Eastern Legends II, 8 days

irport or North border – Penjikent/Samarkand - Visiting objects: Ancient settlement Sarazm – Mausoleum and Rudaki Museum; At once lunch Sarazm is an ancient town. It dates back to the 4th millennium BCE and is today a UNESCO World Heritage site. Sarazm was the first city in Central Asia to maintain economic relations with a network of settlements covering a vast territory from the Turkmenistan steppes and the Aral Sea (in the northwest) to the Iranian Plateau and the Indus (in the south and southeast). Rudaki composed poems in the‌ modern Persian alphabet and is considered a founder of classical Persian literature. As it seems, Rudaki was the first person to combine different roles that were yet distinguishable entitles in the 9th century royal court: musician, poet and declaimer/reciter, and copyist. The museum is of more interest, however, for its display of textiles and costumes, the frescoes found at Ancient Penjikent and the Neolithic tools from nearby Sarazm - Arrival to the 3rd lake; accommodation in the Hostel

Visit lake "Haftkul" - the fifth, sixth and seventh lake; At once lunch Seven beautiful lake, every lake have different color – First lake name’s Mijgon, second Soya, 3th - Husher, 4th - Nofin, 5th – Khurdak, 6th – Marguzor, 7th – Hazorchashma . There are many places in the world where nature shows its incredible beauty, but it would be hard to find a place like Haftkul Valley (Seven Lake) where, set against a wonderful backdrop at the foot of snowy mountains, surrounded by woods, under a blue cloudless sky, there are multi-colored lakes with iridescent water ranging in color from a gentle green to a deep lilac. The lowest lake is located at an altitude of 1,598m, the second 1,701m and so on, each lake being higher, more beautiful and more remote than the previous, with the last lake being more than 2,400m above sea level. The arrival of the 5-th lake - The arrival of the 5-th lake: accommodation in the Hostel

Visiting objects: lake Iskanderkul – Alaudin – Marguson; At once lunch Iskanderkul Lake is one of the signature sights of Tajikistan. It is impossible to imagine a trip to Tajikistan without paying a visit to Iskanderkul Lake. It is as if being in Paris but not seeing Eiffel Tower. After all, it is not difficult to get to this haunted point – it is located only 130 km away from Dushanbe. From scientific point of view, Iskanderkul Lake is crater lake formed after a rock fall. It is located on the height of 2195 meters above the sea level, and reaches 72 meters in depth with a territory of 3,4 square km. It is possible to swim there, and many tourists rest on pebbled beaches in summer time, but 10 meters away from the shores, temperature of waterfalls rapidly approximately down to 10 degrees Celsius. Beautiful Alaudin Lake (2780m) is a glorious place for camping and a possible base for walking into the heart of the Fan Mountains. Surrounded by an array of mountains over 5000m, Mutnye ('Muddy') Lake (3510m) is a popular day hike. Marquzor lakes also known as "Seven beauties of Shing" located in Hissar range of Fann Mountains about 50km from Penjikent. The lakes are mostly filled with melted waters received from the glaciers in the upper reaches of the valley. Lakes appear in the following succession: Mijgon at 1640 m, Saya at 1740 m, Gushor, Nofin at 1820 m, Hurdak at 1870 m, Marguzor at 2140 m and Hazorchashma. Arrival to Iskanderkul - Arrival to Iskanderkul; accommodation in Hostel

Visiting objects: Fann Mountains - Hikin; At once lunchg The Fann Mountains are an extremely scenic mountain range in the Western Pamir, roughly halfway between Samarkand and Dushanbe, in Western Tajikistan. Most of the range rises above 4000m, with a few peaks above 5000m. With easy access from Samarkand or Dushanbe to Penjikent, the gateway town, and no extra permissions needed, the Fanns are a dream for hikers and climbers. The highest peak of the Fann Mountains is Chimtarga at 5489m. In the same area you will find other 5000m peaks like Bodkhona, Chapdara, Big Hansa, Little Hansa, Zamok, and the powerful Energia. Several trekking routes starting at the different trailheads (e.g Artush, Alaudin Camp, Iskander Kul, Marguzor Lakes) are possible. A lot of passes are traversable by packing animals (but not all) - Departure / arrival in Dushanbe, accommodation in hotel

Visiting objects: Nation Palace – State Flag square – National Museum – Rudaki Park – Dusti square – Ismoil Somoni Memorial complex – National Library – State Emblem square – observation deck Dushanbe-Plaza; At once lunch Monument of Ismoili Somoni — who is the founder of the first Tajik state. To the right of the monument is the Rudaki Park—the most beautiful and green park of the city, where you can breathe a fresh mountain air, enjoy the variety of trees, read books in the open air, as well exercise or just have a walk with friends. To the left of the monument is the National library — the largest library in the Central Asia. The area of the library occupies 45 thousand square meters, the width of the building is 52 meters, and the length is 167 meters. The flagpole was confirmed as the world's tallest by the Guinness Book of Records, but was soon overtaken by the 165 m Dushanbe Flagpole in Tajikistan. Tajikistan's national museum is housed in an impressive modern building with an elliptical roof and giant atrium. The collection encompasses three main sections – natural history, archaeology and contemporary fine arts – and displays include minerals (including a giant mineral tree), dioramas of snow leopards and Marco Polo sheep, suits of amour and musical instruments - Return to the hotel

Visiting objects: Park “Navruzgoh” – Kohi Navruz – Mausoleum of Mavlono Yakubi Charkhi – Park IRAM (Botanical garden) – Park Aini – amusement Park “Khayyam”; At once lunch Complex "Kohi Navruz" - Initially buiding "Kohi Navruz" (Palace of Nowruz) was planned as a teahouse, but during the construction become into a palace. "Kohi Navruz" has - 12 unusual halls, each of which is made in a special style. The complex has an art room, a banquet hall, a lounge room with carved stone trim, plaster room decorated with mirrors, two VIP rooms. The height of the main building - 46 meters, and the area of "Kohi Navruz" with 12 rooms, surrounding pavilions, fountains and the trestle beds – is about three hectares. Botanical Garden is located in Ismail Somoni district in Dushanbe and exits to the west side on the edge of the river bank –Dushanbinka. In the botanical garden are collected samples of trees and bushes from almost all corners of the world, many of which are already included in the Red Book of Nature. Botanical Garden is one of the places of rest of citizens and place for educational tourism. Sadriddin Ayni Park is located on the high and spacious terrace where the mountain river Varzob bursts into the city, foamingly leaving the steep ravines of the Varzob canyon. - Return to the hotel

Visit the Fortress and Museum of Hisor – Teahouse "Kharbuza" Museum of Mirzo Tursunzod; At once luncha Hisar Fortress used to be a palace of one of Bukhara Emirate becks. The fortress with 1 m walls and loopholes for guns and cannons towered on a high hill's slope and was carefully guarded. Inside there was a pool and a garden. Across from the fortress there was a noisy market square with a caravanserai and a variety of shops. Hisar Fortress and the town had been settled from VI BC to mid of XIX. It was the main administrative, political and economical centre of Hisar valley. Teahouse Kharbuza — is unique in the world, it was built in the form of a melon (the Taj: - kharbuza). The teahouse, with a height of 43 meters, length 100 meters, width of 55 meters, is designed to receive 2.3 thousand visitors at a time - Return to Dushanbe / hotel