Tajikistan Tours & Holidays

With more than fifty per cent of the country sitting at over 3,000 metres above sea level, Tajikistan’s weather wavers between extremes. Pay a visit in winter (November–February) and you’ll be greeted by daytime temperatures that can dip below freezing, particularly along the Pamir Highway. Rock up during summer (June–September) and temperatures will likely climb to over 40°C (and be accompanied by dust storms) – though this is the best time for a trip into the mountains. Otherwise spring (March–May) or autumn (September–November) is the most pleasant times to travel. Light rains may still fall on occasion, but the days are sunny and warm, and the skies clear.

While evidence of human habitation has been found in the region dating back as far as 4,000 BC, Tajikistan as we now know it only came into formation with the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to this, the region – defined by extreme isolation and testing climes – principally existed as one sprawling swathe of independent tribal lands and villages, regularly getting overrun and ruled by a series of empires, Achaemenid, Kushan, Arab, Tibetan and Mongolian, until Imperial Russia moved in.


With the 1917 overthrow of Tsarist autocracy, a Central Asian independence movement called the basmachi sought to make the most of the disarray by waging war against the Bolsheviks to no avail – in 1924 the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created as a part of Uzbekistan and the collectivisation of agriculture and implementation of other communist policies soon followed. The Tajiks suffered greatly under Soviet rule in the following decades, being targeted in purges, conscripted into the Soviet Army in World War II and lagging behind the other Soviet Republics in terms of industry and education. So when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, it looked like happy days were afoot.


Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. Split by various clan loyalties into numerous fighting factions, the country very soon plunged into civil war. By the time Emomalii Rahmon came to power in 1994, the number killed was estimated at over 100,000 and refugees numbered around 1.2 million. While his prime ministership and his party’s handling of democratic elections have not been without criticism, Rahmon has retained power through two successive elections.

1. Traditional Dress

Having been segregated from the rest of Tajik society by bad weather and roads for much of their history, the people of the Pamir Mountains have developed a certain style of dress that can still be seen in the region. Among Pamiri women, this amounts to a flowing kaftan-like costume, usually white and narrowing at the waste, with sleeves closely fitted to the wrist. A red skullcap, called a toki, typically completes the ensemble.

2. Russian Dress

When the Soviets came to town, elements of Russian fashion were gradually adopted and incorporated into Tajikistani culture. Western-style dress is now fairly common among the younger generations in urban areas, but you’re bound to spot plenty of women garbed in colourful loose-fitting dresses highly decorated and elaborately embroidered. A kerchief or shawl usually goes on the head.

3. The Monobrow

Get ready, you might need to read this one again: monobrows are in. Yep, that’s right: monobrows. And not just among the men either. An emblem of prestige and beauty, they’re upheld as a sign of feminine purity, and women not fortunate enough to sprout one naturally will sometimes resort to daubing the space between their eyes with a local herb called usma. So don’t stress if you forget to pack the tweezers.

4. The Toki

Tajik men and women alike are big fans of the toki: a type of cap that varies in design between genders and regions. Among northern Tajiks, the crown of the cap can be flat, boxed or conical, whereas that of mountain dwellers and plainsmen more closely resembles a skullcap.

5. The Calf Cotton

Head into the Pamir Mountains and you’ll probably spot a few insanely fit-looking old dudes with long strips of cotton wound around their calves. This isn’t so much a fashion statement as a practical measure: tightly bound calves adds extra muscle support when traipsing up and down mountains. Give them a nod of respect. They’ve probably ambled in this morning from that distant peak way over yonder.