Mountain Info: Advice and Warnings for the Takali Mountain Knot
The advice for the Takali region is very similar to advice for neighboring regions. But there are some unique characteristics of - and specialized advice for - this particular mountainous area of Tajikistan.
Weather
Elevation
Shepherds, flocks and sheep dogs
Yugan
Crevasses
Rock fall
Food poisoning
Sunburn
Rivers
Wild Animals
Taxis
Who to call in an emergency
Placenames
Dress code
1. Weather: Weather in this area, as with all mountain weather worldwide, is unpredictable. Often a sunny day in Dushanbe is matched by rain or snow in the mountains. Check out the weather site Meteo.tj, but understand that this government agency focusses on weather mostly in populated areas. That disclaimer aside, this area of Tajikistan has less summer rain than the mountains of Kyrgyzstan near Bishkek and Issyk-Kul, for example. And Tajikistan is not as cold, being further south away from northern weather systems. Daytime temperatures in the mountains ranges from 5 to 20 celsius, with as high as 25-30 at lower elevations near some of the trailheads. How cold is it? Expect at worst a few degrees below zero (Celsius) at higher elevations overnight during the summer. There is no need to sleep up high in a pass unless you want to (for fun). Summer snow? Yes, at the highest elevations and in some of the high passes. But usually there is little accumulation and it doesn't last for long, especially on the south-facing slopes.
How about storms? Well, they do happen. Bring a good tent and not just a rain-proof jacket, but also rain-proof pants. Mountain rain will give you hypothermia if you don't have dry legs. Don't have waterproof gear? The Archa Foundation rental store in Dushanbe has rentals.
What storms need to be watched for? A cold rainy system that comes down from Russia. They don't often happen, but when they do, they bring rain and cooler temperatures to cities like Dushanbe and Samarkand, and very cold rain and high winds to the mountains for a couple of days. This contrasts to the isolated small storms and rains that you can usually expect in the mountains - these don't last long.
2. Elevation: As for elevation, its effects are unpredictable and altitude sickness affects people at random, regardless of their athletic conditioning. But the highest pass that trekkers can get through in the Takali region is about 4300 meters, with most being low 4000s and high 3000s. This compares to Chimtarga Pass in the Fann Mountains at 4700 meters. An advantage of Takali is that, unlike some areas in the Pamirs, you can quickly get to a much lower elevation (mid-2000 meters) if you start to feel the symptoms of elevation sickness. In the Pamirs, there are sometimes no lower valleys to get to quickly, resulting in all known altitude sickness rescues in Tajikistan being in the Pamirs, and never in western Tajikistan. Examples include a very fit group of young trekkers and a group of world-class kayakers. Each of these groups had a single member who fell ill and needed a rescue.
3. Shepherds, flocks and sheep dogs: Overwhelmingly, shepherds are your friends. If you are in distress and need help, head towards a sheep camp. If anything, shepherds are perhaps too friendly. Russian expeditions frequently mention the difficulties in having to refuse multiple offers of hospitality, starting with tea and ending with a full meal of mutton. If you accept every offer, you will never reach your destination. This is, as can be expected, not much of a problem in the popular areas such as the Fann Mountains or near the tourist areas of Varzob, but in more isolated areas the shepherds are bored and quite happy to see a stranger. If you are in a hurry, take the offer of tea and decline the full meal, but if the shepherd is busy with a flock, by yelling "chai!" he probably means for you to visit his camp at the end of the day once the sheep are fed and ready for a night's sleep. He may be too busy to serve you tea.
Shepherds in this part of Tajikistan rarely, if ever, drink alcohol. And if they do drink, I would expect them to be even more friendly. In other countries (that I won't name) there is a small but noticeable problem with drunk shepherds who can be aggressive or want you to get drunk with them. Who are the shepherds in the Takali Mountain Knot? Often they are not locals tending the village's animals. Depending on the sub-region or district, they may be contract shepherds and the flocks of animals are owned by some far-off businessman who has grazing rights in the mountains. Do they know the mountains well? Yes, sometimes they have their valley memorized and are an amazing source of information (with exact information about the best time of day for a river crossing, for example). However, some only know their own area. I have talked to shepherds who helpfully tried to offer information about passes that was dreadfully wrong: "Yes, no problem. You can walk over that pass" (I most definitely could not) or "On the other side of that pass is the Rasht Valley" (Rasht was 200km in the other direction).
Some shepherds can speak Russian, but Russian expeditions are giving them poorer grades every year (a broad trend in Tajikistan). So you will need to speak Tajik, but this may not help with some kids in the Yaghnob Valley (Yaghnobi speakers) and with the younger goat herders in parts of the western Fann Mountains (who may be Luli, Magat or from some other Roma-type community who speak their own dialect). All the men, however, will speak some Tajik (including the ethnic Uzbeks).
Shepherd dogs. The dogs are less friendly - far less friendly. They often look frightening, with cropped ears and tails, with an occasionally scarred face. They are a member of the flock and they assume you are a threat until you sit at their camp with their masters for a while. They are mostly just about barking, and they reserve their attack mode for strange dogs, wolves, bears and other predators. They will, however, chase you off sometimes (as opposed to stay in place and barking). I have been chased, but they stopped once they were satisfied I was heading away from the sheep. I have not heard about any sheep dogs attacks on trekkers or climbers (that does not mean that it hasn't happened), so they may be “all bark, no bite.“ The dogs calm down once the whole flock is on the move and on a road. But in the more isolated areas if I see a flock coming or I see that I will be soon walking through one, I do my best to spot the shepherd and head toward him or at least try to catch his attention. He knows what to do. He will probably come out to greet you while waving off his dogs. Sometimes it seems like he is not in control of his dogs, and he will swing his stick or throw rocks at them. But this is normal. They are are not like some well-trained guardian dog in the Italian Pyrenees, but they will stand to the side as the shepherd escorts you through the flock.
Right of way. Sheep, donkeys, cows and horses have the right of way. Goats can be negotiated with. What you don't want to do is block a narrow trail when the flock is going up or down. You may scare them into going the wrong direction or even off a cliff. Get out of the way, as far away as possible (and expect dogs to be nearby). Don't make the shepherd's job any more difficult than it is. If you are going down a glacier and a flock is coming up the glacier, get completely out of the way (but not sideways into a crevasse): scaring a sheep off the track that the shepherds have cut through the snow/ice can mean death for the animal. If you stop any of the animals, it will be trampled by the ones behind. Animals die in the high passes regularly. See Anatoly Sharipov's post on animals dying on Mura Pass (in the nearby Hisor/Fann region). The same applies for bridges and narrow trails next to dangerous rivers: get out of the way, and even better go back the opposite direction until you find an open area.
Drones. Technically, drones are illegal in Tajikistan if they have not been registered (in some Byzantine, mysterious registration process). But many local and foreign tourists still use them. You may want to consider not flying your drone anywhere near sheep, goats, donkeys, cattle and horses. You may panic them into stampeding into a river or over a cliff.
4. Yugan (Yughan/Юған): is a pretty green plant at mid-elevations that looks like young dill (and has yellow flowers in its mature phase). Yugan is a member of the Apiaceae (or Umbelliferae) family, and it is phototoxic. The sap of the plant combines with the sun to give your skin a chemical burn (phytophotodermatitis). It will sting badly, and the pain and blisters will last for days. Black hyperpigmentation scars then remain on the skin for about 6 months or longer. This is only a problem at mid-elevations at the beginning of the summer (May/June/July) until the plant dries out and becomes harmless. However, some areas with moist ground (next to a stream or in a gully) may have green yugan longer into the season Avoid problems by not wandering into the high grass and vegetation or bushes, and by wearing long pants. You shouldn't be wearing shorts anyways, as they are not culturally appropriate for the villages you travel through. More information on avoiding yugan here.
5. Crevasses: Stay off of the glaciers to avoid dying in a crevasse or bergschrund. See comments on passes that involve trekking on glaciers (in our list of suggested treks and in our exploring section).
6. Rock fall: Tajikistan is falling apart geologically. There is quite a bit of loose rock here, and it does fall down the mountains occasionally. Pitch your tent in an area that does not appear to have any fresh-looking loose rocks sitting around. They may have arrived at high speed from a higher elevation.
7. Food poisoning/sickness: It happens at guesthouses, hotels and restaurants (usually the milder version that requires a free toilet to be nearby). One tour company stated that 1/3 of clients get mild to moderate stomach problems in Tajikistan. But if you are cooking for yourself while camping then you have no worries. I’ve only ever known two people who had it bad enough to require a visit to a hospital. Get travel antibiotics from your doctor at home.
8. Sunburn: A combination of latitude and elevation make the mountains of Tajikistan a place where your skin burns quickly. I've given up on sunblock cream. I wear long pants, a long sleeve shirt, gloves, and a scarf around my neck as an alternative to carrying around a heavy bottle of sunblock that leaves you feeling greasy/oily.
9. Rivers: Local people do occasionally drown in Tajikistan's mountain rivers. Do your best to not fall into a river while fully clothed and wearing a backpack. As for fording a river or stream, we are mapping fords. However, we do not map fords that require a rope and harness (i.e., on the bigger rivers and dangerous steep creeks). Those shortcuts are up to you. The mountain water will get you quickly: it’s extremely cold, and very fast. Even knee-high water can be a disaster if you slip and fall. The alternative if there is no bridge? We’ve mapped the routes up and down the rivers to spots where the river is smaller or there is a snow bridge. So you may end up going up and down a river for a couple of hours as opposed to a quick crossing.
10. Wild Animals and Mythical Creatures: Bears, wolves and snow leopards are rare here, and they are quite shy. There have been a few rare winter attacks on village kids in the Pamirs by winter-starved wolves, but not in this region. A forest ranger in a region further north claimed that he was attacked by a bear, but this was likely a cover story for his son hunting a bear (he has been charged by authorities for poaching). Snow leopards? Two attacks in 100 years across Central Asia, so don't worry about them. There is, however, a mythical yeti-type creature that may or may not eat humans, but they exist only in the vivid imagination. There are also a host of other spirits, jinns, and supernatural forces active in the mountains, but they are neutral in regards to trekkers.
11. Taxis and drivers: This is the #1 danger in the region, especially if you use the shared taxis instead of hiring a private driver. Usually I have a calm driver, but occasionally I get an aggressive guy who needs to be somewhere quickly. Nothing can be done about it, aside from speaking Tajik/Russian and making a deal ahead of time with the driver for a slow journey through the mountains. But this does not protect you from other drivers.
12. Who to call in an emergency: Obviously you won’t be making a call from the mountains (unless you have a satellite phone). But once back to a place where you have access to a phone or the internet, you can contact the Tajikistan Tourist Police (for emergencies). They speak Tajik, Russian and English, and should be your first point of contact if you are in some sort of crisis. Find them on Facebook or call them at: +992 77 055 5555. You can also call your embassy if you have one in Tajikistan, but the help they offer differs radically from embassy to embassy (from extremely helpful to downright useless). Note that even if your country does not have an embassy in Tajikistan, there may be another embassy that has an arrangement to offer you emergency consular services and assistance (for Europeans, this may be the embassy of France or Germany, for example).
13. Placenames: The government regularly changes the names of regions, towns and villages, while the locals may continue using the old names. Some names are written phonetically, while some are written properly (example: Shaydon versus Shahidon, Khudgif versus Khudgiv). Either style may appear on the map. Sometimes villagers and shepherds use different names than what you see on the map. Sometimes the villagers and shepherds disagree with each other. Sometimes a village may have nickname that sounds very little like its proper name. Sometimes a river changes names upstream. But where? And according to who? And then there are the repetitive use of common names throughout the country: three villages named Langar, all of which have trekking trails starting/ending there. But if you plan ahead of time and stick to your itinerary, you should be fine. However, some of the tiny hamlets may be mislabelled - in a few instances the source maps contradict each other. So there may be the occasional erroneous name/location on the map.
14. Dress code: No shorts or bare shoulders in villages or at shepherd camps or in farmlands (for either gender). This region has stricter clothing requirements than Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and the Pamirs. Wear what you want when you are in the middle of nowhere, but change back to culturally appropriate clothing when you get near a village. Your punishment for wearing shorts will be administered by yugan (read #4 above).