A Brief Guide to Tajikistan’s Rivers and Creeks
This guide is an overview of some Tajik rivers compiled from information gathered in two paddling seasons 2007 and 2008. The goal is to provide information that describes these rivers and their access generally. It would be impossible to include great detail as these points are also very subjective and, in Tajikistan, the rivers and geology change frequently enough that great detail can become outdated immediately (we saw changes large and small happen in just one year).
Rivers are listed in the index by region. Each description includes whether we paddled or scouted the river. At the bottom of this guide there is a brief list of rivers we were not able to scout or paddle that potentially have good whitewater.
In each river description, we have assessed the rivers on two scales: the pleasure you’re likely to derive from the run, and the level of pain you’ll have the privilege to accept. The two numbers can be combined in a pleasure/pain ratio to discover if the river will suit your particular fetish.
Pleasure: 1- boring valley, no real whitewater
10- lots of whitewater, mostly runnable with possibility
locals will force-feed you fresh food
Pain: 1- direct road access
10- high, hard portage, unorthodox suffering may
called for (swimming across a glacial river above a bad
drop in order to escape a gorge before dark)
Finally, please do not hesitate to contact us with questions or comments. We would be happy to share as much as we can about these rivers and Tajikistan in general.
Simon Beardmore, Andrew McEwan, and Middy Tilghman Nov. 2008
This page has the following sub pages.
