Four more days and the Shakriston pass to cross before we reach the Fan Mountains. We are now in altitude and the slopes get greener but after the 1st day, we reach the end of the motorway, and we get it back only for a short moment, and then approaching Dushanbe. Here is the map of the following 4 days .

Day 7: From Djakurtan to the foot of the Shakriston Pass
It is a pleasant day, plenty of popular trees spending shade, more and more flowers, villagers selling apples, beekeepers with their rolling beehives … a highlight of the day is the “tshaikhana with the lions” where we get the best sheep barbecue ever (a pity that I was still so sick from the shashlik in Istaravshan). We are climbing all afternoon and at the end of the day we see the tunnel construction site. We arrive too early, we will have all the trucks climbing over the pass, in 3 months they will go through the tunnel. This time, a young local guy brings us to a nice pasture, sufficiently off-road to spend a quiet night.

Day 8: Shakriston Pass (3370m)
The first (and only) day that we get up very early, with the hope to climb the pass (1000m on an awful dirt road) before the arrival of the trucks. Obviously, this is impossible, we pass a convoy of a several dozens of trucks who start their climb a few minutes after us … but indeed, globally the traffic gets much denser in the late morning. I expected a tea stop on the pass, but there are only a few toilets … in a condition that one wouldn't dare to imagine. The downhill ride is impressive; without the trucks generating huge quantities of dust, it would be great all along the 2000m of descent, but we have to survive 500m and 10km of descent which feel like eternity. Back on the motorway below the level of the tunnel, it gets a real pleasure. We reach Kushikat in the Zaravshon Valley close to the sunset. The colours are magic. We are again at 1400m and apples and apricots are grown everywhere.

Day 9: From Kushikat to Urmitan
We put up our tent in a garden just outside Kushikat on the road to Pendjikent (awfully neglected) where we are warmly welcomed by a family. They are worried whether our tent, our sleeping bags would be warm and comfortable enough. Everything is inspected, and finally they conclude it should be ok. The next morning, the grandchildren are the first ones to arrive, to help us taking down the tent, eager to take photos with our cameras … a pleasant encounter. I have no photo of the incredibly friendly daughter Gulmira, unhappy to have her husband -- who works in Russia -- only once every two years while her sister has already several kids …
All day, we follow the Zaravshon River, its orchards, popular trees, villages and the typical endless ups and downs ... all in all a pleasant, pretty warm day, and once more we face headwind. We would like to visit the small town Urmitan, but it is too late, we have to find a place to camp. After a while, we find a flat field, of course near a house where we must ask permission, and where we are invited to sleep in a tsharpoy in the dry and moreover get a nice dinner.

Day 9: From Urmitan to Artuch in the Fan Mountains
The next morning, we want to leave early, but we first must take breakfast and promise to come back on our way back from the Fan Mountains; but as we will completely change our plans, we never come back here (no picture). After a short morning ride, we reach Dashti-Kazy where we leave the Zaravshon to climb slowly up to Artuch (1800m) in the Fan Mountains. We are invited twice on our way, in the late morning in Dashti-Kazy and after our picnic lunch a bit higher up in the Valley, and no possibility to decline.