Salt Cave, Khoja Mumin Mountain, Vose District, Khatlon, Tajikistan

One of the landmarks of the Khatlon region, near the city of Vose, is Khoja Mumin Mountain. The people of Tajikistan see a product from this mountain on their tables daily: common salt. The Khoja Mumin plant is located at the foot of the mountain and produces this salt, supplying all of Tajikistan and also exporting it. According to expert estimates, the salt from Khoja Mumin Mountain could feed the entire world for a hundred years, so abundant are the deposits here.

Mount Mushtepa, Day 2 of the Hike, is a Ridge Between the Varzob and Ramit Gorges, Mountains of Tajikistan

The second day of my four-day hike was entirely dedicated to Mount Mushtepa. Mount Mushtepa is located on the watershed ridge between the Varzob and Ramit rivers, so on this day, I visited both of them. I began the ascent on the Varzob side in the Harangon River gorge, and by midday, I had reached the summit of Mushtepa before descending to the Ramit side in the Semiganch gorge.

Hiking to the Peak of Gushor, Varzob Gorge, Mountains of Tajikistan

The peak of Gushor is well visible from any point in Dushanbe. I have been planning to climb it for a long time, and finally I did it. The mountain, or rather the peak of Gushor, is one of the peaks that crown the Chilikak ridge. This ridge stretches from the Varzob River (approximately 16-21 kilometers from the Varzob highway) to the Luchob River in the area of the village of Shiratalo. The Gushor peak (2450 meters) is not the highest point of the Chilikak ridge; there is another peak with a weather station above it (2552 meters), another unnamed peak (2606 meters), and the highest point, the Chilokak peak (2702 meters), which is already closer to Shiratalo and cannot be seen from the city.