The Stan that travelers don’t go to is a surprising, surprising place. Straddling the far-western ends of the great Hindu Kush, it’s virtually entirely mountainous. The snow-tipped massifs of the Pamir Mountains dominate for the most part, proving inaccessible to all but the most intrepid mountaineers eager to see where the Tian Shan becomes the Karakoram becomes the Himalaya. Occasionally the peaks give way to valleys like the mighty Fergana, where the Silk Road once ran to China and Alexander the Great once rode. There is also the Kofarnihon Valley, where Dushanbe the capital glimmers with nationalist monuments, medieval madrassa forts and Soviet edifices alike (a microcosm of the country’s history, if you will). The mountains throw out treasures of their own. High in the peaks of the Fann Mountains, for example, Tajikistan tour guides offer expeditions to meet colourfully dressed tribal folk on the plateaus, glimpse turquoise mountain lakes like Iskanderkul, or weave through the mighty peaks to Samarkand in the distance. And if it sounds like Tajikistan leans towards adventure types and hikers, that’s because it does!