our 7 day trek! As we passed through the many villages en route today we were lucky to see a lot of children coming and going from school. They looked so sharp in their uniforms-white blouse and navy skirt for the girls and white shirt, tie, navy vest or suit jacket and navy dress pants for the boys, it was their first week of school too. As a last note: for today I must mention that several hours of our trip consisted of traversing harrowing roads at the rocky edge of the mountain. Gilles and I were in the front seat with the driver so had front row seats. There was a lot of closed eyes and praying and once I opened my eyes at the wrong time and poor Gilles has a bite mark on the left shoulder as a consequence. It was the nearest thing I could bite down on to thwart my screams. We were thrilled when that joy ride was over. goodbye minibus, hello legs! At least I am operating under my own power. At dinner time we asked our guide if there were lots of casualties on this narrow, windy, one vehicle wide dirt road in which there is two way traffic and a multitude of steep blind corners. He responded saying that none that he knows of that involved tourists. So smooth!Read more