Qashqadaryo

Qashqadaryo Region is one of the regions of Uzbekistan, located in the south-eastern part of the country in the basin of the Qashqadaryo River and on the western slopes of the Pamir-Alay mountains. It borders with Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Samarqand Region, Bukhara Region and Surxondaryo Region. It covers an area of 28,400 km². The population is estimated to be around 2,067,000 (2007),with some 73% living in rural areas.

A monument to someone ancient at the exit from the city. The most interesting monuments of this road are the Jam Obelisks, reminiscent of the tragic Jam campaign of the Russian army in 1878: it was contemplated as a demonstration of strength to the British, the possibility of an invasion from the north to India, but the British never took this threat seriously. An epidemic of cholera started among soldiers sent march to the border, that mowed half of the detachment and left a few mass graves marked by these very obelisks on the road. It seems that only one obelisk in Sarykul village, 60 kilometers from Samarkand, has survived to our days.

A low pass through the hilly ridge, but in front of Zerafshan ridge there are several villages and Karatepe reservoir:These hills were nicknamed the Demon Plateau for the numerous rocks of unusual shapes, the most famous of which is Shaitan-Zhiga, which means the Devil’s Helmet, stands aside from the road closer to Urgut. But there is something interesting here as well, including a stone-heart, seeing off those who travel to the South.Wandering around you can see other rocks, such as a stone wave:Drivers of shared taxis, taking tourists make a stop here practically without requests.The road slowly and very smoothly rises from Samarkand to the pass Takhta-Karacha (1788m), that makes it even more surprising at some point to understand that you are already high in the mountains, and descent to other side is more picturesque as the road winds along a steep serpentine:Fan mountains are seen on the left, ‘growing’ to the west into the Zerafshan ridge. They are already located in Tajikistan and are very popular with tourists because of their unique combination of height and accessibility, there are even peaks over 5000 m among them:Descent from Takhta-Karacha pass.Ahead is Qashqadaryo steppe, beyond which is seen 4-kilometer Baysuntau Range which separates Qashqadaryofrom Surxondaryo, the ancient Sogdiana from an even older Bactria. Both the Baysun and Zerafshan ranges are the spurs of Gissar, and Qashqadaryo is actually the valley of the river of the same name, wedging in between them. This is a peculiarity of the south – both its regions are named after the rivers that fall into the Amu Darya, although logically they could be named respectively Qarshi and Termez regions. But the mountains on three sides of the Qashqadaryo certainly benefit – it is not a desert, but a fertile steppe, the granary of Maveranakhr, the region that has become the richest and most influential part of the Bukhara emirate with the decline of trade routes.